Back to Westside

I worked till 5:45 Friday afternoon. Picked up Ceil and we drove over to Westside Provisions and ate at JCT Kitchen & Bar, the Ford Fry restaurant. Very nice.

C had the bowl of chicken & dumplings. I wasn't thrilled with many of the choices. Couldn't eat any of the fish dishes so I had the burger. Very good.

Slept till 7:30 Saturday morning. Got up and drove across the county to Jim R Miller Park for the Cobb EMC annual meeting. An interesting mixture of Americana. A bluegrass band played before the meeting. A minister from JFBC gave the opening prayer. Some business was taken care of, then the floor was opened for people to ask questions. The entire time I sat clearing out my email, unsubscribing to as many as possible. I was finishing up just as the meeting came to an end.

Went home and loaded the mower into C's car and took it to the shop. Got a haircut while I was out. Worked in the garage, blew the driveway, and did some other outside chores. Did some laundry and watched Florida/Tennessee. C baked beef stew for dinner. Watched a little UGA/Samford and a lot of Clemson/Louisville.

UGA looked good. Smart to rest Sony Michel (and play Elijah Holyfield, above). I think an early Fromm TD pass was called back. Samford got a lot of yards against second-string Bulldog defenders. Will be tough next week against Mississippi State, but UGA is a six point favorite. Anna stayed home to catch up on schoolwork.

Clemson looked great. Heisman winner Lamar Jackson took a pounding. By the end of the game he had racked up some yards, but most of the came in the second half when Clemson had a big lead. His 75 yard run came against the third string. Dabo opened the playbook for his QB Kelly Bryant, and the junior responded. Bryant continues hit most all of his receivers in the hands, much more consistently than Deshaun did. I was surprised to see the backup QB enter the game with almost eight minutes remaining, with the ever-dangerous Jackson only three scores behind. After several dumb penalties, the redshirt freshman QB handed off to a true freshman running back, who sprinted 81 yards past the defense for the longest Clemson TD run in years.

Once again Louisville tried the old black out trick without success. Neither did the red chrome helmets. You'd think they were special, but across the river Miami of Ohio wore almost the same exact outfit. Now I'm hearing next Saturday will be a blackout at UGA. Those things usually don't turn out so well.

Either Oklahoma State is real good or Pitt is real bad. The Panthers had hung in there better last week against rival Penn State. Auburn is 2-1, losing a close game to the defending national champions. But all their fans are ready to fire the coach.

Vandy and Kentucky looked good, though they usually do this time of year. Both usually play UGA tough. Pity the squeaky-voiced senior Vandy lineman, whose "Alabama is next" quote will be heard all week. Poor South Carolina will probably improve before facing Georgia, but the Dawgs season will hinge on the Tennessee and Florida games. The freshman back at UT had several long gains. Hopefully the Dawg defense will shut down both offenses, which are weak.

On Sunday mornings I usually don't set any speed records getting ready for church, though I usually have to wait on Ceil. She'd forgotten our new class' plan to turn the chairs around in the JFBC Chapel. When we walked in late the entire class broke into applause.

There was mention of the guest speaker in the service, who turned out to be the Second Primate and Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America – a guy you may have heard of: Foley Beach. You may remember Foley attended Second-Ponce in high school, and later as a Young Life leader and youth director at St. Philip and Church of the Apostles back in the 80's. Pretty much a regular guy who now runs the Anglican Church. Foley spoke of his journey, mentioning his time at SPdL and North Fulton High with Scot Wright and his family. He wasn't wearing his normal church attire.

Watched more football, including some of the Falcons and also some of the Braves game.