People in my Neighborhood

It’s been nearly a year since we landed in Savannah, leaving our Euro gypsy feet behind. And while it took us awhile to find our groove (and a place to live), it didn’t take long to meet the characters of this charming Southern town.

The first month we were here happened to be “music fest month” and we volunteered with both Stopover and A-Town Get Down, sparking one of a handful of articles I wrote for South Magazine. 

With our first few months and experiences out of the way, and well into my third trimester, I started writing for Do Savannah, the Thursday arts and entertainment pull out section of the Savannah Morning News, and with it words, photography and community collided. 

That is where I met the People in my Neighborhood. 

People in my neighborhood: Act 1
Clinton let me throw things at his head during our shoot, and he opened a rad used art supply shop down the street. 2 for 2, this guy. 

People in my neighborhood: Act 2

Albert is one of the formidable forces behind the Thomas Square Edible Park. And he’s damn quotable, too: “We have faith that the seed knows just what to do. All we do is plant it.” (Get it?)

People in my Neighborhood: Act 3

Yoga, meditation and art - the trifecta of Maggie Hayes.

People in my Neighborhood: Act 4

I didn’t get to photograph Panhandle Slim, but was honored to talk to him about his latest project painting tribute portraits of the Emanuel Nine. I am grateful to be surrounded by a community of such talented and loving folks.

People in my Neighborhood: Act 5

Miggs and KNife are just underground of the underground scene.

People in my Neighborhood: Act 6

Join in on the conversation with Emergent Savannah -  because Monday means Community. 

People in my Neighborhood: Act 7 

Matthew, the man in white, wants to move you will sound. Let him. 

 People in my Neighborhood: Act 8

Mary Contrary's garden grows with tasseled maidens all in a row. 
 

People in my Neighborhood: Act 9

Sweet Caroline: You can take the girl out of Deutschland but you can’t take Deutschland out of the girl. 

People in my neighborhood: Act 10: 

The kids of DEEP
I was fortunate to volunteer with DEEP, an amazingly creative after-school program encouraging the written word. My job was minimal – taking “author” photos of the students at a few of the schools around town. As a respite from pictures of my kiddo, and as a reminder that I am, in fact, a photographer, here’s a few shots. 

Bon voyage, skydog

A beloved companion who could light up a room with her smile and instill fear in the same hot, ankle-biting breath, Skydog died peacefully on Jan. 5, 2015, surrounded by her family. She was 13.

The spry Australian shepherd was known for her lightning speed, high-flying Frisbee-catching acrobatics and signature swivel hips, which she wagged in lieu of her missing tail.

Born “Sierra Skyy” in Ocala, Fla., Oct. 20, 2002, the feisty runt of the litter quickly dropped the second ‘y’ in her name and went by Skydog or just Sky-diggity.

She spent her formative years frolicking in the shadow of the Tanner family’s (“Full House”) house on San Francisco’s Alamo Square. And though disciplined enough to stroll leash-less through the busy streets of the Lower Haight, her nose for mischief landed her on Animal Planet’s “Animal Cops,” after she jumped out of a second story window and was later captured & returned by animal control.  

She made that leap a second time – with the cast from the first jump still fresh on her right leg – after a larger neighbor dog helped her pry open the window.

These Houdini-like skills were tested and strengthened in every place in which she lived, as she methodically defeated backyard fences, bedrooms, kennels and basements in her insatiable quest to be free.

With these epic escapes came an even more impressive list of damages her family was obliged to pay. Experts estimate the total to be somewhere in the ballpark of several thousand dollars, including most notably a 1,000 euro set of custom blinds, a Turkish cleaner’s faux designer jeans and two metal crates that she systematically dismantled over the course of several weeks.

These costs paled in comparison to the joy she brought her family through her robust personality and indomitable will.

The memories she left behind, just like the bite marks, tufts of fur, and scattered bits of cereal, are everywhere she was and will not soon be forgotten.