Sal's Wonderful Sunday

The other day I realized that Sal and I haven't gone anywhere since we returned from our vacation last month.  Every day has been filled with going to work and/or trying to complete major projects in the house and yard.  Blech!  Since today was the first day in a very long time that I didn't plan on doing anything "productive," I decided to take Sal out and let her join the fun!

We started by attending the Sowing Seeds of Hope Annual Brunch to benefit Seeds of Literacy.  This wonderful organization is -- in words stolen from their website -- "an adult literacy program providing basic education and GED preparation free of charge to people in the Cleveland, Ohio area. A unique curriculum and one-on-one tutoring offer maximum learning by building relationships of trust between the student and the tutor. We bring people of diverse race and ethnic backgrounds together to help break a root cause of poverty - illiteracy."

Sal came along with me, but I didn't bring her inside.*  I didn't want to embarrass my son -- who works for Seeds -- by making a spectacle of myself at such an occasion.  (I didn't mind doing it at the Seeds Bowl-A-Thon**, but I wasn't sure Sal would be appreciated at a country club.)

* Of course it's not a good idea to leave a ukulele in a car on a very hot or very cold day, but the mild weather meant that Sal would be okay for a couple of hours.

** See the Travels With Sal post from May 18th for pictures of Sal at the bowling alley.

The brunch was held at the Westwood Country Club -- a lovely place.  I am sure they will never invite me to be a member -- or even a guest -- after observing me taking this photo of Sal posing on their sign.  ;)

As I returned to my car after the brunch was over, I was thinking about taking some Sal photos at the edge of the golf course.  Then I saw one of the Seeds of Literacy students who had given a speech at the brunch, and approached her about posing with Sal.  Titanisha Westry's speech had been truly inspiring -- and I confess to being teary-eyed as she described how Seeds helped her get her GED.  She also talked about the bright future she has planned -- and I believe she is determined enough to follow through and make those dreams a reality!  I hope she didn't think I was a kook when I told her about Sal and this blog -- and maybe she did -- but she kindly agreed to pose for a photo.

Titanisha Westry and her sweetie, Kenneth, with Sal. 

The next event in Sal's day was a Cleveland Jumping Flea jam at the Java Bay Coffee Shop in Bay Village.  (If you are thirsty -- or hungry for giant muffins, etc. -- you can find Java Bay at 27225 Wolf Road.)  As usual the Fleas had a great time playing and singing together, and customers coming in seemed pleasantly surprised to have musical accompaniment as they placed their orders.

Java Bay owner, Becky, and her helper, Dan.  This young man plays the ukulele and was instrumental (pun intended) in making it possible for the Fleas to jam at Java Bay.   

After the jam, Sal and I finished off our big day by going with our ukin' friend Norma to the Moosehead Saloon for dinner and a good chat.  It was a lovely evening to eat outside on the patio, and we ended up staying for a long and very pleasant time.

Norma and I started our Moosehead meal with refreshing beverages -- a Moosehead beer for me and a glass of white wine for her.

 What a great day Sal and I had.  Tomorrow it's back to getting stuff done.  Sigh...