Sweet Tea: Sharing traditions

For all the social media, fancy tech, video scrolls, algorithms and encroaching AI supremacy, humans are fairly simple when it comes to their enjoyments.

This week I saw a video of a group of guys playing “guess the task” where they used a system of hot or cold “sounds” (“ahhhh!” or “nooooo,” basically) to tell the player how close they were to completing a hidden action. (In this case, it was “move the plant outside.”) When my husband and I get bored, we’ll sometimes take turns imitating bird calls or random sounds, and always end up snort-laughing.

The people yearn for silly parlor games. No phone required.

RAMADAN MUBARAK

Observers of Ramadan fast during the day, so nighttime is the time to get together and eat.

Monti Carlo, the AJC’s new Food and Dining head, is utterly fabulous and is already getting deep into Atlanta’s food communities.

She recently attended the second annual Atlanta Ramadan Food Festival in Norcross, an all-night food celebration that coincides with the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Along with shawarma, kunafa, paan and, of course, Waffle House waffles, Carlo says breaking bread and breaking fasts with Atlantans from all walks of life enriched her in a totally different way.

“Sometimes peace looks like a line of people in a parking lot, waiting patiently for the moment they are finally allowed to eat together.”

🧆 READ MORE: What I discovered between sunset and sunrise at one of metro Atlanta’s most unique food gatherings

Oh, what are those delectable foods, you ask?

• shawarma: sliced meat from a rotisserie, typically lamb, beef, or chicken, often served in a sandwich or wrap
• kunafa: a traditional Arab treat made with thin strips of phyllo pastry, cheese and sweet syrup
• paan: a South Asian dish made of special leaves and nuts that serves as a digestif or palate cleanser

WHISPER INTO THE WIND

The Atlanta Wind Phone lets the wind carry away messages of love and grief.

Have you heard of a “wind phone?” They were invented by a Japanese garden designer as a way to talk to those who have passed. You can find wind phones across the country, and they can be a healing way to deal with grief. There’s no one on the other line, just a breath of connection between worlds.

Atlanta’s first wind phone has a home at the historic Oakland Cemetery.

Famed for its Victorian beauty and rich history, the lushly maintained Oakland Cemetery is the resting place of about 70,000 souls, including 27 former Atlanta mayors and six former Georgia governors.

🍃 WATCH: How a wind phone works in Atlanta’s most famous burial place

S-H-I-L-L-E-L-A-G-H

Wood carver Denise LeMay, right, presents a shillelagh to Martin Hogan, the grand marshal of the Savannah St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

It’s pronounced “shi-lay-lee.” Good. Now we’re all on the same page.

A shillelagh is a carefully carved wooden staff important to Irish culture. In Savannah, a nexus of Irish immigration in the South, it’s essential to the city’s famous St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

• Martin S. Hogan, the grand marshal of the Savannah St. Patrick’s Day Parade, will proudly wield a specially carved shillelagh this Tuesday.
• Native Savannahian Denise LeMay, 65, has been carving for the parade for 22 years.
• It’s a labor of love and skill: LeMay carefully chooses the wood, whether oak, fig or crepe myrtle. Then the wood must dry, then be sanded, stained and carved.

☘️ READ MORE: How Savannah’s shillelaghs come to be

SIPS FROM AROUND THE SOUTH

💙 Manchester, TN: When a DoorDash customer realized her delivery driver was a 78-year-old retiree, she started a GoFundMe to help him and his wife, also a DoorDasher, live more comfortably without the exhausting side hustle. The campaign has raised more than $300,000 and the couple says they’re overwhelmed by people’s generosity toward strangers. More from WBIR

🐕 Ashland, VA: A man and his dog are being hailed as heroes for coming to the aide of an unresponsive neighbor. On their daily walk, the dog started wildly barking and whining at a house. When the man went to investigate, he found a woman in medical distress and was able to call 911 and administer first aid. She survived. More from WWBT

🦋 Knoxville, TN: The East Tennessee Children’s Hospital is now the Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital. With the name change, the hospital says it’s also strengthening its commitment to access and support for children in need and their families. The not-for-profit hospital has had an “open door” policy, serving any child regardless of their circumstances, since it opened in 1937. More from the Telegraph Herald

🖼️ Columbia, SC: After a years-long legal fight, what are believed to be the first photographs taken of enslaved people in the U.S. are headed home from Harvard University to South Carolina. Descendants of the father and daughter pictured sued the university and won. Now, the photos will be displayed at the International African American Museum in Charleston. The family says the spirits of their ancestors can finally “breathe.” More from the AJC

🚒 Owensboro, KY: The Owensboro Fire Department has gone viral for their amusing-yet-very-important fire safety videos on TikTok. Why not make safety fun? The department was also recently recognized with an international accreditation for their high standards. More from the Owensboro Times

TELL US SOMETHING GOOD