Random thoughts and Monday musings for the new year. I can’t believe my Sweet Baby Jake turned 20 on Sunday. Also, thanks for the condolences over the loss of our dog, Jerry. I am always touched by how many readers are animal lovers. ...

While organizing my 2014 calendar, I received an interesting note from reader Jim Davis in Fitzgerald. He said August will have five Fridays, five Saturdays and five Sundays. “This happens only once every 823 years,” he wrote. “The Chinese call it ‘silver pockets full.’” ...

We have a NewTown Macon. We also have the Old City Flower Festival. Displays from flower guilds at 14 Macon churches will be at First Presbyterian Church on Saturday through Wednesday (Jan. 18-22). Times are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day except Sunday, which is 1 to 4 p.m.

It is free, open to the public and well worth seeing. In Macon, we really love our flowers and churches. Elaine Schmitt and Steve Gonser came up with the idea for the festival during the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity” in 2012. It was held at St. Joseph Catholic Church the first year, at Christ Episcopal Church last year and will be at Vineville Methodist in 2015. ...

Nora Thomas, a friend of 97-year-old Margery Zerko, said the hundreds of birthday cards Zerko received at Summerhill Senior Living Community in Perry (from Reindeer Gang readers) were later donated to a group called Sweet Peas, which recycles the cards into booklets and distributes them to children in hospitals.

She also said Zerko’s autobiography, “My Hopscotch Life,” is available locally at the Perry Area Historical Society Museum. (478-224-4442) ...

Speaking of cards, kudos to Kim Pelt of the Bibb County Board of Education, for coordinating the more than 3,000 handmade Christmas cards from children at Macon elementary schools. Students and staff at the high schools delivered the cards to area nursing homes, assisted living facilities and the Children’s Hospital. Pelt also sent the handmade cards to Veterans Administration hospitals throughout the Southeast. ...

Joseph Watwood was one of my 2013 “True Gris Award” winners. He gave up his spring break as a senior at First Presbyterian Day School to ride his skateboard 307 miles from Macon to Panama City Beach, Fla. He raised $3,000 in pledges for Childers’ Children, a charity started by FPD classmate Garrett Childers.

His mother, Rhonda, reports her son is now back in Macon after working at a ranch outside of Yellowstone National Park. While out West, he drove to Flagstaff, Ariz., where he left his truck and caught a train to San Francisco. He then rode his skateboard 800 miles down the Pacific Coast Highway and caught the train back to his truck. He started classes at Mercer University this past week. ...

Speaking of skateboards, if you haven’t seen the movie “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” it’s an amazingly fun ride. ...

My Dec. 27 column was about Susan Pepin and the Advocacy Resource Center’s New Year’s Eve Big Bash fundraiser at the Terminal Station. Her sister, Patricia Kilgore, said the event was a huge success, and Susan got to dance with Mayor Robert Reichert and his wife, Dele. ...

The Macon chapter of the Georgia Prostate Cancer Coalition will meet Jan. 21 at noon at Molly’s Cafe on Cherry Street. I have been helping my friend Bill Buckley with this group since 2012.

Bill, a prostate cancer survivor, said the goal is to “increase awareness and get men -- directly and through their spouses, children, friends and the media -- to become more aware of the need to take care of themselves.” There are no dues. For more information, contact bill.buckley@momar.com. ...

I always enjoyed my dealings with Ray Horne, the legendary Northside High School drama teacher, whose memorial service was held Sunday at the performing arts theater named in his honor. We had a connection from way back. My grandmother was his second-grade teacher at Hawkinsville Elementary School. ...

Have a magnificent Monday.

Reach Gris at 744-4275 or egrisamore@macon.com.