Dear Reader:

What is it about all the Ya’s being together that makes everyone sleep so wonderfully? Definitely, I believe, a sense of security but it is even more than that..it is a lifetime of memories that lull everyone to sleep at night…bringing such comfort and excitement over the pending days of awakening and being together again…college days re-lived.

The first day I usually go over my mental check-list…did I ask the neighbor to pick up the mail, another one to check on the garden and potted plants to see if they need water and just to keep a general outlook on my home while I am away? Once I go over my (Did I do it?) list…I can let all the daily tasks at home…stay at home… and finally relax. The hardest part is the preparation for leaving.

When I came across this story on sleeping and security…I felt like it was perfect timing.

The Wonderful Slumber of  Being Prepared

Years ago a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops.

As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals. Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. “Are you a good farm hand?” the farmer asked him. Well, I can sleep when the wind blows,” answered the little man. Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him.

The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man’s work. Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand’s sleeping quarters.

He shook the little man and yelled, “Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!” The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, “No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows.”

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew. They had been prepared the whole time.   (Author Unknown)
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So until tomorrow…I will admit that ever since Hurricane Hugo…whenever the wind gets up I am fidgity… so I would probably have been one of the farmers that was not interested in the job. Yet, ironically, I continue to live along the beautiful coast of the Atlantic Ocean and ‘take my chances’ each Hurricane season because I have fallen in love with my low country home. I now turn the potential storms over to God and can even sleep knowing that no matter the outcome…everything will work out.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Apparently we have had some rain this past week and I am so glad…the garden has really needed a good rain…the new flowers and bushes are thirsty for all their hard work coming to bloom.