I wonder why I am so surprised when an old computer, appliance, heating and air conditioning unit, as well as, a half dozen other home apparatus breaks down? Do I forget how long I had it for and how well it served me?
No! I act like I am a victim of the universe and pout. I have certainly lived long enough to understand that nothing is permanent in this world. There should be a blinking neon sign over the top of everything in this life reminding us that Everything and Everyone is temporary…Get Over It!
I am slowly realizing that a “New Now” arrives with each tick of the clock. I need to change my attitude and grab the moment…instead of playing the permanent role of Eeyore!
I came across this quote that made me smile with some added wisdom.
“If you can change it, there is no reason to worry about it…if you can not change it…there’s no reason to worry about it.”
In the title drawing…we see one of the earliest “tech” inventions by mankind…the wheel. Think about the implications of this innovation….now man could pull and later let animals pull essential food supplies to gatherings, rocks and bricks to build pyramids, and armies to battle…for every invention there is a negative…depending on how man is chooses to use thought processes…for good or evil.
Today this is still true…the new technical age can unite the world as one in communication or destroy the world…only man can decide.
Another lesson I have learned going through this transition is that “When God solves our problems we have faith in His abilities; when God doesn’t solve our problems, He has faith in OUR abilities.” (That’s a lot of pressure God…but I am trying.)
So until tomorrow…
I want to be more comfortable being uncomfortable…to be more confident while uncertain. I want to push back to make room between ‘I Can’t and “I Can”… a place called “I WILL!”
“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh
…And happiness comes with blooms from my first two old-fashion sunflowers
Quite honestly…I can acclimate to any “New Now” world as long as it has cookies in it…and award-winning paintings about cookies a.k.a. Anne Peterson! Congratulations on your “Cookie Love”- winning the Community Choice Award at the Public Works Art Center’s “Love Letters” Exhibition!
It is hard to believe that in two years Boo’s Garden will be ten years old! Never… in my wildest imagination did I think I would still be here… adding onto my project of love that started with
the support of so many-still growing-still blooming!
As a history teacher I am quite familiar with teaching “historical ” firsts. But like I reminded my students-we wouldn’t still be studying first settlements unless they had grown and changed the course of history by hard work, determination and perseverance -to follow a dream.
On a daily personal note the “firsts ” I love to observe these beautiful spring days are found in my neighborhood, yard and garden. It just makes me happy-Summerville becomes ” Fairy Land” in the spring and I pinch myself that I ended up in this amazing place I get to call home.
Let me share with you some of my favorite firsts on 100 Rainbow Road!
“Big Red” ‘s
first spring bud
Jake’s Japanese Maple is the first to bloom this year-soon the other grandchildren’s will follow!
The wisteria has arrived-beautiful but tough for long-lasting relationships with trees and shrubs!
A happy first-the pollen is starting to finally depart as the freshest green leaves the oak trees will ever have … takes one’s breath away!
Doodle gave me red tip bushes years ago for a birthday present-left alone they have turned into gorgeous trees! A first!
So until tomorrow… Remind yourself how far we have come this first day of April 2021 and hug again.
“Today is my favorite day.”
Don’t forget to say ” Rabbit Rabbit ” and have an awe-inspiring month!
Madeleine L’ Engle said it best…”The only way to cope with the serious is to try to treat it a little lightly.”
When it comes to learning all the new tricks of the trade on chrome book …I feel like I am playing “Mother May I” -three steps forward-four back!
It is very easy to get down on oneself and I admonish myself constantly!
I think God was getting tired of me belly aching so He found this wonderful anecdote in my Archibald Rutledge files-it worked-I started laughing out loud!
Here goes! “The Legend of the Walk Off People”
It appears that on one occasion Adam, deeply troubled, sought out God in the Garden of Eden.
“God… you know how I love to catch fish in the river and to hunt rabbits. But Eve-she’s always complaining. She says she gets lonesome because I am gone so much. She’s talking of leaving me!”
“That’s easy, said God, come down to the creek with me and I will make a few more people. They will keep Eve company while you fish and hunt.”
By the water God shaped some new people out of mud and then leaned them against a fence to dry.
“Adam… said God, I will come back before sunset and put some brains in them.”
God got busy and plume forgot all about this project until the next morning.
It was then -to His shock and dismay-that he discovered the people with no brains had walked off!
And do you know… they have been increasing and multiplying ever since?
You might even have met one! 🤣 ( I do every time I sit down in front of my chrome book!)
“Orange you gonna laugh… I do! ”
My favorite color
So until tomorrow…A self is always becoming… when I least expect it…things come clear and then you realize how obvious it was all along!
I pray that day comes soon-because it will then be my favorite day … Winnie the Pooh!
And guess what-I love getting to give hugs to family and friends who have been completely vaccinated!
Oh how I missed it-life is getting better every day!
We usually think of the word pruning in connection to a gardening technique. As in to cut off an useless or damaged branch, limb, stem or even bloom. For the past few weeks I have been pruning back most of the bushes in my garden that looked too bushy or overgrown for the garden-bushes like my Chinese Fringe, magnolia, gardenias and tea olives.
But lately I have come to realize that I needed to do some pruning inside too-to get rid of useless clutter that stifles my creativity and healthy mental growth.
Specifically I knew last Monday a week ago that my happy place/ blog post writing room needed dusting, moping, cutting back on the stacks of books that filled two desk tables-it was suddenly just too much-a distraction at the least and a thought blocker at the most.
I was going to need my wits about me to learn all the in’s and out’s of a new computer program-not visually bogged down in piles of notes and books.
I needed a crisp clean polished look before I even placed the new chrome book on the adjacent desk.
I also needed space to think… admiring my flowering baskets with the sounds of birds chirping … life’s “extras” to inspire me … a reminder that life is beautiful and should be shared with others!
My Writing Window
*The only problem was… if one removes clutter from one room and drops it off in another-you have just exchanged “clutter zones!”It took me two days to lug bags of books and miscellaneous items to the car to drop off at different charity centers!
But oh what a sensational feeling of accomplishment ones has when decluttering is complete… until it sneakily builds back up again and it’s time to prune again !
Maybe that is why my garden appeals more to me each year-it stays cleaner longer and I get to follow secret azalea paths, welcome new plants and watch Bliss, the little wide-armed statue become immersed by colors of the rainbow!
Happiness is “Bliss”
So until tomorrow … God is good all the time-His will be done in ‘ 21!
I was thinking the other day that the best thing to come out of the pandemic has been the abundance of kindness I have felt in my daily life that I didn’t experience as much before the virus hit. Equally important is the amazing gift of a lowcountry spring in bloom.
Could this be a lasting blessing from an otherwise tragic year? Could kindness be the next pandemic?
Have we as a whole grown more feeling, caring, compassionate and kind because of our shared suffering that transcends even political philosophies? Hopefully I say “YES!”
Kindness is exponential… one single good act creates another kind act and so on and so on…like a virus kindness can spread throughout our homes, neighborhoods, communities, states, and finally country. (In fact the world!)
Edward Grinnan (Positive Living) has explored of all these possibilities of a lasting blessing.
“For the virus the threshold was five percent. Can it also be true that if just five percent of the population shows intentional kindness to others that it too could could become the catalyst for change? A way for us to move forward? To find unity and become spiritually fit?”
Haven’t we done good deeds or provided smiles and/or bottles of water for front-line helpers, UPS and Fed Ex drivers?Doodle has a decorated basket of assorted chip bags by her front door thanking all types of deliverers and telling them to help themselves.
Many of us know names of neighbors we didn’t before, share meals, drop off mail to others, know first names of bank tellers, grocery cashiers, mail carriers, waiters and waitresses, take flowers to others, run errands for those who can’t…..kindness is all around us.
So until tomorrow…Let’s start a pandemic of kindness where the only shots required are shots of generosity, compassion, love, and kindness!
“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh
A little late but Lachlan…our St. Paddy’s boy had a great Star Wars birthday!
Yesterday the post was about sharing the two securities all humans have on earth-sunrise and sunset.
Early yesterday morning I was out planting in the garden and got to see the sun rise ” on my shoulders.”
Do you remember that John Denver song? As the story goes… John was out in his yard one early spring morning in Minnesota-and realized that soon the sun would be warmly on his shoulders-an universal feeling the whole world could embrace.
In 1964 it hit the charts as the number one song in America!
Then… a God Wink! A gentleman on a talk show said ” Whenever I got low in spirit during those early days of the Pandemic… I remembered my favorite line from Tom Hanks character in the movie Castaway.
He said…” Tomorrow the sun will rise… and who knows what the tide will bring in… so now I know what I have to do-I have to keep breathing.”
Keep breathing
As Tom Hanks learned from his own desire to survive… Brene Brown’s advice is applicable everywhere to everyone-
” Letting go of fear is when you start being your most creative self… it is the birthplace of innovation creativity and change!
So until tomorrow-join me visually in the early mornings planting new life and watching the sun feed happiness on life!
As you can imagine the transition from typing on a regular keyboard (on a desk top computer) to learning all the ‘in’s and out’s’ of a chrome book has been challenging. It has left me sleepless on a few nights recently. It is hard to turn off your mind when it is trying to absorb so many new procedures that now feel alien to one’s memory and fingertips.
Everyone has a helpful hint or piece of advice, which has helped me along and along… with some creative endeavors implemented to use as transitional tools until everything feels more comfortable.
As I lay awake at night or early in the morning hours just before dawn…I reassure myself that once the sun comes up…nothing will seem as menacing…and my perspective on this tech transition will morph into more realistic observations.
Yesterday morning my neurons lit up as I remembered a beautiful story about the importance of the guarantee of sunrise each morning. It originates from a story by Archibald Rutledge, once owner of Hampton Plantation, who never forgot this true incident in his life.
“It Will be Daybreak Soon”
Sam Singleton was a boatman at Hampton Plantation and a friend of Archibald Rutledge…both of whom shared a love for nature and hunting. Since Sam was the expert on the plantation when it came to the river and boating…he would usually accompany Rutledge on duck hunting expeditions.
This particular time Rutledge and Singleton left home in the middle of the night to paddle down the Santee River to a place called “Tranquility” since “it is as solitary as being in the heart of a wild delta can make it.” They thought they had started at a time which would make their arrival
coincide with the first early morning flight and hunt. But things didn’t go the way they expected….as Rutledge continues his tale.
“A southern river at night can be a haunting thing, with great stars hanging like spangles in dark pines and the ancient water oaks fringing the river shores. Baffling to navigate by broad daylight, the Santee at night is mysterious. The perils of the situation was heightened by the craft in which we were traveling.”
“A dugout cypress canoe… it had a certain tendency to roll as had its parent log, utterly lacking the virtue of stability that one relishes in a boat…especially when voyaging through the darkness of a hugh river that seems to be wandering toward eternity.”
“The stars that had been shining when we left home were soon obscured by a fog so dense that we could hardly see beyond the bow of our little canoe. Suddenly there was no land visible and the waves that began to roll our canoe were suspiciously like sea waves. The roar of the surf that we had heard for a long time now became almost deafening.”
“The fact that the tide had now turned, or was about to, confused us still further. The canoe shipped water, gallons of it. The mist blinded us. There was no use avoiding the truth: we were in some serious danger. I told Sam mildly that in case the canoe was swamped we must turn it over and cling to it. How can I ever forget what he said?”
“Never mind, Cap’n,” the humble boatman told me: “It will be daybreak soon.”
“What was there in the plight that night on which we could certainly count? Only one thing there was; the coming of light-daybreak, sunrise! It came in time to save us, though we were really on the brink of the sea when the rosy radiance over the delta disclosed our position to us. “
“Yet the real lesson didn’t escape me; It was Sam’s reminding me that it was SURE to come, restoring thus my courage!”
“And even now, after all these years, whenever the shadows are deepest and most impenetrable, I seem to hear, out of the dim celestial past, the quiet voice of Sam Singleton saying to my doubting and beseiged heart, “Never mind,Capt’n; it will be daybreak soon.”
………………………………………….
So until tomorrow…isn’t it wonderful that we mere mortals, while undergoing difficult transitions, can count on certainty in one area of our lives…our faith…that each day the sun will rise and each evening it will set. How comforting that certainty is… especially while paddling in one’s new murky waters. Thank you God.
* And thank all of you for your votes of confidence, humor, empathy, and spiritual comments….Dee added her unique perspective on the situation saying: “I’ve always agreed with you that a “little c” IS indeed how a malignancy should be referenced. *(No respect should be shown for such an unworthy oppressor)
In my life, I choose the “Capital C” in referencing my AGED Computer which is and has been “hanging on by a thread.” *(For your sake Dee…I pray that thread lasts forever.! ( )
“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh
*While I have been somewhat “stunted” in tech growth…my garden has been profusely growing in happiness!
God does have a sense of humor…as I was scrolling through some old documents in “Old Faithful” … I came across this humorous piece of a revised “tech psalm.” I looked up and winked “Good one God!”
THE LORD IS MY SERVER, I SHALL NOT CRASH
“The Lord is my programmer,
I shall not crash.
He installed His software on the hard disk of my heart;
all of His commands are user-friendly.
His directory guides me to the right choices
For His namesake
Even though I scroll through the problems of life,
I will fear no bugs, for He is my backup.
His password protects me.
He prepares a menu before me in the presence of my enemies.
His help is only a keystroke away.
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life,
And my files will be merged with His and saved forever.”
(Reverend Ken Fox)
I needed that and I think God knew it too! I have prayed hard to Him, especially this past week!
I have prayed to God for guidance …to guide my finger tips across the new keys without losing the whole document -by hitting the really wrong key, to show me understanding…as I plow through new jargon and procedures, and most of all for patience…and then more patience…and more patience, etc.
So until tomorrow…
God please hold my hand through this challenging time and let me emerge a more faithful follower of your love!
“Today is my favorite day” (because you made it God) Winnie the Pooh
And speaking of my favorites, let’s go to the garden and gifts from friends (Honey):
Saving Ms. Boo requires two cookies – one for each hand!
I just woke up to check on the blog post I wrote yesterday-when I didn’t see it at 6:15 this morning I thought I must have scheduled it incorrectly and I would just hit Publish Immediately and take care of it!
But it appears to have completely disappeared-nowhere to be found.
Ironically it was on the subject of vulnerability! Gotta laugh! If it magically appears again I will send it out later today… if not just chalk it up to another hiccup to living in transition! So sorry!
Before the mischievous leprechauns turned my world upside down last Wednesday ( St Patrick’s Day) I took writing a daily blog for granted.
True, occasionally, the cousins -the computer gremlins, would play tricks with me, but on the whole my daily life was pretty predictable… and a quiet confidence surrounded me.
Life decided it was time to shake my daily world up a little-force me out of my comfort zone and turn me in a new direction.
These past few days I have felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz on the dark scary path of woods outside the security of the yellow brick road…” Lions and Tigers and Bears. Oh My!”
You might remember before the computer crash we had been examining four life lessons from Brene Brown but had not gotten to the last one-Vulnerability!
Well, I for one, really need that lesson right now!
Brene first dispels two myths about vulnerability-the first is that vulnerability is weakness and the second that it’s optional!
First… not only is vulnerability not a weakness… it probably the most accurate measure of our individual courage!
We all find ourselves in vulnerable situations throughout our lives…so the only choice we truly have is in how we handle these vulnerable moments in life.
Brown says ” The key to transforming vulnerability into courage is learning how to recognize them, feel them, and ultimately make the choice to simply be there, with that horrible tangle of uncertainty and risk! When you know what you are feeling and why, you can slow down, breathe, pray, ask for support-and make choices that reflect who you are and what you believe.
So until tomorrow …thank you readers for your loyal support while I continue learning new programs and trying to decide where my next text niche will fall best for me! ❤️
” Today is getting to be my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh
Since my computer indoor sanctuary has been compromised with all the new programs to learn while in a vulnerable state seeking my own inner courage… my garden has become my go to place for comfort!
Look at all the new flowers I have planted along the garden path with the help of Mother Nature and spring azaleas!
ichaseferalcats
John Turner
Legally Ohm
Becky Dingle