Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

Yesterday I was on a Tuesday Trek to Find Local Culinary Talents! (Actually one specific and very special cuisine for me…pimento cheese!)

It started almost two years ago. Mollie invited me to attend an outside local produce “fair” on an empty lot near a deli the family frequented often on Clements Ferry Road…They were supposed to have a wide variety of vendors…ranging from local cuisine to native flowers and plants. I was so excited!

Mother Nature let us down…it started ‘raining cats and dogs’ just as we arrived. It must have been some time between Thanksgiving and Christmas because they had all kinds of props for visitors to put on and get family photos on the front porch of the eatery.

Due to the inclement weather…many vendors bowed out…but a few brave souls showed up …one of them being Angie Leopard…cook, creator, and owner of Coachman’s Pimento Cheese. 

Now I hate to say that I am a pimento cheese snob…but truthfully I am. Even Jackson always brought me a certain kind of pimento cheese that only could be bought at one of the fresh markets in Columbia. Jackson would bring it every time the Ya’s had a beach gathering. (She always brought just one special separate container for me…love that Jackson!)

My taste for only the best pimento cheese, however, began with Dee Dee (my mother-in-law)…she made homemade pimento cheese…weekly I think. It was always in a green bowl with a plastic covering in the fridge…(the one thing I looked for…every time I went to her house.)

Once you have eaten homemade pimento cheese…it is tough to eat the store bought…even the ‘wanna’ be, almost brands…are still not close enough.

So two years ago when I tasted Angie’s I wanted to cry with joy…it was smooth and creamy like Dee Dee’s…Angie roasts her pimentos first…and adds some crucial substitutions that make her pimento cheese so ‘creamy’ it melts in your mouth.

I bought some from her that rainy day long ago…and then she and the cheese just seemed to disappear. During Covid I tried to track her down again…but the phone was out of order.

…But then a God Wink appeared last week.

I was going through my business cards straightening them out and throwing away old ones or duplicates when Angie’s Coachman’s Pimento Cheese business card popped up…I googled it and this time a name of a place appeared on-line where one could buy her pimento cheese.

3025 Ashley Phosphate Road-Charleston, SC

My mouth was watering all night in anticipation of buying and then eating her smooth, delicious pimento cheese. I was not disappointed!

I found it, without any trouble, and was welcomed into this little market that sponsors local culinary talent from spreads, to pimento cheese, to barbecue rubs and sauces for cook-outs…all homemade with old family recipes…besides some talented woodcraft objects-especially for kitchens and home decor.

Christina is co-owner, along with her partner, Megan…they run The Compass Market together. Megan wasn’t there…but Christina was so sweet and gave me a sample of each kind of three different type of the Coachman’s Pimento Cheese…all delicious. I ended up purchasing containers of everything pimento.

Everything inside had a fun rustic trading center feel to it….the painting (below) was done by a relative when the young ladies opened up their first business endeavor…The Compass Market. 

The Compass Market advertises food and goods from near and far…but it is the near that people, like me, want.

Isn’t this true of life? Don’t we all get caught up in the game of the ‘grass is greener‘ syndrome during some stage in our lives? We start to think the best things in life must be just a little farther down the road…or just around the next bend in it.

Instead some of the best things in life are right in front of us…made, cooked, created, built by people we know and love… or in some cases…even by ourselves.

So until tomorrow….

When looking for compasses…always look for the one that points you home.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Here comes the state flower…The Yellow Jessamine…it is our SC golden trumpet flowering vine announcing spring is on its way.

Them there is the ‘fairy-like’ delicacy of light pinkish tinged camellias!

And speaking of fairies…Mollie sent me the most precious video of Eloise setting up her first fairy garden yesterday. Her little fairies were adorable and she was completely absorbed in the task at hand. Mollie made a photo from one clip of the video though I wish you could hear Eloise explaining her fairies to me and introducing them…too precious!

It is moments like this that you pray will last forever in your memories…a little three-year-old who does believe in fairies and imagination and love…may it stay with you for ever Eloise!

“I believe” ...in things one can not see but feel…one day these feelings will turn to faith. Little fairies become God in all His Majesty…if we learn to believe in the possibility of the presence of the Divine in our everyday lives.

Dear Reader:

Well yesterday must have decided to pose or model for this blog post…because it was  a “transitional” day in every way defined.

We were supposed to have another near 80’s day…and for a few minutes we might have gotten close… It started out cool, then excessively cloudy, then bright sun but accompanied with sudden gales of wind knocking off planters on the deck and porch…and if that wasn’t enough “unsettled” weather…these strange sudden downpours from nowhere would pop up and just as quickly disappear. There was something for everyone.

March didn’t start out like a lamb or a lion…it started out as a very confused giraffe, I think, who didn’t know whether to run, stand still, duck its head under its legs or keep stretching its neck to see what the next strange weather front was getting ready to do. Bizarre is the only word for yesterday’s weather here.

Most of the time seasonal transitions aren’t quite so dramatic…yet when we reflect back on our lives…aren’t their stages in it when we seemed to get hit by too many changes happening too quickly to adjust to our new lives comfortably?

We might still shudder at the memories.

It could have been a time of tragedy…losing a parent or parents and undergoing huge living transitions, a health issue that affected our lives either temporarily or chronically, the loss of any loved one whose lives had intertwined with ours, a physical move to another location in the country or even to a foreign country. The list could go on and on.

Even if we have been fortunate enough not to get hit with any of these prior scenarios…growth transitions can be pretty dramatic to each individual’s way of thinking and life time perception of themselves…Growing up is hard…no doubt about it.

We think we are too tall, too small, too freckly, too pale, too dark, too shy, too buck-teethed, too skinny, too fat and unfortunately all is takes is one mean comment at school and it takes years to get over an unkind and untrue statement about ourselves.

The term “finding ourselves” which is usually a life-time quest… has nothing to do with a geographical setting or place…it is more about finding our surroundings where we feel accepted and loved for who we are…not what we do or don’t do for a living.

At the stage of life I am in now…I have finally come to understand that the most powerful personal transitions are usually the least obvious in other’s eyes…because our changes are deeply embedded within us.

It has taken me a lifetime to accept me for me…no longer trying to please the world…but learning to accept my weaknesses as strengths, such as they keep me humble in the presence of the only “Person” I want or need to please…my Creator.

So until tomorrow…

My other “Ah-Ha” moment has been a hidden truth about all of our daily lives…and that belief is….

At some point one becomes their surroundings. So be careful who you surround yourself with and where you place yourself. Each year I am becoming more one with my garden…with the secret world of the beauty and kindness within.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

I am slowly adding beauty to the area Jeff cleaned out for me outside my “office” window where Sammy the Cardinal and I meet each day.

I went to put two cards in the mail box to get off before our mail carrier arrived…When I first opened the box I thought I was too late…she had already come. But as I glanced again…it was a loaf of homemade bread by Dr. Linda Karges-Bone…my once student, then co-teacher, spiritual guidance counselor for me and always friend. Plus she makes the best homemade bread!

What a delightful surcie to find in my mailbox! Thank you Linda…Thank you “Dolphin Lady.”

Dear Reader:

I decided to flip-flop the order sequence of the reminder that this is the first day of March and we post readers laugh and try to remember each time to say “Rabbit, Rabbit” first thing on this initial kick-off day to the new month…It is an old custom that is supposed to bring good luck and harmony to one throughout the month.

It first appeared in a piece of fiction in 1922…with a man in a brown hat explaining the ritual.

“Why,” the man in the brown hat laughed at him, “I thought everybody knew ‘Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit.’ If you say ‘Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit’—three times, just like that—first thing in the morning on the first of the month, even before you say your prayers, you’ll get a present before the end of the month.”

I discovered where I must have learned the tradition…it originated from one of my favorite reading series when I was a child…besides Nancy Drew. The Trixie Belden series.

Chapter 1 of the Trixie Belden story The Mystery of the Emeralds (1965) is titled “Rabbit! Rabbit!” and discusses the tradition:

Trixie Belden awoke slowly, with the sound of a summer rain beating against her window. She half-opened her eyes, stretched her arms above her head, and then, catching sight of a large sign tied to the foot of her bed, yelled out, “Rabbit! Rabbit!” She bounced out of bed and ran out of her room and down the hall. “I’ve finally done it!” she cried […] “Well, ever since I was Bobby’s age I’ve been trying to remember to say ‘Rabbit! Rabbit!’ and make a wish just before going to sleep on the last night of the month. If you say it again in the morning, before you’ve said another word, your wish comes true.” Trixie laughed.”

I will let everyone off the hook who is just reading about this superstition today for the first time …just get a “rabbit, rabbit” spoken sometime today before the sun sets. No pressure! 🙂

Rabbits or not…isn’t there a big difference in our psyche when it comes to saying February versus March. February conjures up cold, dismal, winter…with a “heart” thrown in for good measure. March, however, conjures up spring, flowers, warmth, and above all… hope…daylight savings time will kick in this month and the official start of spring begins.

I must admit I am rather proud of my ole’ self today for my garden endeavors yesterday…I got every new spring flower planted…I was down in the back last evening…but just looking at the results takes the pain away.

As the sun went down yesterday…the new garden flowers were standing proudly forming the first part of the garden path.

I also pulled up dead stems to make room for the flowers reappearing on their own initiative…or intuition. 🙂

On my way to the post office late yesterday afternoon…to drop the new month’s bills in the mail… I noticed a Japanese Magnolia with Spanish moss hanging over its branches…only in the lowlands do you see this….Now that I think about it…”Maybe the call out first thing on the first day of the month…should be “Bills Bills” …just a little reminder to pay’em! 🙂 (Though admittedly it doesn’t carry the same charm! )

At the end of my street (Rainbow Road) my neighbor has planted daffodils at the Stop sign…a reminder to stop and gaze at spring unfolding before us.

So until tomorrow….

“Rabbit, Rabbit” my friends…I wish for one and all… a prosperous and joyous month!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

When I woke up yesterday it was already in the sixties and the weatherman was telling me it would hit the low eighties inland. My mind started spinning…so many things to do, places to go… where to start?

When I saw this cute title message…the wishbone was definitely winning out as my first “Bone to pick”…because when I checked my on-line banking account…my state tax refund had come in….Celebrate, Celebrate…Dance to the Music!

I got dressed in a flash and took off for Lowe’s on Dorchester Road…they have the most beautiful outdoor nursery…and I was not alone in my desire to see all their latest spring plants coming in.

The parking lot was full…but the plant lovers were ushered in and told where and how to spread out….we were off and running… grabbing plants like we were in one of HGTV’s  Guy’s Grocery Games!

Look what I returned with….in my cart!

I brought out the potting soil and started filling the wooden basket on the porch with English Daisies….the wooden container had been empty long enough! I had to pull my second bone out to get this job done…my “back bone.” It was heavy lifting it on the chair.

Another cloned branch from “Big Red” had survived the winter…but the other plants in with it had not…so I added “creeping Jenny” to fill in.

By now, for the first time in a long time, I was HOT! Perspiring profusely hot. It was time to stop the re-planting and wait until the morning coolness later in the weekend.

Speaking of coolness…look what Honey woke up to yesterday morning…certainly not low eighties weather predictions…but the serene scene of a late winter mountain morning with clouds and blue skies providing the amazing backdrop. God’s beauty knows no limits.

On the way home I stopped by my favorite tea room and had so much fun cutting up with Sherry when she brought me my wonderful chicken salad plate. We were both laughing at different jokes…so my “funny bone” got pulled.

An extra entrance has been added to the outside of the tea room and the yellow jessamine vine was starting to cover it…so pretty…had to get out of my car and go take a picture of it. It is our state flower, after all!

After I came in to cool off and eat my salad…I decided to cook the rest of the spaghetti and drop some off for Anne and Susan.

At both places…I ended up staying to catch up… on  Anne’s front porch and Susan’s back deck…conversing with friends…the perfect day for doing so.

Anne showed me what she had just completed. A wildflower pattern on her quilt….It looked just like my dream of a wildflower “field” around my garden.

Soon I was off to Susan’s with another plate of spaghetti and found myself sipping peach tea she brought me- delicious, listening to the orchestra of birds Susan has in her back yard. They must know she is a talented musician and loves listening to friends of flight.

Before I left Susan showed me two beautiful pieces of nature that only God could place for Susan to enjoy its beauty while on the deck.

Drop-dead gorgeous camellias and a Star Magnolia…kin to the pink Japanese magnolias…just starting to pop open.

So until tomorrow….

At Tuesday Morning Friday afternoon I found the sweetest dragonfly outdoor light…Last evening, just as it was growing dark I placed it on the garden gate and said a silent prayer of gratitude…these days are filled with so much happiness, beauty, and friendship!

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

I broke down and went in Belk yesterday (with a double mask for good luck) because I was desperate for some pants that fit me again.

Somehow during this pandemic…I have managed to lose some weight and I am stuck between pant sizes…one is too loose and I am constantly pulling my pants up…like the little girl on Dee Lesko’s adorable card she sent me…and then to make it worse…I am a little tall for short length pants and not tall enough for average  pants. What’s a gal to do?

I managed to find a pair of jeans and one pairs of slacks…right now they fit but who knows what the future will bring?

It got me thinking about the spiritual dilemmas we find ourselves in when we get spiritually stuck between two sizes also. I am sure God intends One Size to fit all His children equally lovingly…but then when we start holding back on some practices and beliefs in our spirituality or adding personal judgments to others and their beliefs and life styles…we get stuck in half sizes again.

My shoe size is a six…but my chemo regime causes my feet to swell during intervals on occasion and  neuropathy is a frequent visitor too…so from day to day I can wear a six or a six and a half or even a seven. I just have learned to adjust to daily dressing by picking out which shoe fits first and then outfit accordingly.

*Though if I am being completely honest…the sign below sums up my attire on many a day….anybody else get in this predicament occasionally?

On the inside of the title card Dee sent me…she had placed a gold sticker because I was teasing her about a comment she made on an earlier blog post this week. She gave me an A+ on the post for research and information…I thanked her profusely and teasingly asked ...”But where is my gold star then?” 

Dee’s note card came yesterday…she was out of stars but wondered if the large gold sticker would suffice? It did…and does…and Dee always gets the last laugh in…in all sizes…big, small, and in-between.

Yesterday I got caught in “Please Lord don’t let me bump into anybody I know at the grocery store”…as I tentatively crept out of my car, ran across the parking lot and went through Publix in record-breaking time-even without my grocery list I had left in the car- a miracle…and no I didn’t see a soul I knew. God is SO good! No half-sizes from Him…He gives it all…all the time!

So until tomorrow….

Father, Help me stop pulling back from full commitments to do God’s work but instead give me the right size shoe to make the trip to help others.

Another amazingly late spring weather  pop-up day….I worked on beautifying my deck surroundings.

Dear Reader:

I mentioned in the post yesterday that one of my lucky signs, a God Wink, came in the form of Louie Armstrong’s hit “It’s a Wonderful World” that I listened to on my way to my oncology appointment. Absolutely adore this song.

I immediately felt my apprehension easing out of my tense shoulders and the world just seemed brighter and happier from listening to this beautiful melody.

Sound...one of the most important senses we have. And the last one to leave us.

I never realized this important fact until mother was dying and one of the sweet nurses pulled me aside and said mother’s breathing had changed…she was just minutes away now from “crossing over.” So take these moments and think about what I wanted to tell her…because it would be the last thing she heard…and don’t forget to tell her… it was okay to go.

I remember hearing your whole life flashes in front of you when you are the one departing…but in that moment…it was scenes of my life with mother that suddenly flooded my brain and memory. When the nurse nodded at me I went over, bent down and just began thanking mother for all she did for me, Ben, and David…I told her how amazing I thought she was and how happy I was that she was getting ready to see daddy and David again after such a long separation.

I then reassured her that we were fine here, we would miss her, but that this was her time of happiness- she had certainly earned it…and in a blink of a eye we would join her one day…until then “I love you Mom!”

We often read in books and on tombstones beautiful verses of prose or funny remarks on the death bed…but have you ever thought about what the last thing you will hear on earth will be?

In Barbara Johnson’s Daily Splashes of Joy that Jo gave me there is a “daily gem of wisdom to sparkle each day.” I decided yesterday to look up February 25, 2021 and found an interesting anecdote.

A friend wrote a note to the author sharing this true-life episode. She wrote that her uncle went with his wife to a Hardee’s Drive–through and ordered breakfast. The couple ate there often, she said, and the boy who took the order recognized her uncle’s voice and said teasingly….

” Come on up partner…we’re waiting for you.”

Just then the uncle grabbed his chest and said to his wife, “I’ll see you in heaven!” And he was gone.

The woman wrote:

” At my uncle’s funeral the minister said, “The voice over the speaker may have been the order-taker’s but it was a message straight from God. “Come on up partner…we’re waiting for you.”

The daily devotional ended with this question.

If you thought your words would be the last earthly thing someone heard, would it make a difference in what you said and how you said it? Or what would you like to hear for the last time before passing, a loved one’s voice, your favorite song….?

I thought about it…and I want to hear the sound of children playing and laughing in the distance….such a beautiful sound of hope.

I remember Grandmother Wilson sharing this story when Grandpa Charlie was slowly dying from a heart complications one afternoon. The field hands were collecting cotton that day and one field hand yelled out as loud as he could so Grandpa could hear through the open bedroom window….”The best cotton we’ve seen in a long time Mr. Charlie..the cotton is as fine as fluffy white clouds in heaven.”

A contented smile settled on Grandpa and he left this earth assured of a “good crop.”

Anne and I shared lunch on my back deck since she, too, had some scans this week, along with other medical procedures…we both received great “report cards”…so it was time to celebrate in the basking sun yesterday…a time to unwind and thank God again for His support and love.

Then I headed over to Mt. Pleasant to get some clothing articles to Jake and Eva Cate that had finally come in, back order, from Amazon…I am sure because of the weather. Jake also wanted a little stuffed puffin he saw me with one day…and was thrilled to have a new sleeping partner.

Winnie the winsome toy poodle personality did a good job of keeping up as we all walked through a part of the neighborhood yesterday afternoon…I so enjoyed the exercise and company!

We had Mexican for supper…food and drink…delightful!

These days just get better and better.

Dear Reader:

Every morning when we arise…the first decision of the day lies in wait until our full consciousness is awakened. We have one decision to make, as a contributing member of the human race, what kind of attitude are we taking with us into the next 24 hours?

Are we upbeat or downtrodden?

Most of us forget about this most important decision as we allow ourselves to get swept along, like a fast current, into the day by events that happen along the way. We play the “wait and see” game as the day unfolds…but by doing this we are turning our personal steering wheel over to circumstances instead of taking charge of our own life and destiny.

Yesterday, as soon as my eyes opened, I know immediately what day it was…it was a day for medical results beyond my control…whether my Cat-Scan would show my tumors had enlarged or worse metastasized in my chest, abdomen, or pelvis.

It was one of the those situations we discuss a lot on the blog post…the out-of-our-control situations …the ones we have to turn over to a Bigger Power than ourselves.

My silent prayer was ….”God You have been with me along my long journey and given me time and life beyond anything I could have expected…and through it all You have held my Hand…I pray for positive reports today but regardless…my main concern is just that You continue to lead me in Your Path and never stop holding my Hand. Your will be done.”

Everything seemed to be clicking in a positive direction even before I got to the Charleston Oncology Center. When I checked my on-line banking account…it was up and working again (had been down for five days for some “maintenance” issue)…and to my delight my federal tax return was already in my account! 🙂

*I had been warned that the IRS was running behind this year so it could be closer to a month before I saw my federal refund…it was exactly one week yesterday when I signed off on all the tax forms.

I found myself humming a little tune…there was very little traffic,  a beautiful, gorgeous morning and my favorite song of songs…Louie Armstrong’s “It’s a Beautiful World” played while I happily sang the lyrics.

The difference in the waiting room line between Monday and Wednesday was like night and day. I felt like I had the room to myself.

There was a standing joke going on between me and the staff member who was taking temperatures before being allowed to enter the waiting room.

For some weird reason…(she thought the thermometer machine was broken) my temperature this past Monday was 94.4. She kept staring at it…I thought I was running a fever the way she was still shaking her head…she took it three times with the same results.

I told her not to worry about it…I always ran lower than normal temps (usually not that low but still low) so I told her to just call me “Miss Cucumber”….as in ‘cool as a cucumber.’ 

When she took my temperature yesterday she stated….‘You’re not Miss Cucumber” today…you are up to 97.4…you’re downright hot today!” and she started chuckling.

I didn’t wait even 10 minutes until I was called back for my visit..I had my vitals checked and Dr. Jeter entered with a smile…the biggest conclusion from the scan was ” No evidence of metastatic breast cancer within chest, abdomen, and pelvis.”

I didn’t realize I had been holding my breath until she read the findings and suddenly my breath came rushing out from under my mask. Whew! I felt like the little child inside me again who moved just in time not to get hit with the dodge ball. Double Whew!

Living with “little c” can be nerve-wracking at times…but on days like yesterday…HOPE is still alive and well.

Thank all of you for your well-wishes and prayers…I went in yesterday in full armor…prepared for whatever lay ahead of me.

I treated myself to some more flowers for the garden, a delicious barbecue sandwich for lunch and sharing the happy news with family and friends.

And to  add “icing to the cake” I got my Spectrum Cable Bill… there was a note stating there had been a “readjustment” to the monthly bill…(I was already growling when I blinked)…it was a $17.03  decrease off my current bill.

I broke out laughing….”Now God… You are just showing off!” :)

So until tomorrow….

When I got home there was a box filled with flowers, candies, and garden items….It was from Harriett Edwards on the very day I got the results. I think you have a sixth sense Harriett….you made my day!

I really love the poem on the plaque!

“When events of the day cause your poor heart to harden….always remember there is a garden…”

I rearranged flowers and had the happiest time doing so yesterday…the results are below.

Thank you dear readers for your prayers…I felt them and quite honestly…I really felt like I was pretty “cool as a cucumber” ….for me! 🙂

Dear Reader:

It, still, makes me happy to see so much underbrush removed last week by Jeff, my lawn maintenance expert. For the first time, in a long time, people riding down the street can see the bottle tree in all its beauty again…not hidden behind and within the thick foliage of vines and ropes.

The “Ya’s” (lifetime friends from college days) all got interested in giving each other a bottle tree and subsequent bottles to put on it after reading local author, Karen White’s novel…On Folly Beach (several years back.)

It was chocked full of World War II home front stories from Folly Beach residents…including German u-boats and local volunteers looking for submarines…spies…lots of local history I never knew took place.

But within the story, there were several strong characters who, also shared local folklore and the history/mystery behind the bottle trees of the area. One character shared this legend….

One of the many traditions steeped in local Lowcountry history is the bottle tree. … The legend is, early Africans believed that when night rolled around, the bottles lured and trapped evil spirits in them and held them hostage until the rising morning sun could destroy them.

In the story…it was also a novel way to send communications with military secrets or warnings about spies in the area. Notes would be written on small pieces of paper and left in certain bottles during the night.

Besides the bottle tree out by Rainbow road…I have two more bottle trees in my garden…I am taking no chances with bad spirits wandering my garden.

Another sage piece of protection from bad spirits comes from painting one’s house with “haint blue” colors…particularly the door, windows and porches.

I still have “haint” blue on my front porch ceiling and a blue door upon the exit from my Happy Room. According to local folklore…the color blue is used for a specific reason.

Originally, haint blue was thought by the Gullah peoples to ward haints, or ghosts, away from the home. The tactic was intended either to mimic the appearance of the sky, tricking the ghost into passing through, or to mimic the appearance of water, which ghosts traditionally could not cross.

*There is also another benefit too…I have never had a wasp or other insect nest on my front porch…supposedly the blue hue confuses flying insects and they think it is the sky…and fly away.

The Gullah would paint not only the porch, but also doors, window frames, and shutters. Blue glass bottles were also hung in trees to trap haints and boo hags. ( I always make sure I have blue cobalt bottles on my bottle trees for this reason) 🙂

I first came to hear the story of haints, boo hags and painting homes blue when I first started teaching SC History in the early seventies. Back then many of my students lived in homes with blue ceilings, porches, doors, and windows…and if they didn’t live in one… their aunts, uncles, or grandparents still did.

Sadly this piece of folklore has died out with many of the old homes being taken apart for new housing developments. I miss seeing the “haint” houses around Summerville like I got to experience in my early teaching years.

I am glad my students filled my imagination  long ago with their cultural histories and that I have been able to preserve some of these old folklore legends in my home in the lowcountry…

So until tomorrow….

I like narrative storytelling as being part of a tradition, a folk tradition.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

I added greenery to the Pine Forest swing and now it completes the perimeter at the front of the garden

Sunshine in the seventies yesterday and today…life is SO GOOD!

Finally…I can safely leave the pillows and mattress out a few days straight without worrying about them getting wet…a benchmark!

Dear Reader:

You might remember a few years ago I shared with you some interesting facts about songs, music and communication…Theologian Quinn Caldwell shared these findings…

“There are about 5,400 species that sing.  The majority live in the trees, a few live in the oceans, a very few live underground, but there is one—only one—singing species that lives on the ground: us.

Another thing: humans are the only singing species with a precise and shared sense of rhythm, which is what allows us to sing together.  Two birds might sing the same song, but they cannot sing it together.”

I am sharing all this information again because Emily Dickinson’s metaphor on hope and feathered creatures came to light for me yesterday at the North Charleston Oncology Center.

There wasn’t a nurse dressed up like a feathered bird singing…but there was CAT-Scan technician, Sheila, who gave voice to hope for me…a voice that plucked me from the waiting masses and gave me extra attention… saving me lots of waiting time.

Yesterday was one of the days I dread…my annual CAT-SCAN that covers just about every part of my body….looking to see if the tumors are still behaving themselves or if they have grown or decided to move around. Needless-to -say it is always somewhat nerve-wracking. (Will get the results later in the week)

This time I was even more concerned because they were trying to fit my lab blood work in on top of the scan…it first and then the scan. The lab work is done on the downstairs main floor, whereas, the specific scans and other tests are performed on the second floor.

My type of scan requires that the barium sulfate drink be consumed two hours before the scan….it’s not awful…but thick and grainy-tasting first thing in the morning…a little iffy on my fickle stomach due to the oral chemo’s I take daily. So I always worry about how my stomach is going to tolerate it.

When I got there Monday morning…I knew things were already backed up…there was a lengthening line to check in…never a good sign. Sure enough  I heard later they were short several workers while others were having to “double dip.” Never a fun way to start a Monday morning…I’m sure.

My prayers had been I would get called back quickly… so as to not give my stomach time to get queasy again….but my hope was diminishing as more and more patients packed in.

Suddenly…from this one lone chair in the back of this large waiting area…I heard a voice calling me….”Is there a Rebecca Dingle” in the room?” I jumped up while raising my hand…can’t take the student/teacher habits out of a retired educator.

It was Sheila (who I didn’t initially recognize with the mask) the Cat-Scan technician. She motioned for me to follow her. We walked outside and got in the elevator. Hesitantly I asked her if it mattered that I had not gotten my blood work done first…since it was the first item scheduled.

She assured me we were flipping procedures to save time…no worries there. Within ten minutes I was in and out of the machine. I didn’t even have to drink more barium sulfate which is usually the case.

I was silently thanking God and repeatedly thanking Sheila for “saving” me from the long wait line downstairs. She smiled and then said…”Wait a minute…let me check your blood work…I just might be able to do it myself up here while you are still lying down… outside the machine.” 

She smiled and said she could handle it…so as I came out of the scans…she took my blood and checked that item off too.

I felt like shouting “Hallelujah” and profusely continued thanking her…she said she had been trying to help out all morning with the delays from a shortage of workers…and hopefully taking care of as many procedures as she could… it would do the trick.

Isn’t it amazing how one voice can shatter our darkness and bring light into our lives…make our day. Sheila did and I know she continued to do it for others, long after I left, on this sunny/windy/ rainy (can’t make up its mind) Monday!

So until tomorrow…

Dear Reader:

I think Professor Emmett Brown (“Doc”) might have to add (these days) 2021 to his warning to Marty about not returning to those years…in “Back to the Future.”

After I got better from the second vaccine I felt so much energy and wanted to share it with the world! I felt like I had arrived with my parachute strapped on…ready to jump back into time before the pandemic…but was halted at the open door in the airplane…told to step back…I couldn’t jump into whatever new land existed now until 85% of the other jumpers had their parachute training too.

“What? Bummer! How long will that take?” I only received shakes of heads and shrugs.

Thinking back on this initial sense of elation and achievement in completing my vaccinations…there really was a slight moment of sadness that I couldn’t return to my everyday activities and social events with friends …life before the pandemic. I couldn’t run into anybody’s house with my good news and feel a great old-fashion hug again or still feel safe socially eating in my favorite dining haunts  …of which, sadly, several are gone now.

But now that I do have time to consider what we all might be returning to…evidence is mounting that life will be changed from what we remembered and what the “new world” will resemble.

Occupational Analysts are already making predictions about the changes in protocol affecting about 70% of the work force…some occupations more than others…(If you work outside, construction sites, farms, residential and commercial grounds…be thankful..these jobs will be the least affected by the new changes.)

After reading through these predictions…I thought the occupational analysts should have just said…Life will continue…but without visually face to face physical people to talk to in most professions.

What we have already experienced with medical care, on-site personal care, customer service, leisure and travel…will soon have company… as retail stores, banks and post offices begin opting to change to e-commerce and other digital transactions…replacing the human personal touch…sadly a behavioral change likely to stick.

Large cities like NY City will soon have “Ghost Towers” as less expensive company meeting sites will move in to smaller towns and suburbs for interim physical site gatherings as needed…thus saving on overhead and high rental costs.

Workers…willing and ready to return to work… even with long commutes (as in the cartoon) will sadly discover that they no longer have this option.

Remote work and virtual meetings are likely to continue…the norm being 3-5 days a week.

I realize how lucky I am to be retired so that I am not directly affected, in the job market, but it still leaves my adult children learning to make permanent daily and social changes in occupations, habits, school, children and just plain life after the pandemic.

Emotionally, however, we all will be affected…not seeing my favorite teller inside the bank or at the window, a friendly postal worker explaining the cheapest way to send a package to the grandchildren, familiar faces in department stores that have been dear to me for years while shopping.

We humans, at least most of us, need human contact in our lives…I don’t want some automated voice telling me how to check out or purchase something…I want human interaction with laughter and facial expressions, jokes….that is how I grew up…and I certainly never thought I would out-live human contact in my daily comings and goings.

God made us to build relationships with all forms of life while here on earth…Human relationships are the most critical part of our gifted short stay in this world. It is the spirit that binds all humans.

So until tomorrow….

I think the question is now…how are we going to keep the family closeness that came out of the pandemic when “busyness” tries to consume these moments again… and, then, how are we going to fight for the right to see and communicate with another human being and not automated voices?

I think we need a plan…to be ready to tell leaders in our lives and our children’s lives that we want human presence in the time we spend on earth…if it needs to be a 10th and a half amendment added under the Bill of Rights...so be it. Here’s one retired school teacher who will rally the troops for this personal right!

” We have the right to expect to be able to communicate with human beings in local, state, and federal diversified positions who will answer, direct, advise, and help their fellow man throughout daily life.”

So until tomorrow…”Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*I was surprised to see (while researching the topic today) that the whole gang of Back to the Future had reunited for an U-tube program, comedian Josh Gad created, called “Reunited Apart“…bringing back actors in popular movie roles to help raise money for Project Hope…donations going towards front-line medical personnel fighting the coronavirus. A great idea!

So the Beat Goes on and Spring keeps Blooming regardless of what else is happening in the world…Day by Day!