Dear Reader:

I had almost forgotten about this word, pluck, until a movie I was watching, a western film this weekend, featured an older cowhand telling a young boy to “pluck up” and do what was right for his family before he left on the next cattle drive.

It was then that I  remembered it was Uncle Herschel who loved using this expression. Whenever one of us young cousins got down in the dumps over anything… trivial or not…Uncle Herschel reminded us to “pluck up” to the problem …because then everything would sort itself out in good time. (And it always did!)

“Pluck”- Used as a noun, means the trait of showing courage and determination during hard times

“Pluck Up”– Used as a verb means to become brave enough to confront a situation

I think it is time for all of us to “pluck up” and make the very best use of this pandemic time…because no matter how we cut it…time is time and it is wasting if we put everything (dreams, goals, etc) on the back burner until it is over.

I think my second Covid vaccination, not only was a shot in the arm, but it was also a shot to my re-thinking or re-booting how I want to spend the time left in the pandemic.

It kind of scared me, with wet wintry weather we had combined with the pandemic, how slovenly I felt I was becoming….so content to stay in my pj’s and “Pinkie” robe using the cold, wet weather as an “eternal” excuse…to get by with as little “doing” as possible. Not healthy physically, mentally, or emotionally.

I was starting to feel like a zombie (Is it just me or have zombies made a come back in popularity…never seen so many zombie movies, shows and even zombie gatherings?) I think I would have fit right into a zombie convention just the way I was…no make-up, wearing my oldest most comfortable clothes…not for viewing outside the house look…I would not have had to dress up at all! 🙂

But those strong women ancestral genes were not about to let me lie around the house for long…and with the sun out yesterday…so came me, myself, and I.

I was checking on the garden, feeding the birds, waving at neighbors I haven’t seen in weeks…hearing the sound of children’s laughter as they rode down the street on their bikes. Yesterday “Life” resumed again for the first time in a long time.

I was listening to a dynamic young speaker the other day, Devon Franklin, who was raised by strong women…his mother, grandmother and aunts…who taught him what a “resilient mindset” is and when to use it for best results.

A “resilient mindset” declares courageously that “I will make it through this, I don’t know how or when but I am going to make it.” People with a positive attitude realize that the only way out of a tough situation is going through it.

He mentioned the scripture in Matthew that reads “Rain falls on the just and unjust.” The rest of the scripture could conclude with the idea that the “just” however, use this miraculous rain to plant the vegetables and trees that one day will keep them in abundance when the rains don’t fall. Time is a gift, no matter the circumstance, if we just see it as such and take advantage of it for the future.

No doubt we are all being transformed from this pandemic…we are history in the making simply by being alive during this time in world history. Yet…if we are honest many of us can admit that we are closer to our families and friends while calling in and checking on each other more frequently than if we were still on the same crazy daily treadmill, as before.

So until tomorrow…

Franklin ended his talk with a quick upbeat exercise that he does every day and it is something we have spent a lot of time discussing on this post…called the Sixty Second Gratitude Count-down.

For sixty seconds you have to name everything you are grateful for…it can be something as trivial as a new flavor of toothpaste, a new shade of nail polish or hearing your favorite song on the radio to the sun returning, spring flowers starting to bud and bloom and the continued good health of loved ones.

The secret in this exercise is that you simply can’t be down and filled with gratitude at the same time. Try it. It’s fun!

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

*Thank all of you for sharing so many comments about yesterday’s blog post with “Can’t” ….so complimentary of a creative teacher taking a grammar lesson and turning it into a life lesson.

I loved Honey’s mother’s advice which was: CAN’T NEVER COULD!” You had a wise mother Honey!!!

One day of sun and look what Mother Nature was proudly displaying…Gin-g’s daffodils and Mollie’s potted surprise buds in a pot.

Dear Reader:

First of all….thank you for your well-wishes and shared second vaccine stories…it made me feel like “one of the pack.” Dr. Fauci even admitted he had chills with his second vaccine. He said that the more the reaction…the more  one’s antibody system was right on target. So I am downright proud of my compromised antibodies…they came through for me! 🙂

Since I have been closed up in the house I’ve been watching more television than usual and one celebrity’s story really touched me the other day. I wish I could tell you this model’s name but I am afraid I am out of the loop with new talents abounding…

Her story dealt around one single word that changed her life and for one spring day’s lesson at school…the rest of her third grade class.

Her teacher had written out several contraction examples and then called on different students to write the correct contraction under the sentence.

This (now) model said the teacher had written “can not” in a sentence and she was supposed to write the contraction beside it. She kept pausing so long that the teacher asked her if she needed help. Meanwhile the other students were whispering…”Boy..that one is so easy…how can you miss that?”

Again…the teacher asked if something was wrong…and the little girl replied “That is a BAD word…my mama says and I am not supposed to say it.” 

Puzzled the teacher asked if she could write the contraction and hesitantly the girl did….but she wouldn’t say the contraction out loud. “It’s a bad word” she repeated…her face blushing.

By now the whole class was giggling and laughing….“A BAD word…now if you want to hear bad words…you should come listen to my daddy” one little boy said proudly. Everyone was cracking up now.

The teacher quieted the class and then asked the little girl why her mother thought “can’t” was a bad word. Without hesitating the girl said “Because CAN’T is the destroyer of dreams.”

One of those rare moments in teaching had just presented itself and the teacher jumped right on it. She told each student to get out a piece of paper…and write….

“When I grow up I dream about becoming a ______.”

The children did and excitedly told the class what they wanted to be and why.

Now the teacher asked them to write the sentence again…but with one difference….

“When I grow up I CAN’T dream about becoming _____ because________.”

This time the dreams had been dashed…and the kids talked about not enough money or their family moved too much or they had to help other siblings too…etc. The mood in the class grew somber.

Now they understood why “Can’t” was a “bad” word…it truly did stand between you and your dreams…but only if you let it.

The last line the children wrote that day was …

“When I grow up…I can dream about _____________.”

Lesson: Never let the “bad” word Can’t stop anyone from fulfilling their dreams. You CAN!

A lesson that was never lost on one third grade class.

……………………………………………………………………………………………….

Obviously this ninety-year old grandmother was taught “can’t” was a “bad” word too…after waiting and waiting to get her Covid vaccine…Seattle got rare snow the day of her appointment. So she bundled up and walked six miles round trip to get her shot. She wasn’t letting anything stand in her way ….this was not a  “can’t” kind of woman.

News Report: USA

A rare winter storm that dumped a foot of snow on Seattle couldn’t keep a 90-year-old woman from her first appointment for the coronavirus vaccine.

The Seattle Times reports that Fran Goldman walked six miles round trip to get her shot.

“I have been calling to get an appointment anywhere, every morning, every afternoon and often I’ve been online at night,” Goldman said.

She finally secured a slot for Sunday morning, but Friday and Saturday a strong winter storm moved through the region, turning the city’s normally rainy streets into a winter scene of snowdrifts.

Goldman dressed in fleece pants and a short-sleeved shirt so that the nurse could get to her arm easily. Over that, she layered a fleece zip-up, then a down coat, then a rain jacket.

She then put on snow boots, took out her walking sticks and ventured onto the snowy streets.

“It was not easy going, it was challenging,” she told the newspaper.

But Goldman made it to her appointment, just 5 minutes late.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

So until tomorrow…Let’s all try to keep “can’t’s” out of our lives…because if we set our minds to it…we can. We can…brings dreams into reality…We can’t destroys them.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

A funny lesson for Mandy and me yesterday…Mandy called to tell me she was so aggravated that Jake was having nothing to do with dressing up to look “100” for their 100th day of school…and she told him he was going to feel foolish when he was the only one not participating.

Instead he comes home with a huge grin spreading from ear to ear…he had won the biggest award that day- working the longest and only student to finally  solve the Dreambox math problem.

He never gave up!

And speaking of never giving up…just as darkness was descending yesterday the light of hope shone….tomorrow the sun will come out…finally…we can climb off the ark for a few days and stretch our legs. Hallelujah!

Dear Reader:

Quite honestly…yesterday was a blur! I just felt “achy-breaky” all over. Felt good when I left Publix after my second vaccine…and ate a good supper…fell asleep in the recliner and woke up around 10:30 P.M. to  dizziness, thirsty and my wound site painfully pulsating…drank water, took Tylenol and the cycle just kept repeating itself for the next 24 hours..

The perfect day (yesterday) was to be inside…cold wet…quite undesirable weather. Light-headed, sore arm and couldn’t keep my eyes open…I felt like an infant…sleep four hours, take water, take medicine, and repeat the cycle.

My hallucinattions did  make for wonderful dreams about how my garden can look when spring arrives and sticks around. K.C. brought me cabbage and veggie soup…so my body has good antibodies fighting…but just so sleepy…could just not keep my eyes open.

The title “visual”today was my reoccurring dream …the plot of land out by my computer window…Oh how beautiful that scene would be…every single day. Dwarf gardenia bushes, lush wildflowers, and moon flowers…to boot.

I have always found William Blake’s poetry hauntingly beautiful…many of his analogies leave me with “wonderosity“…a mixture of wonder and curiosity.

It was 2010 when the wonderful news arrived that little Miss Eva Cate was on her way…April 27, 2010….she was the first grandchild to get to sit in the garden “throne”. now eleven years have passed and only Eloise can still fit in it.

Hard to believe Eva Cate will be turning 11 this April…the miracle of life…and I am still here to see her grow up…with all my other grandchildren.

Yesterday I felt like I was playing “Peas Porridge hot…Peas Porridge cold”…I would wake up freezing and the next time burning up…it is now 8:00 and I finally feel like I am returning to the land of the living.

Lachlan was sent home in quarantine because one of his teachers tested positive Covid…yesterday so our whole family had a crazy one.

Eva Cate had some good news (the family needed some yesterday)…her school had a contest for making the most elaborate Mardi Gras mask …the participants had templates to bring home and creatively decorate …Eva Cate won and her mask will be in the yearbook!!! Way to go Eva Cate!!!

So until tomorrow….

I apologize for these scrambled thoughts on the post but was just plain “out of it’ yesterday….hopefully tomorrow will be a much better day.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Everyone is complaining about all the snow storms in the U.S. but Waterford Ireland has had a sea foam storm...looks like snow. But leave it up to the Irish…Guinness Pubs started adding beer foam for a little extra fun while romping in the sea foam.

***I am staying inside and praying that three days of recuperation  will have me ready to take my Cat-Scan Monday morning… praying God will hold my hand…and comfort me this weekend.

So until tomorrow….

Dear Reader:

Yesterday turned out to be a day full of possibilities...with all the credit going to Jeff Quire…my yard maintenance extraordinaire!

Ever since we first moved to 100 Rainbow Road…the perimeter between my house and my neighbor’s house on the corner has been a “jungle.” A mixture of bamboo from one rental house that sat for a long time abandoned while the bamboo took over…but also a mixture of wild camellias and other natural beauties fighting for survival.

Jeff arrived and for almost four hours bravely went where no other yard manager has dared…taking down “wanna be” shrubs who dreamed once of being trees…twisted “ropes” that look more like branches that vines. He hacked, sawed, and “buzzed” as much away as possible.

When I went out to look I was thrilled…I haven’t seen that much driveway on the right side of the yard since we moved there back in the early eighties. Jeff is also getting a friend to take down some much needed dangerous oak branches that could endanger my roof and chimney.

As Jeff began talking to me about some other “possibilities” for the future and expanded gardens…I just smiled…a lawn “possibilitarian!” 🙂 Who knew? God sent me just the right person to help my dreams along.

…Ideas of clearing out sections of the jungle to plant gardenias along with the moon flowers….his possibilities were endless.

Yesterday was, also, “Ash Wednesday”… traditionally the start of the Lent season …six weeks of penitence before Easter. A day of prayer and fasting…once again my prayers turned to gratitude…for having just the right people show up in my life to help me surround myself in beauty on every side of the house…not just the back garden.

Yesterday was also a personal/ historical benchmark day for me ….I got my second moderna vaccination! I felt like I did on graduation day…I wanted to jump up and run around Publix yelling “I did it…I did it…I really, finally did it!”

The sun peeked out for about an hour yesterday and then decided to hang it up…but even with just a little sun…Mollie…look at the potted surprises you gave me…some little yellow smiles are forming and striped surcies!

So until tomorrow

“The Essence of Living is…Giving!”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Yesterday was “perfect” in so many ways…I literally had to pinch myself and keep silently repeating in my head….“It’s a good day to be alive.”

The sun was out…and for the first time…in a long time…I got to see the sun’s early morning rays light up the Happy Room…creating some beautiful scenes from mother nature.

I was wide awake….and got dressed faster than I have in a long time…I wanted to enjoy every minute of this spectacular day…which climbed into the low sixties…happiness is…bright and warm!

My first check-off item of the day… was to go pick up my tax returns…the office had called Monday to tell me they were ready. So off to Goose Creek I drove (with the windows down)…holding my breath that I wouldn’t owe any federal money to Uncle Sam.

My happy attitude about the gorgeous sunny day morphed into pure sheer joy of gratitude because I ended up getting refunds from both the federal and state. Thank you God!

I treated myself to a pick-up lunch from a restaurant over there that I never go to since it is in Goose Creek and not Summerville…but I was feeling so happy I called and picked up some lunch to take home… that would be enough for supper too. Another check.

I didn’t think things could go any better but God winked…letting me know He thought life could squeeze in one more lesson.

As I pulled up to a  red light coming back into town from the interstate…a license plate on the car in front of me…made me pause and glance again.

“Serv(e) God!” Unbelievable! When we serve God happy and sad days will come our way…but the important difference is…the tough days make days like yesterday so much more special that it is like floating on white puffy clouds in the vast sunny skies of forever land.

Not only must we nurture an “attitude of gratitude” but we must teach our children and grandchildren how to do the same. Serving God is our way of letting Him know that despite the ups and downs of life…we have faith in Him that we will never face the good times and/or bad times alone. He is our Wisest Counselor and our Loudest Cheerleader!

Don’t you get it? God is crazy in love with us…and when we return that crazy love back…the result is the most delicious dessert… a little piece of heaven for our mortal eyes on earth!

So until tomorrow….

Nothing could keep me away from the garden yesterday…adding color back to it and watching it grow.

Tommy and Kaitlyn are still in the process of getting settled back in their newly repaired home again….the little dogs know where their beds are lined up….apparently Atticus was really ready to turn in last night.

Dear Reader:

Isaiah 28:16 talks about a tried stone. A tried stone is a fine grained stone used for carving statues. Stone is a solid nonmetallic mineral matter of which rock is made. A piece of stone can be shaped for a specific purpose.

In every stone building, one stone is crucial. It is laid first, and it is to ensure that the building is square and stable. It is the rock upon which the weight of the entire structure rests. It is the cornerstone.

Today’s StoryWorth question asked me how I thought my faith was different from my parents’ faith. I can truthfully say my faith has come directly down to me from my mother…but I still have far to go to get to the highest level of faith that mother held throughout her life.

Since my father died when I was so little…I can only go on what I witnessed watching his mother, Grandmother Barbour(Callie) each time we visited the Barbour family in Durham. If “Callie” wasn’t helping cook or clean she was sitting in her old rocking chair…brought there from Smithfield, North Carolina.

I never saw Grandmother Barbour in that rocker without the Bible in her lap…many times I would think she was napping…but then I realized her lips were moving silently and she was still memorizing scripture into her late eighties.

Mother certainly questioned different parts of scripture in her Bible readings but she never lost her faith… she had me learning and reciting the Shorter Catechism before the congregation one Easter Sunday when I was eleven… while still in late grade school.

At the time I wasn’t that thrilled about it but now I am so thankful mother made me do this…because to me, as an educator, I don’t think one can consider themselves an educated person if they can’t recognize certain quotes of scripture.

You might put these lessons under historical quotes and not just spiritual ones…but recognizing the metaphors throughout the Bible is the “cornerstone” of a well-rounded education.

If mother had not passed down her strong faith to me, not just in words, but in how she lived her life…I would have been completely lost when cancer invaded my body threatening to take my life with it.

I honestly don’t understand how people get through the tough times without faith in God- to have nothing to fall back on-…I honestly don’t…to not have anything or any One to rely upon would be the worst thing that could happen to me…much worse than fighting metastatic breast cancer.

I know all denominations and religions are, sadly, losing potential worshipers/believers in droves. I can’t help but think there is a link between the lack of morality seen today and the absence of a foundation of basic parables, poems, and quotes from scripture.

Certainly part of the reason is the hypocrisy young people see between the “talkers” and the “walkers” ….talking a good game and walking a righteous path (as an example for others following behind us) are two completely different”animals.”

If all children are given the chance to hear the stories of old and are familiar with them…then as adults they can decide on their faith or not …at least based on past knowledge… not just contemporary hearsay.

So until tomorrow…

I gave the pails  to the grandchildren yesterday with the heart glasses and bracelets…candies…it was fun. Then the grandchildren gifted me their special artistic valentines…Love your flowers Eva Cate!

Thank you  little Dingle clan for your creative stick-on hearts poster for me…so bright and fun!

P.S. And thank you Joan for the beautiful book marker, candy, and soap…so sweet…Eva Cate and Jake loved having y’all visit…hopefully next time it will be sunny…hope y’all didn’t run into snow and ice on the way home to Alabama!

Mollie and Lisa Register each gave me “mystery” spring blooms…have to wait and see what pops up. Too much fun!

Thank everyone for a wonderful “heart” day…every day should be one.

Dear Reader:

Since the monsoons decided to call the lowcountry winter of 2021 “home” for the past several weeks… with at least another week to go…the time inside has given me an unusual amount of “relaxation” time.

Still that “Scot” ancestry in me is always whispering that I should  get up and do whatever chores need accomplishing for that day…and as we all know…house chores are a constant part of life…forget them for too long and you come to regret it immensely.

But even after dishes, mopping, sweeping, washing, drying, folding, making up beds, etc….with Covid19 still lurking in the shadows…I find myself more hesitant now about being out and about in this rain much. I end up making do with whatever eatable scraps are around the house for as long as I can…thank goodness for peanut butter!

I am in count-down mode….Wednesday is my appointment for my second Covid vaccination…I feel like I am rounding third and running for home…don’t want to trip up now…not this close to home base. What a sense of relief will prevail following the second vaccine!

I have been fortunate to have found some great reading materials…just the perfect stories for this long damp rainy hiatus.

Even though I haven’t been able to get out in my garden as I normally would in past years to observe the first signs of spring…the world of imagination (through reading) has provided countless hours of traveling to other parts of the world and enjoying different brogues and customs along the way.

On evenings when the fire is roaring, the rain is coming down…and I have a good book…life is beautiful…safe, secure, and comforting.

To “refresh” means to give new strength or energy to a circumstance; to reinvigorate. 

In tech terms…I wouldn’t even be finishing up my second Covid vaccine this week if John hadn’t been able to keep “refreshing” the computer… thus keeping the link open… to get a Covid vaccine appointment at Publix for me.

I think it was quite invigorating at 6:00 that morning, back in January, keeping the line open to make as many appointments for as many  eligible family members as possible. (*All the available area appointments were filled up in little over an hour for two days worth of appointments per vaccine.) Whew! Thank you Mandy and John!

I really do feel stronger…I have rested, taken my medicines, and kept my spirits up with favorite shows, lovely phone conversations with family and friends, shared cartoons and laughter together…with one avail…looking forward to the day when Covid19 will be a distant memory.

And there is no doubt…a part of us will miss the slower-paced life and will need to re-adjust… hopefully we will be rested and ready for it.

So until tomorrow….

Let us take the positive we find in all circumstances that come our way, into our lives…Let us seek out the advantages in each and reappear stronger physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually from the gift of time…

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

After Anne “refreshed” the lettering on the HOPE letters for the deck…she took another sign and did the same thing. When she dropped by a few days ago…she told me to find any more plaques or sayings that needed some letter brighteners for the new spring garden…she loved doing it! (And I love her doing it! 🙂

By the time the monsoons finish and the sun returns…my garden will look like it got a new “paint job”…fresh and bright. In the meantime I will keep finding signs of spring hiding in the plants.

Dear Reader:

I always like to be able to sneak in a little history behind  holidays and customs. St. Valentines Day has plenty of legends, myths and stories. But I discovered the creation of connecting love birds to this holiday by accident on the internet. It always makes me happy… learning something new.

It  goes back to that famous writer of old….Chaucer...himself

Geoffrey Chaucer was the first to link the Catholic martyr St. Valentine with love in his poem Parlement of Foules (1382.)

It was written to celebrate the anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II to Anne of Bohemia.

In this earliest of valentine images, all the birds, the whole parliament of fowls, are gathered in the most beautiful of all the gardens in the world….the  Garden of Love.  Chaucer wrote:

For this was on seynt Valentynes day
When every foul comyth there to chese his make

For this was on Saint Valentine’s day
When every bird came there to choose his mate…the creation of the idea of love birds as a metaphor for human love on this special day of remembrance for a royal anniversary and Saint Valentine… began on February 14. 

Pictures of Real Life Love Birds today….

Yes…love is in the air today…no matter the cold temps and constant rain here…you can’t erase love.

I ordered one of the Celtic Fairy lamps advertised a lot over Christmas…it arrived just in time for Valentines…there is something so pretty about little twinkling white lights…It creates the perfect feeling of comfort and love on St. Valentines Day…with a hint of magic for good measure.

So until tomorrow…

To all us “lovebirds” today…Let us remember human love extends to so many people in our lives, family, friends and people we admire in history and current events today. Isn’t it nice that “one size” doesn’t fit all when it comes to love…love comes in all shapes, sizes, forms, and circumstances…it will always be the magic that makes the world go round…

…And speaking of love and magic…Jo texted me this adorable picture and metaphor for rainbows and eternal love on this Valentines Day. Quite appropriate.  Jo always sends a smile! 🙂

Almost ready to close the door, but at the end of the ride, there will be the most beautiful rainbow…filled with so many promises. 

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY READERS…AND DON’T FORGET…BEING SINGLE HAS ITS PERKS! 🙂   🙂   🙂

Dear Reader:

Normally today “bestie” girlfriends would be celebrating Galentine’s Day...which always falls on February 13…the day before the traditional Valentines Day. And I am sure some friends will find a way to celebrate together…whether it is “live” or virtual because of Covid19.

This fun holiday was created from the hilarious sitcom…Parks and Recreation starring actress Amy Phoehler. Her character (Leslie Knope)  decided one Valentines holiday that there should be a “female” girlfriends’ celebration, similar to Valentines, but just for all those gal pals who bring so much support and joy into our life.

Unlike some other celebrations that have sprung up like “Treat Yo Self”on Valentines for singles or negative anti-male parties, Galentine’s Day is simply declaring love and affection to the gals who make up our support system.  

As my mind traveled over all the wonderful gals in my life who fit this description…I realized how very very lucky I have been to have this kind of foundation system in my life. Not only do I have this wonderful network of friends…but they all have one thing in common….generosity beyond the vastness of the skies. 

This phrase was found in Spotlight on Kindness under the editorial introduction and I loved it…because it sheds light on how important all these friendships are to me.

Have you ever been surprised by another person’s generosity? When someone you know does something so unexpected that their actions leave you almost stunned. They push the boundaries of giving and go from the usual give and take to a whole another level of kindness. These don’t always have to be larger-than-life actions or involve many resources, but you can clearly see that they were able to dig deep into their hearts for someone else. These are the beautiful souls that carry a heart as vast as the sky.

If I started listing names right now I would, inadvertently, leave someone off so I am not going to try…but I hope and pray all of you know who you are and what you have meant to me in my life. There is no doubt each of you were destined to be in it…handpicked by God to embark and accompany me in my life at different crossroads and times.

One of the examples of spotlights on kindness this past week made the news … it was one of those sincerest gestures that just make one’s heart flutter with the kindness observed.

I spent yesterday filling Valentine pails with fun “stuff” for the grandchildren after getting their Valentine cards in the mail earlier this week.

Monday I am going over to keep Rutledge while Walsh and Mollie get their taxes done…so I can drop off  the pails then to my little Mt. Pleasant Valentines!

So until tomorrow….Enjoy every day…with a full heart!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

“Daffodils” by William Wordworth is one of the earliest poems I remember hearing in elementary school. Every year in early March the teacher would read the poem and we children got to stand by our desks and sway like daffodils…it was the annual spring sway… to the delight of grade students everywhere.

We children loved William Wordsworth forever for that one poem that allowed us, annually, to stand and actually get to move as the poem was read. Antsy children (me included) felt much appreciation to this poet for this memorable spring ritual.

Ireland gets to take a lot of credit for their intense love of daffodils…in March… mountains,valleys. and river embankments are covered in them…as far as the naked eye can see.

We all know the Irish love March for St. Patrick’s Day… bringing all the luck of the Irish…but did you know daffodils are right up there with shamrocks when it comes to bringing luck?

If you want a real Irish garden…you must fill it with as much green as possible and always have an Irish rose compass in it…a famous tradition for the Irish.

The Irish have five traditional compass directions: North, South, West, East…and Here. Here is an old expression the Irish immigrants used, to mean wherever they live in the world, the mother country is with them in their hearts. Here is wherever the spirit lives, and its days can be brightened with a lush, green garden evocative of the Emerald Isle itself.

Here are  7 trivia facts and Irish folklore about daffodils.

• Plant lore tells us that daffodils bring good fortune to the person who avoids trampling on them, so watch where you step!
• The daffodil is a symbol of rebirth – a sign of the new beginnings that come with spring. Daffodils are often found connected with Easter and Easter religious services because of their new birth significance.
• Daffodils are the birthday flower of  March, the same month as the spring equinox that heralds the beginning of a new season
• In Wales finding the first daffodil of spring is expected to bring more gold than silver to your life and home during the following 12 months.  
• The daffodil is associated with Lent, the 40 days of fasting and penitence before Easter Sunday in most Christian churches and is known as the “Lenten Lily” in England. 
• There is a legend that the daffodil first appeared on the night of The Last Supper in the Garden of Gethsemane to comfort Jesus in his hour of sorrow.
• Roman soldiers would carry several Daffodil bulbs with them and if mortally wounded, they’d chow down on the bulbs.  The bulb would work its narcotic wonder and the soldier would painlessly die. (Daffodils are part of the Narcissus family from where we get the word Narcotics.)

Botanists say it is the cool, wet springs of Ireland that produce such an abundance of spectacular daffodils…if that is the case, we low- landers should have daffodils popping out of every yard, garden, hedge, lawn, this year in Summerville.

(If this rain continues much longer we are going to need to contract with Noah to start another ark…part 2- Summerville!)

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

• I couldn’t possibly end this post without including the poem “Daffodils” by William Wordsworth. (Don’t forget to sway reading it!)

I wandered lonely as a Cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and Hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden Daffodils;
Beside the Lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:-
A Poet could not but be gay
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude,
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the Daffodils.

A shout-out to Gin-g for the container of daffodils given me Wednesday evening…I immediately transferred them to a larger pot, added potting soil and water and placed it on the back deck table …spring is coming! (Title Photo)

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