Dear Reader:

When I got home Sunday afternoon I was exhausted but got the blog post completed and fell asleep watching television that evening. Since yesterday was Monday….it was time to answer the latest StoryWorth question which asked me about memories regarding my childhood vacations.

I struggled with this question because, strangely, I was one of those kids who didn’t like to go places…I was a home body and only felt secure at home. I am sure it had a lot to do with losing daddy so early in life and understanding that mother was still fighting a potential life-ending cancer…back in the 50’s.

I was afraid if I left…she would be gone when I got back…so camps were terrifying to me and oh how I suffered from intense home sickness the whole time I was away. As I got older it was a little easier but still I would have preferred to have had a “staycation” with mom and let my siblings go to camp.

*Little did I realize that mother desperately needed some time alone…to reacquaint herself with herself….she was a mom foremost and forever.

During one early vacation at one of mother’s cousins’ lake houses…mother had been given the week vacation house to wait out a scary medical finding. She had completed her annual cancer screening when a shadow or smudge appeared on the bone. Back then it took over a week to do another x-ray… so they could compare and make sure it wasn’t cancerous.

Poor mother was a basket-case and we children were hustled all over to the different cousins’ lake houses and kept busy swimming and doing all kinds of activities so mother could have some rare time alone.

It turned out that one lab tech had smudged his thumb print while taking the x-ray. Mother had a melt-down when she heard this casually explained…it had ruined her vacation and she had nightmares about the possibilities of that shadow.

She was so traumatized by the incident that she never had another x-ray after that and refused to see a doctor…until she was living with me and had gall bladder surgery. She lived to be almost 81 and died from complications of pneumonia…not cancer.

Camp Yonahlossee was the only camp I enjoyed a little when I was about twelve or thirteen…I went to this camp located near Blowing Rock, North Carolina for three weeks…it was a very nice camp with horse back riding lessons and cool excursions.

I went with my two cousins, Marcia and Susan, but Honey Burrell and I realized, while talking about childhoods, that we were both there one summer at the same time…  of course, we didn’t know each other then. She was homesick too when she went off to camp she confessed.

Sunday… as I drove out of Wakendaw Lakes…I loved the new message on the sign post. Today I will be watching the kids for Walsh and Mollie so they can go vote. My contribution, beside my early voting by mail… for election day.

I remember, as a social studies teacher,  putting on mock elections each election year, in which I taught… with students dressing up as candidates and campaign managers, banners.

Later as the social studies district coordinator we set up machines in each school for the students to vote prior to the regular election and the Post % Courier disclosed how students voted for each candidate in the tri-county area prior to the real election.

I also had  Presidential Pumpkin contests on election years…that was so much fun! We gave out prizes and participated in all kinds of crazy activities. My students’ pumpkins didn’t exactly look like this professional artist’s rendition this year…but still, I remember, they were amazing.

What made me so personally sad this year was when Eva Cate told me that they weren’t allowed to talk about the election at school. I thought to myself…‘Have we really sunk this low…that our children are excused from learning about the election process because of the political climate of adult distrust this year?’

I remember vividly telling the students that when our first President, George Washington, willingly left office, after two terms, the world was amazed! No leader had ever done this before? Give up power willingly during the days of dictatorships? What was this new ‘democracy’ all about…a world leader left on his own accord and the transition from one leader to the next leader was peacefully handed over ?

The people were/are the government and their wishes for their leader each election year were/are honored…this peaceful transition has been repeated over and over with no turmoil or strife for over 200 years.  It has been a guiding light, hope, and dream for other countries under dictatorships and coups. How amazing that the people in this country get to  determine their leader? How amazing indeed!

Washington’s first election was in 1789 so it has been 231 years until this 2020 election and elections have been events of celebration, as much for the freedom of voting in this country …as for the candidate…it has not been considered a time of fear from civil disobedience.

My prayer is that this time-honored election process, an envy to many countries around the world…won’t fail us this year…because the office of the President should always symbolize dignity and high standards of public conduct for all of us…especially the children watching to see what a President should act like and care for… all the people.

So until tomorrow….

We, the people owe it to ourselves to cast our votes today…understanding that democracy isn’t perfect but with our help it can be “perfectible.” Our country is still being molded into its real potential…the land of the free and the brave… which includes everyone.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

This weekend has been “wild and crazy” … Halloween, full moon, blue moon, time change, Clemson nail-biter football game, and the scariest day still ahead…Election Day.

*Add in our personal bizarre incidents…like Jake’s broken arm/surgery on Halloween and a strange piece of yesterday’s Chapelofhopestories post (just the title) strangely popping up on some of your computers with no blog post message…During these bewildering times… we find ourselves  falling back on superstitions… sighing resignedly and muttering… “Blame it on the Halloween Blue Moon.” 

A regular “Blue Moon” isn’t that unusual in the big picture. It simply refers to a month that has two full moons in it…at the beginning and end of the month…approximately every 2 and a half to three years. BUT add in a “Halloween Blue Moon” and that only occurs approximately every 19 years…the next one slated for 2039.

I wish I could say that a “Blue Moon” crept up and pushed Jake out of the swing (resulting in a broken arm) but unfortunately Jake decided to leave the swing, willingly, at the top of the highest arc…yelling “Watch me fly”…everyone did until he crash-landed.

*Jake…I feel sure even flying superheroes have their share of bad landings too. Smile Sweet Boy…everything will be all right.

After a pretty sleepless night (for John at least) at the new MUSC Children’s Hospital…(John and Jake didn’t get a room until 10 that night.) Jake, at least didn’t get bumped by another emergency as forewarned (thank goodness) – He had his surgery at 7 the next morning and returned home in the afternoon.

*By then all of us Clemson fans had bitten and broken off all our fingernails while watching the game against Boston College. Whew! Amen!

Then early yesterday morning as I felt Jake crawl into bed with me…I sat up and looked around…something visually felt differently with dawn breaking…suddenly I realized it was the time change producing the strange morning light diffusion. Plus it was a little tight sleeping with Jake, his cast, and Dino, the dinosaur with a broken arm on the sofa.

We did manage to squeeze a little Halloween in for Eva Cate and even Jake…thank goodness for their golf cart…it was actually chilly while riding around and hearing the squeals of delight and mock horror… plus the creative ways candy was dispersed this year was really fun and memorable to boot.

Yesterday the cousins came bearing gifts like this large Mickey Mouse pillow…but the best gift was keeping Jake occupied and his mind off his arm…he was able to get totally immersed in building mini-car garages for hot wheel cars…pizza was ordered and books dispersed to the children on their favorite topics…a lot of fun.

The last project before the golf ride Saturday afternoon…cleaning out the pumpkin…he was hard as a rock outside and decaying inside…but the Turners persevered…even his “gums” were rotten…so few teeth stuck inside but the jack o’lantern seemed happy just to be on display.

Tommy and Kaitlyn  dropped off a super-hero balloon Saturday night and left cupcakes… which all the little cousins ate Sunday for dessert. So special when family pulls together to make one little boy feel so loved.

Lachlan even spent time with Dino consoling him too!

We were so glad school had let the children wear their costumes Friday…so Jake got to show off his pirate costume, at least, to his classmates and teacher.

Eva Cate is in love with Paris. She has been since I returned a few years back and told her about the Eiffel Tower. So this year…she was the Eiffel Tower….a dress with its image, a french beret on her head, and a pink poodle for her candy bag. She was one happy little girl.

So until tomorrow…

Even though this strange Halloween Blue Moon weekend did present some rather bizarre challenges…we and the holiday all survived in tact…even Jake’s arm…since it is secured with pins! 🙂

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

….to all you readers, friends, family, and  those of you I haven’t “officially” met…the thank you’s started pinging on my iPhone early yesterday morning…with Jake cuddled beside me..I would read a get well and prayer card while he started counting them…way into the double digits. A good  math lesson… a better lesson in kindness.

Your prayers brought about a “good news” diagnosis following surgery… a few weeks and he will be able to resume all his normal activities. What great friends you are!

Mandy is so creative…she had some left-over pumpkin decorations from last year so she decided to use the cardboard cut-outs on one of  Jake’s birthday lanterns ….from his party back in September…so cute!!!!!!!!!!

***

Tigger is reminding us…. with Halloween over… Christmas is moving in faster than ever…very impatient holiday. (For retail) 🙂

*Though Thanksgiving is my favorite….just a time to be thankful that we are all healthy this far into the pandemic.

(Waiting on the ambulance)

Dear Reader:

The title will probably be longer than this post today. Friday afternoon Jake broke his arm and John took him to the doctor…After x-raying it…the determination was made he was going to need surgery.

John rode with Jake in the ambulance downtown to MUSC thinking the surgery would be that evening…but that didn’t work…he was admitted with the hope that one of the surgeons could do it at seven Saturday morning.

Mandy called and asked if I could be ready to come on early Saturday morning to stay with Eva Cate while she got the car to pick up John and Jake hopefully if he was released soon after surgery.

A lot of “If’s” in all of this…so I am writing this blog Friday night…for Sunday, November 1 All Saints Day since I will probably be heading out early.

In life we all have to learn to “two step” don’t we…learning to fall back and then quickly move forward to whatever new is happening.

Sunday when I return home I will catch you up on how everything turned out. Life is never dull is it?

The informal definition of a saint…is a kind, patient person. At six these attributes are present in Jake…but subject to change like any little six year old. But our love for him makes him a saint to us…a gift from heaven…that transforms us all with God’s magic…more powerful than any other kind…even witches’ spells on Halloween. 🙂

So until tomorrow…Please keep our little Jake in your prayers…not the Halloween for this pirate that he wanted…still..we are just so blessed to have him (hopefully) home.

Don’t forget…(we sure won’t)…to say “Rabbit” “Rabbit” today on the first of November…All Saints Day. We need November to be an amazing month of thanksgiving and joy.

Dear Reader:

Long ago Thoreau told us “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

However the latest popular movement to return to the woods, to the forests originated from Japanese physicians… but has now taken root  in our country….especially Colorado. It is called “Forest Bathing.”

For example, a  2010 study published in the Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine scientific journal involved 280 healthy people in Japan who walked through forests as part of the experiment. The researchers found that being among nature lowered the concentrations of cortisol, a stress hormone, and also lowered blood pressure and pulse rate.

Last year, another environmental research paper revealed that exposure to green space can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, premature death, stress and high blood pressure.

Recognizing the wellness benefits of forest bathing, the city of Boulder has been incorporating this Japanese health technique… adding hikes into its programming that’s available to the public.

“Doing a mindful walk allows us to get in touch with nature and to notice the blades of grass moving, the insects going from flower to flower, hearing bird calls,” Ford (Parks and Recreation) said.

The deep connection, he said, calms the buzz and chatter of our brains, which spends so much time focusing on emails and appointments.”

Trade in artificial, unhealthy light for nature’s light and see what a physical and emotional difference transpires.

Americans today spend an average of 93% of their time indoors or inside a car which means just 12 hours a week is spent outside. There is mounting evidence that spending time in nature is good for your body and brain…it teaches us patience…which turns out to be not only a virtue but a physical anti-aging element.

Impatience with COVID and all it represents in our daily lives like social distancing, masks, washing hands, etc…is on the up swing due to these extended periods of seemingly never-ending conclusions to the returns of COVID…but impatience might not just lead to contracting this potentially deadly virus but impatience elevates high blood pressure, anxiety, explosive anger/and growing older than our chronological ages.

Nature masters impatience and adds to our longevity…even just a 15 minute walk in a green space, daily, lowers our heart rate, blood pressure, and stress triggers…it slows down aging.

Nature boosts our immune system (helps fight cancer).

Have you ever heard of a NK (natural killer) cell? It’s a type of white blood cell that sends “self-destruct messages to tumors and virus-infected cells.” Lots of different life factors can decrease the count, but Williams shares Qing Li’s research that spending time in nature increases the NK cells in our body. Even better – the effect lasts for longer than the amount of time we spend outside.

Obviously I was interested in the research (above for cancer) but author… Williams has researched the smells from different trees and how the sounds of the forest lead to advanced learning over living near constant elevated noise levels which thwarts learning, especially learning to read.

We aren’t evolving as quickly as technology, so our brains aren’t necessarily capable of handling the stimulus of multiple tasks. Williams spends time in the desert with psychologists Paul Atchley and Dave Strayer. There she learns about the differing effects of technology and nature on our ability to pay attention.

She believes attention is a limited resource, and spending time in nature gives us fewer choices – thereby streamlining our attention and letting us function more efficiently and creatively. In a lot of ways, it’s a break from technology and it makes us more productive when we return.

So until tomorrow…

Life offers many distractions these days. When we take the time to return to nature we are creating an opportunity to be in our place of broader connection with God, Mother Earth, The Universe.

Try  “Forest Bathing” which simply means to “bathe your senses in the forest. ” If you breathe in a tree and really listen to it…the tree will listen back…without judgement or interruptions. Have a seat in nature. Be a child again. Dream, create, and dive into fantasy.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*And Winnie is not alone…Halloween was one of my favorite childhood days too. How wonderful to be anybody or anything (beside yourself) for a few hours one ‘magical’ evening in chilly October.

AND we are actually going to have a “chilly” Halloween in the low country today…high in the sixties…perfect trick or treating temps…in Mandy’s neighborhood they are setting up tables at corners of streets so children don’t have to ring doorbells…and Mandy is placing her give away candy in small Halloween bags…so a child can take a bag…Safe trick or treating for a COVID Halloween.

*Don’t forget “Once in a blue moon” we get a blue moon on Halloween night! Can’t get any cooler than that….

Personally I am a little sad that my favorite “Boo” name, that works perfectly with Halloween, is nearing closure…but “Bippity, Boppity, Boo” I will still be Boo tomorrow. (Perfect Halloween card Anne!)

Happy Halloween! Be Safe!!!!!!!

Even without Trevor…Go Clemson Tigers…You Can Do It!!! Keep the Faith!

****After all this…I ran to get a bag of candy last evening to leave for the trick or treaters before I head over to John and Mandy’s this afternoon…I got a call going in Walgreens...Mandy told me Jake jumped out of the swing doing a flip that went awry, broke his arm, and surgery was going to be required last night at MUSC.

Jake is into dinosaurs…so I found one in Walgreens…grabbed some gauze and called the famous dinosaur surgeon, who just happens to live across the street from me. Dr. Vickie, who performed the surgery on the dinosaurs’ left (T-Rex short arm) and put it in a sling.

Thank you Dr. Vickie…I’m sure  the Dino will help Jake recover. We took his temperature, he has none and is Covid-free so he can stay with Jake now.

Dear Reader:

There is definitely a story behind this original artistic (hand dyed wood on linen) artwork for our cover today… and I will get to it in a minute.

But while my mind is still “fluid” with ideas floating around on the ‘overnight’ popularity of this word, especially when used as an adjective,  let me follow my “fluid progression” of thoughts like the “fluid progression” that so many rivers reveal.

I have come to realize that the people who are having the most difficult time adjusting to  new living conditions under COVID are you wonderful, organized planners, who aren’t comfortable leaving any type of final results to chance.

Then there’s me… not organized, big picture person, who flies by the ‘seat of my pants’ through life…that is…when my broom is non-operational this time of year. 🙂

One of the biggest social drawbacks to COVID is the task of making plans for any event…big or small…at work, in the community, or at home. The more you think about it…the harder it gets.

We hear more people saying….”Well our plans are still “fluid” at this point.” And the truth is….all our COVID lives are in a constant “fluid” stage of life.

When my minister, Jeff Kackley, and I were talking Wednesday… the subject of the Christmas Eve Children’s Service came up. As most of you know I have told stories at it for well over thirty years… the thought of not doing it is almost incomprehensible (For me that is Christmas)…but then so was any thought of a world-wide pandemic producing a potentially fatal COVID virus incomprehensible too… just a few (l-o-n-g) months ago.

We discussed several options… especially for the story…which could include Zoom or Pre-taped or even an outside storytelling circle…but that depends on the weather… and it would also require a very “fluid” last minute decision.

We can make it work…in whatever form it takes….but church services, holiday events, any type of gatherings these days… require all of us to let go of precise, detailed pre-planning rigidity or stability…instead we have to re-learn how “to go with the flow.”

I think there are a lot of us who have come up with different mantras that we wordlessly (but repeatedly) refrain in our minds to help us relax our reins on former structured daily routines… no longer  practical or accessible  …these days mine is “Faith over Fear.”

Let’s face it….surprise and spontaneity can be fun too…in fact it happened yesterday. Today is Anne’s “official” birthday and we had tentatively set aside this Monday to have a birthday lunch out. Then Anne’ plans changed yesterday and we decided to go with that date.

It ended up being the best spontaneous decision of all…because of some predicted inclement weather…we were the only ones on the front porch at the new popular Cuban restaurant…The Gypsy Parlor. A breeze, with some kick to it, was cool and nice…and kept flying insects away.

The food was absolutely delicious…I gave Anne a stepping stone for her garden, along with a bouquet of “Boo” flowers for Halloween and a Charleston Rice Bead necklace to show her “northern” sisters (when she goes home for the holidays)…what “southern pearls” look like. 🙂

We decided to go over and see the Water Project Art Exhibition before we went home. *(Remember Anne had painted this amazing watercolor for it…one of my favorite artworks she has done. )

…And now we have come full circle to the title artwork. (“Poor COVID Carol”)

It was designed and hooked by Dawn Hortman Shaw…She shared the story behind its creation:

” With the world the way it is at the moment, I woke up one morning with this image in my head and I had to get it out of there. This was originally a self portrait. My wonderful friend and neighbor whined until I named it for her.

SO CAROL THIS IS FOR YOU! 

Anytime we can fight back with COVID using the talents we have, along with a sense of humor, we have  won a small but worthy match.

So until tomorrow….

“I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.” – John O’Donohue

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

There was just one bit of “downer” news yesterday ….early morning winds broke some major stems on “Big Red”…Anne brought more stakes and we secured as many healthy stems as we could but one major “stem artery” (which contained several more stems and blooms) had to be amputated.”

Now “Big Red” looks rather lopsided….but still it survived the trauma and it will grow back.(even my “Boo’s Blessings” plaque was blown off the wall landing on several more stems and bruising them.)

Before and After….

All this week students have dressed up for different events…Red Ribbon being among them…Eva Cate ended up on the School Facebook page yesterday representing “Super Hero” Day (against bullies and drugs) at James B. Edwards Elementary School. Way to go Eva Cate!

Dear Reader:

God Winks were popping yesterday and the timing couldn’t  be better. I read an article last week that pretty much summed up the crux of what  the vast majority of Americans are feeling now…EXHAUSTED!

In fact we have been feeling that way for a long time…it is like the country  is on a run-away train and we are holding on dearly for life…wondering how things got so crazy and hectic without any letup or ending in sight.

Not only do we want a ‘return to normalcy’ before Covid 19 disrupted our daily lives… but we want a return to a slower-paced life in this country without so much friction…we don’t want to be hit with disturbing news… day after day after day…enough…we all needs a vacation away from it all…badly! Somebody put on the brakes….please!

And speaking of trains….I promised you a solution to a mystery that has been going on for several months. It started back in January of 2020…my friend, Lisa, from Chapin, forwarded a copy of the train/life metaphor that she knew I would love. She had gotten it from a friend…and it was a popular “hit” with you blog readers.

 The problem was “The Train” …a beautifully written metaphor on life … had the author listed as anonymous. Still many readers inquired as to how they could buy a copy of the manuscript or even perhaps a book…

I texted Lisa but she didn’t know either.

Month after month more inquiries appeared and I wished so badly I could offer some helpful tip… but without an author’s name it appeared impossible.

The Train

At birth we boarded the train and met our parents, and we believe they will always travel by our side. As time goes by, other people will board the train and they will be significant… i.e. our siblings, friends, children, strangers and the love of your life.

However at some distant point, some random station our parents will step down from the train, leaving us on this journey alone. Others will step down over time and leave a permanent vacuum.

Some, however, will go so unnoticed that we don’t realize they vacated their seats.

(*To me the train travelers who had the opportunity to interact and become a part of the others passengers’ lives but chose not to are the saddest passengers of all. They literally let life pass them by.)

This train ride will be full of joy, sorrow, fantasy, expectations, hellos, goodbyes, and farewells.

Success consists of having a good relationship with all passengers… requiring that we give the best of ourselves and leave a memory behind.

The mystery to everyone is: We do not know at which station we ourselves will step down. So we must live each day in the best way…love, forgive, and offer continuously the best of who we are,  it is important for us to do this because when the times comes for us to step down, and leave our seat empty we should leave behind beautiful memories for those who will continue to travel on the train of life.

I wish you a joyful journey for the coming years on your train of life. Reap success, give lots of love and be happy. More importantly, thank God for the journey!

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

And then suddenly, out of the blue, while reading my emails October 26… I saw where someone else had signed up to follow Chapelofhopestories.com. I was elated, as always. Then the next email (from the same person) had this mind-boggling and quite humble message attached.

 Richard Moriarty: “Thank you for printing my writing, “The Train”. I truly appreciate your comments and interest in reading my writing effort. Blessings to you, and thank you.”

We all need to sit on that train and talk to each other, these days, looking for what makes us more alike than different. I think God would be on the train bench across from us smiling…if we did.

Second God Wink:

Susan told me she forwarded yesterday’s blog to her two sisters and one of them, Wanda, in turn, forwarded it on to a friend who recently lost her husband. When her friend read the post…she recognized Honey and Mike Burrell’s name …they knew each other from the past and Honey told me that had just seen her husband’s obituary notice and were so saddened…six degrees of separation.

Third God Wink:

October is Pastor Appreciation Month...I picked up some note cards, some pumpkin, smores, and red velvet macaroons to take to Jeff, our beloved Dorchester Presbyterian’s minister, and his amazing associate and youth advisor, Zach.

Jeff and I had a great time catching up…then just as I was about to leave he opened up a cabinet next to him and in the bottom of it was a box… that it took a minute or two for me to recognize. It was a box I had given him long ago.

Jeff told me when he first arrived the congregation gave him pastor appreciation gifts and cards welcoming him…He now pointed to a box had that SC symbols on it…and then I remembered I gave him stickers, and historical tidbits about the Summerville area for his gift. He had kept it, along with the welcome cards that members had left with him.

Now here it was Pastor Appreciation Month again…our intertwined lives had come full circle. Another God Wink.

So until tomorrow….

I have one more God Wink. I went to the mailbox and there was the Lowcountry Dog Calendar for 2021….the calendar that my granddog, Pip, qualified for….thanks to so many of you readers who voted for him. Bless you! He is Mr. “May” (one of my favorite months) Tommy said he doesn’t go by Pip any more…just responds to Mr. May. 🙂 (and deservedly so!)

Guess who turned pink (just in time) for Pink Breast Cancer October Month…the Confederate Rose bloom…overnight it left white behind and went to pink…if the transition continues…it will be a dark maroon color tomorrow…before, sadly, dropping off the stem.

Dear Reader:

Many people are “list” people…they can’t go anywhere without a list…like the grocery store or start the day’s errands…they feel more secure with a list. Lists are very important it seems in today’s society…so many life guidance books…that we all find in book stores these days… deal with an author’s lists for how to improve or remedy different aspects of our lives.

Me…not so much. I am the person who occasionally makes lists only to forget and leave them at home still sitting on the kitchen table while I struggle to remember what all I need to pick up.

But then….a few months ago…I came across a blogger who had just celebrated a birthday and it showed her writing something in a homemade decorated notebook with her name on it. She explained that every year on her birthday she added a list beside the year…filling in everything new about life she had learned during that particular  ‘trip around the sun.’

Not a bad idea I thought to myself and wondered what new I would list this past year. As I idly thought about it I came across one of the best lists I had seen…from Maya Angelou. Her list combined wisdom and humor as she saw her life. Here is her list.

My three favorites from her list are:

1. “I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.”

2. “I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one.”

3. “I’ve learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life.”

I loved her last selection in her list because it coincides with my philosophy I reminded myself every day over 30 plus years of teaching.

“Students don’t care how much you know…until they know how much you care.”

When I came across the quote of Helen Keller’s in today title visual…it became mine too.

“My friends have made the story of my life.” Helen Keller And I pray that the reverse can be said …that I have been there for my friends.

As I sit here this morning typing away…pictures of all my close friends keep popping up in my mind and my smile keeps getting bigger and bigger. How devoid of color my life would have been without my friends beside me… encouraging me throughout my life?

Let me take a moment and personally thank you, my dearest dearest friends….You truly are the “wind beneath my wings”…you were and are the people who encouraged me to fly when I would have been content to climb back in the nest. I will love and cherish you forever.

I would love to hear something new you have learned about life this past year…since it has been one of the craziest years we have lived through…do you have a new thought concerning new perspectives on life or a favorite life lesson from your past? Tell us.

So until tomorrow….

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Look what I discovered yesterday….my sole lone Confederate rose bloomed white…I was overcome with joy…fingers crossed it can survive the next two transitional colors…pastel pink and maroon pink…the legend of the Confederate soldier. Hope never dies.

Stay tuned tomorrow to see how an on-going blog post mystery came to be solved. ???????????????????

I got a box of wonderful surcies from Honey via Mike when he stopped by Monday…I think I probably had the last tomato sandwich of the season…but boy did I have the best- mountain tomato from the Burrells…and soup bowls from giving to Honey’s loyal support of her talented pottery soup bowls to feed the hungry annual event.

Dear Reader:

My question for this week’s StoryWorth asked…“Describe your most memorable birthday.” 

My first instinct was to search mentally for a childhood or teenage birthday but nothing popped. (Except for receiving “Polly the doll” on my fifth birthday and even Polly would agree her story has already been told.)

I actually had to add 35 years to that special fifth birthday to get to my most auspicious 40th birthday…the one that never happened. Got your attention? 🙂

Oh…it was supposed to happen…big time! After all it was that dreaded benchmark 40th birthday that makes us all stop and wonder if we really need to act like an “adult” now…take inventory and keep going. But it never transpired…at least not in its original intent.

Unbeknownst to me the Dingles and friends had been cooking away for weeks before the big planned celebratory birthday dinner event for me… scheduled for September 24, 1989.

The years leading up to this birthday had been what Thomas Paine would have referred to as “the times that try men’s souls.” (and/or their wives as my husband and I had been separated for three years and the final divorce coincided with my “Big 40.”) It seemed like the “perfect storm” for a little self-pity and reflection of ‘what now?’

Little did I know or anyone else…that a divorce and 40th birthday…would soon be deemed as rather trivial in comparison to what was heading our way…it was a “perfect storm” but not the kind I had envisioned…it was one mean, huge, destructive hurricane by the name of Hugo.

It hit September 22, 1989 in the dark of night which was even more terrifying. The children’s father had come over to secure windows, doors, etc. and ended up staying that long terrible night as the winds sounded like some wild banshee screaming and tearing off pieces of the roofs and toppling trees …I think Tommy was the only one who slept that night.

September 23 dawned sunny with blue skies smiling down on all the horrible destruction we found around us. Pine trees heaped on top of each other, roofs partially or completely gone, no fresh water or electricity, toilets that didn’t flush, spoiled meats and foods from the fridge, hot, sticky, mosquitoes everywhere.

I wrote in my Hugo Journal…“I just discovered something today…There were no good old days before electricity.” 

Thank goodness mother had been away on a trip with her sister, Eva. They finally got in to check on us and took Mandy and Tommy back with them to Greenville in the upper part of the state. Walsh wanted to stay and help his dad with repairs.

Repairs took a long time with all the red tape involved with insurance and getting inspectors out to check the damage. Every day was a struggle.

The Dingles, Poppy and Dee Dee, were one of the first homes to get electricity back since they lived in town…so they had us over for supper one night…fried spam…it could have been a t-bone steak it was so good. A cool house and a hot meal…best birthday dinner I ever had ….before or since! 🙂

Three months later…Mother Nature tried to apologize (at least a little for the Hugo “inconvenience”) by giving us our first white Christmas and a special birthday present to Walsh!

It started snowing on Walsh’s birthday (23rd) and was still white on Christmas Day…almost 10 inches inland where Summerville is located. Absolutely beautiful. A true lowcountry miracle…the blessed gift of comfort and joy! Life goes on!

Christmas photo of the children that white Christmas. Happiness is a white Christmas in the South!

So until tomorrow…“I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on and it will be better tomorrow.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Yesterday Mollie brought Lachlan and Eloise to come play with Boo Boo wearing their Halloween costumes. (Rutledge had a birthday party to attend so he didn’t get to come.)

Mollie stopped in front of the grandchildren’s picture that hangs directly where everyone can see it coming in my Happy Room…and gasped herself…Eloise last year and Eloise today…one year, two months apart. Going from  1 1/2 to almost 2 1/2. ( 3 at the end of December) Wow! How quickly little children change from year to year!

As we get older…the physical changes slow down somewhat…but our inner spiritual growth is hopefully maturing faster than our outer appearances. I like to think of myself as ” Very Mature Youth” aging like a fine wine…but still keeping that sense of youthful fun and wonder about what’s behind every bend in our life’s path. 🙂

Haven’t we all wondered how loved ones who went before us…over extended decades… will recognize us now as grandmothers, grandfathers, great uncles or great aunts? I remember Poppy would point to an old photo… when he was young… and say that this was how he wanted to look again in heaven. That is how I picture him in heaven now…by that photo.

Since time, apparently, runs completely different in the next world – eternity time…I have convinced myself…that however we look…it will be healthy and vibrant, familiar, and lovingly recognizable to those gone ahead.

I remember reading that one of the newest elements of time on earth is called a nanosecond . It is faster than the human eye can blink…especially in the south.:) A nanosecond is 1/billionth of a second. (Way too much math to write out)

After reading these different examples of just how fast a nanosecond is…I think it is safe to say that we have a real good shot at being young again…if time is lived in nanoseconds. 🙂

Still no matter how fast or slow time is in another world…God will recognize us by what’s in our heart and soul…not wrinkled lines on our faces or even face lifts? Which leads me to this funny anecdote I discovered in some of my documents from my speaking days.

Another reminder of it…was that Mollie put on the Anna wig she had gotten Eloise to go with her Halloween costume…(who has now decided she doesn’t want to wear it)…to get their picture made before they left.

She was talking to me about one tire that looked low and checking it out before leaving Summerville. I told her where to stop to get it checked so they wouldn’t get caught on the highway in costumes and wigs…and we laughed.

But the incident reminded me of this anecdote…Enjoy! 🙂

A middle aged woman had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital. While on the operating table she had a near death experience. Seeing God she asked “Is my time up?” God answered, “No, you have another 40 years, 2 months and 8 days to live.”

Upon recovery, the woman decided to stay in the hospital and have a facelift, liposuction, and a tummy tuck. She even had someone come in and change her hair color. Since she had so much more time to live, she thought she might as well make the most of it.

After her last operation, she was released from the hospital. While crossing the street on her way home, she was hit by a car and died immediately.

Arriving in front of God, she demanded, “I thought you said I had another 40 years, why didn’t you pull me from out of the path of the car?”

God replied, “I didn’t recognize you.” 🙂

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We had so much fun yesterday…washing and cleaning fairies in the fountain, playing with Peter Pumpkin Man (Honey left for me) He was a hit with both grandchildren…making wishes in the fountain and putting dinosaurs together.

We think Eloise is a little mouse…forget her sandwich…she just wants cheese. Grandmother Boo’s favorite snack at night too!

So until tomorrow….

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Grandmother Wilson gave me a great lesson in gratitude one summer…when I was at her house… and it had to do with cornbread.

To this day I can still taste grandmother’s cornbread in my mind…it was the best thing I ever put in my mouth then…or the memory of it now. She would butter it  for me and let me pour cane syrup over it….“My my my!” Some good eating. It was my favorite “dessert.”

Grandmother used an old black mountain rectangular skillet to cook the cornbread in….and the smell was something I have never forgotten. Security at its best. All was right with the world when that scent waffled through the kitchen.

I would wait patiently while it was cooking so I could be the first bidder for a ‘corner’ piece. I loved the extra crust on those… But one day I came in after helping pick string beans and was hot and tired and obviously in a foul mood.

To my delight there stood a big pan of recently cooked cornbread. I ran over to it…and immediately looked at the four corners…they were all missing a piece of cornbread. Stricken…I yelled at grandmother as she came in the kitchen…“Where are my corner pieces?” I exclaimed indignantly.

Grandmother sat down, wearily, in a kitchen chair and calmly told me that Johnny, who sharecropped the land with my uncle, had come in to tell her his wife was not doing well. Grandmother knew he and his wife loved the corner pieces too…so she had cut them to send home with him.

She went to cut me another piece…and I pouted and told her I didn’t want that piece. Grandmother stared right through me and then told me that was fine…there would just be more for the rest of the hands at lunch.

I stomped out…slamming the screen door behind me. I felt so “put upon”...after all… grandmother knew that was my favorite piece…she could have given Johnny another part and that would have been fine.

My indignation didn’t last long…my stomach was growling and by now I wanted any piece of the cornbread with the butter and cane syrup on it.

I slinked back in the kitchen, sat down at the table, and stared at the cornbread. I knew I was in the dog house from the way grandmother avoided looking at me.

Finally she plopped down in another kitchen chair and stared at me waiting.

“Can I have any piece of the cornbread, grandmother…it doesn’t matter which one.”  My voice sounded subdued…even to me. “I’ll be grateful for any cornbread.”

She stared at me and said, “Remember this simple truth…Becky Lynn…you can not be grateful and ungrateful at the same time. You have to pick one…and if you want to live a happy life, if I were you…Id’ choose grateful.”

I feel sure that I immediately responded to grandmother (something like) “I would be very grateful for a piece of cornbread…any piece. Thank you.”

Ingrates really do live miserable lives don’t they…unfortunately…making other around them as miserable as they are.

Ingrates live in narrow spaces…they don’t venture out much farther than their nose. They are always the victim when things goes wrong, someone else is always the blame….they never see themselves as their own perpetrator in the ill-fated conclusion to a series of poor personal choices. If they weren’t so darn irritating…they would be downright pathetic.

A few years ago…I heard this funny anecdote and immediately remembered that once forgotten scene between me and grandmother…grandmother would have loved this ‘tall tale’ about gratitude and/or ingratitude.

There were two old acquaintances who went fishing every month together. One fisherman was filled with gratitude throughout each fishing adventure while the other complained continuously about the weather, the waves, the sun (or lack of) the temperature….the sandwiches….you name it he was never grateful for simply sharing one of moment’s pleasures with an old colleague.

On this particular trip…they were both in the fishing boat but also duck hunting. The fisherman, who was grateful for everything in his life, saw a duck soar overhead, he pulled out his rifle and shot it in mid-air. Screaming with delight he kept asking his gloomy friend if he had just witnessed that spectacular shot… but with no response.

The happy fisherman told his dog to retrieve the duck and bring it back to the boat. The dog obediently stepped out on the water and ran across it, grabbed the duck, ran back across the water and dumped it in the bottom of the boat. There was dead silence until awed pandemonium broke out….“It was a miracle…did you just see that…did you see what MY dog did?”

“See what?” the grumbling, ungrateful fisherman said rudely, “Just our luck…your stupid dog can’t even swim!”

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So until tomorrow….Jefferson was right…some “truths are self-evident” and one of these is learning to live life with gratitude…and thankfulness.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

(Etienne)

I am always so proud of Clemson and its “all in” approach they have for breast cancer awareness. Yesterday all the players wore pink in all different ways…legs, arms, socks, gloves,and head scarves.

Dabo Swinney’s (All In) breast cancer foundation is one of the most successful fund-raisers around. It makes me even a prouder fan.

The garden’s contribution to Breast Cancer Month.