Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

As much as I try to convince myself that I am not “into” technology and have mixed feelings about its use and direct correlations on many escalating social problems like bullying…I must confess we are at a point now…where it is almost impossible to live without it.

Technology is the foundation for an infinite number of innovations that we already  find nonviable…if missing from our lives.

Admittedly it has proven itself crucial in maintaining social contact with family and friends, church services, work-at-home jobs, and countless other infrastructures (that have kept the world afloat) during this pandemic.

Monday was one of those days when I personally, was startled awake, by a hint of a world without me being able  to text or call out or receive calls on my iPhone…I  later discovered, also, that I was no longer allowed into my private WordPress account which meant I could not write a blog.

I literally fell asleep after lunch and woke up to a new world. It was the strangest Rip Van Winkle experience I have ever had…

Monday was cool (almost chilly) …a perfect day to work in my garden…so I did…all morning until early afternoon when I came in, exhausted, and fixed some lunch. Around mid-afternoon I could feel my eyelids closing and finally gave in to a nap in my recliner.

My iPhone was right beside me on a small metal table where I would have heard any calls…even beeps from texts arriving. I sleep lightly when napping but no such sounds appeared so I slept about a hour and a half…waking up a few minutes before 5.

I picked up my Iphone and saw a call had come in from Kaitlyn a little after 3 saying Pip was 6 votes away from making  the last slot of the top 10 contenders for the dog model monthly calendar. It was now 10 minutes to 5... when the contest officially ended!

I hurriedly went to call  Kaitlyn to see if they got six more people to vote…and then discovered my phone wasn’t working…I tried Tommy and then others in the family…none of the calls were going through…“failed call” kept popping back up.

So now I tried texting…and the texts came back “failed to send“..I have to admit it was one of the strangest sensations of isolation and uneasiness for me.

To make matters worse…I decided to leave the iPhone situation alone and go on and write my blog post…so I went to turn on my computer and it was acting “funny.” I could get into the day’s blog post but when I went to enter my private account with my password…it wouldn’t let me in. If I couldn’t get in… I couldn’t write another new blog post.

Occasionally a rare email would get through the ‘tech maze’ and I finally discovered that Pip had tied for the 10th and last spot for a month model on 2021’s dog calendar. (The calendar raises money- with 100% of the profit from the calendar sales going to benefit local rescues and shelters.)  We would have to wait until yesterday to find out what they decided to do about the tie.

By Mondy night I had a headache…a rarity for me…definitely stress-induced…so I decided to unplug the modem and let my desk top computer get a good night’s sleep and turn off my iPhone for the same reason. (Then pray hard that a new day would provide a new way to get things back to normal.)

When I woke up yesterday morning it took all my courage to first check my iPhone while still praying hard…my iPhone was working in all departments…phone, text, email, and google. Hallelujah!

Boistered by this great news I, literally, ran to my desk top computer…plugged in the modem and it popped back on…no security issues glaring at me…it was as if yesterday never happened…I was allowed in everything on the computer sites.

(Ging-i said one of her sons was reading the newspaper Monday and it mentioned that there were numerous spots around the country experiencing technical problems…stemming from  different major computer companies…perhaps that is a possibility to my “Freaky Monday” instead of Friday. 🙂

***I will have to say that I spent a restless night Monday… worried about the “what if’s”…Had both my iPhone and computer systems been affected or even obliterated by some virus in technology? Just what I needed I thought to myself- Covid19 for humans and now some mysterious virus for computerized apparatus. A nightmare!

Miraculously… somehow though… my computer was working again…I wrote a quick explanation to all of you yesterday morning about the computer ‘gremlins’ bizarre and troubling unannounced visit.

I then anxiously awaited the final standing for Pip…it arrived about 10:00 a.m. yesterday. Kaitlyn told me to check my email…there was the website for the lowcountry dog magazine.

This is what the promoters wrote about the contest:

Of the 436 dogs that originally entered the contest; 40 were chosen to compete in our 2020 Lowcountry Dog Model Contest.

We had over 10,000 people vote over the last 2 weeks and it was a photo finish to see who made the top 10 and would join Luna and Rooster (winners of previous contests) as our 2021 Lowcountry Dog Calendar Models.

*We actually ended with a TIE for the final slot so we may need to add a month to 2021 but we have some creative ideas. The top 10 dogs will get photo shoots with Southern Vintage Photography for our annual print calendar that raises money for rescue and shelters.

If not for all your votes little Pip would have missed the last slot with the tough competition….instead he tied with another dog named Benne…so they will get their “day in the sun” as monthly calendar dogs.

And now here is our beloved family winner…thanks to all of you! The family is so appreciative for your gifts of time to vote… most fervently…a great Father’s Day (and Mother’s Day) gift Pip! 🙂 Way to go! Congratulations little Pip!

So until tomorrow…”All’s well that ends well” …yet don’t we all wake up some mornings and show our greatest courage by simply facing the day ahead and praying hard for solutions to our everyday problems?  Through it all…God is there for us!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

This year, for the first time…I have so many diverse beautiful colors of lantana…with all the rain they are now spreading quickly…filling in the gaps between plants and flowers. So pretty! The garden loves them!

Just in! Anne texted me last evening to let me know she had rented a car and was making a 13 hour trip to Connecticut today to stay with one sister overnight before heading on up to Maine. Another sister, Nancy, has been under hospice care recently for breast cancer and it is time now to be with her.

Our wonderful Kathy Worthington at church (who heads up our prayer chain) gave a beautiful send-off to Anne…so I want to share it with all of you today and please keep Anne in your prayers…both traveling… and for precious time spent with Nancy.

Dear Reader:

Yesterday the computer gremlins came and attacked my iPhone and desktop computer…just one of those strange days when everything goes wacky for awhile.

I did all I knew to do…. finally around midnight unplugging everything and letting it get a good night’s sleep.

This morning I was finally able to get back in my personal WordPress account again… (that I was unable to access all day yesterday and last night.)

So chalk a victory up to the gremlins yesterday….but today I reign victorious. Will be back on track with a new blog for you tomorrow…”God willing and the creek don’t rise again.” (which it actually has been doing a lot lately around here with the monsoons we are having) 🙂

Thank you for your understanding.

Till then have a beautiful blessed day.

Becky

( Autumn Daydreams- Michelle Dunaway)

Dear Reader:

“What a day for a day dream….what a day for a day dreaming gal.” The Lovin’ Spoonful clarified what my yesterday was all about…memories.

When we look back on our past…it is easier, usually, to recall memories from “big” occasions… holidays and special events like graduations or marriages or that first-born child who created a family unit.

My memories…yesterday, however, went in a different direction. I remembered two “secret anniversaries of the heart.”

They both took place in the fall, my favorite season, many years ago and several years apart…but both gave rise to such elevated feelings of pure happiness and euphoria that they have outlasted thousands of other memories… destined to turn to dust.

The first glimpse of euphoria took place about a year after my family left North Carolina to move back to Laurens, South Carolina. From earlier posts, you might remember,  I wasn’t thrilled about this move… (that being a huge understatement.) I had left family (two close cousins my age) friends, and the darling little boy I had practically raised while babysitting.

Time does heal all wounds…By the start of my second year of high school in Laurens…I had made a group of friends and felt accepted in my new niche. One of these was a friend named Jimmy who turned out to be one of my best pals in high school. We literally grew up together during those difficult teen years.

We both had birthdays in September… One fall Jimmy surprised me with a birthday excursion. He told me about a ‘little mountain’  not too far out of town where there was a fire lookout tower that one could climb and look out over a huge section of this hilly Piedmont area …now called home.

We had to hurry and leave (immediately after school) since the sun was now setting earlier…We arrived just as the sun was beginning its descent in the west.

Quickly we  climbed to the top platform and there before us was the most beautiful display of nature’s beauty…( a forest of trees  turning every shade imaginable…reds, oranges, yellows, and purplish hues against the bright red back drop of the setting sun.)

As I stood there looking out…I felt so euphoric I was afraid I might explode…every molecule in my body was tingling with God’s beauty showing off just for me…I felt. This adventure took place in the late sixties…but I can still feel a “whisper” of that same sensation sometimes today…always in the fall.

I remember reading, one time,  that when we are One with God…then that is Heaven. It is the only way to explain that unforgettable sensation of happiness and contentment.

Ironically the second incident where, for a magical moment, I felt filled with joy, was another boy named Tommy and another ‘mountain trip.’ He, too, was a history major, he was very dynamic, involved in lots of leadership roles, and was a hunk…no other way to put it.

When I got singled out by Tommy…it was like something out of a fairy tale…though I suspected the universe was playing some kind on joke on me. (I still carried a sense of loss and inadequacy with me from my childhood.) But I was caught up in the moment…and upon reflection…so glad I was…because it is the moments that are the most precious specks of time!

Tommy had this volkswagon with all kinds of crazy idiosyncrasies…I soon suspected that the car would never go anywhere for anyone but Tommy… and even then… it still gave us a ‘run for the money’ on trips we took together.

Tommy decided, one day, we should go see the Battle of King’s Mountain. It is located just inside South Carolina before the border into North Carolina…so it was quite a distance for an one-day journey. But I remember when Tommy dropped me off… back in front of my dorm…I knew I would never forget that day.

We had gone on the anniversary (Oct 7) date of the battle Jefferson called ‘the turning point in the south‘ for some special role playing and storytelling the park was offering..but this time it wasn’t the beautiful grounds we walked or the love of history we shared…but the moments spent together laughing and for the first time I felt special. How important it is in our lives... to feel special. 

I kept pinching myself thinking I surely was daydreaming the whole experience. And that night I couldn’t sleep for re-living every moment of that day. And I still fondly remember it all these many years later!

Some people come into our lives for only short periods of time but that doesn’t detract from the important role they played in our life. Jimmy and Tommy both gave me the greatest gift of all…friendship, love, and acceptance. I thank you both from the bottom of my heart.

So until tomorrow…

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

LAST DAY TO VOTE! LAST DAY TO VOTE! LAST DAY TO VOTE!

Hit Submit to enter magazine after you click on the website blow...

Find Pip’s photo as seen (above) and click on the heart next to him. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! We so love this rescue dog … with no teeth (due to malnutrition in the puppy mill) but lots of tongue and heart !

https://1.shortstack.com/MnpPN0

“I will jump this h-i-g-h if you vote for me….last chance today…Please! 

“I will also do my karate moves for you” Please vote!

Yesterday was Tigger’s 12th birthday and what a sweetie he is!

Happy Birthday dear Tigger!

In spite of it being his birthday he took time out to vote for his little cousin Pip!

Poogie set his alarm to wake up and go vote for cousin Pip today!

Eloise says she will do the “Pip Tongue” move for you…if you just vote for Pip!

*Walsh, Mollie and family made unbelievably good time on the way back from the Outer Banks back to Charleston.

Here are some last photos from the trip…apparently it was a good thing that the rental had a hot tub in it…as it got cool on the beaches with the intermittent clouds and rain… everyone loved the hot tub…especially  Eloise.

I believe the boys’ favorite treat was ice cream and I think we all have their favorite flavor figured out…the color gives it away. Eloise just appears to like anything with lots of sprinkles. Welcome back Dingle family…glad you had fun and a break from the same-old’s!

Dear Reader:

Of all the historical quotes that have moved me as a history teacher and citizen of this country…I don’t think any have touched me as much as one quote from a relatively unknown cabinet member under President Woodrow Wilson. His name was Franklin Lane and he was  Secretary of the Interior in 1914.

At the time of Lane’s speech the annual Flag Day ceremony was conducted on Flag Day-June 14. (Wilson established its recognition two years later in 1916 and Truman (1949) approved a Congressional resolution proclaiming June 14 – National Flag Day.)

War had just broken out in 1914 (WWI) and a sense of foreboding for what this might mean to the United States had sobered the mood of the recognition of the U.S. Flag that June 14.

Lane delivered the 1914 Flag Day address in which he announced that he had experienced an epiphany in which the flag called to him…He then repeated words he said the flag had spoken to him that morning:

“I am what you make me; nothing more. I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of yourself.”

Isn’t that a beautiful phrase… just as appropriate now as it was in 1914…actually more so. The flag is just a symbol until we, the American people, define what it should stand for…liberty, justice, and equality for all.

Today the American flag swings proudly in front of national landmarks, parks, buildings and statues. More importantly it also swings on front porches of American homes in communities all over our beloved country.

Like the flag “tells us”…it is simply a symbol of each of us. No more…no less. We, the people of the United States, must define who we are before our flag can define it for the world.

“I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color…”  (* I think the only thing I would have changed in that beautiful phrase is “colors”– making it plural. “I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of colors.” 

Today, on National Flag Day June 14, 2020, we men, women, and children of all colors, we Americans, need to set about the challenging task of making sure the flag IS a symbol of each of us… united together.

So until tomorrow…We can do this. God bless America.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Happy National Flag Day!

Today and tomorrow are the last days to vote for the Lowcountry Dog Model. Thank all of you SO MUCH who have voted for our Pip…just taking the time to stop and do it is such a gift to all of our family. He is the most popular dog in the dog family crowd…all the children fight over who gets to hold him when he appears at family functions.

Pip also likes to participate in patriotic holidays including National Flag Day…he is a proud American dog… through and through…Once lost (in a puppy mill) but now found and loved by all.

The American Dream for Pip….

If you have already voted but know of a friend or family member who might be willing to take a moment to vote…it would be most appreciated if shared.

Pip’s two brothers and sister (adopted  senior dogs) are pulling for him “Yap, Yap, Yip, Yip…VOTE FOR PIP!” (Info below)

Hit Submit to enter magazine after you click on the website blow...

Find Pip’s photo as seen (to the left) and click on the heart next to him. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! We so love this rescue dog … with no teeth (due to malnutrition in the puppy mill) but lots of tongue and heart !

https://1.shortstack.com/MnpPN0

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The Dingles mini-vacation is coming to an end too quickly (I am sure for them) as they will head back today. They sent photos of the family yesterday and check out Rutledge’s digging ability…I think it might just soon be a tourist attraction- Come to Duck and see the famous “Rutledge Hole”! 🙂

My garden presents some of its reds, whites, and blues to you today on National Flag Day 2020!

Dear Reader:

I re-ordered a book, recently, that I read several years ago because I was purposefully looking for an imprinted passage (from my memory) that I, personally, wanted to write down and save for a special occasion one day.

The problem was…I just couldn’t remember the title of the book…I could remember sections of the story and some characters… but not the title itself. Anne to the rescue…I remember giving it her to read and to pass forward to another when she finished. It was “Sherlock Anne” who tracked down  the title. The Art of Arranging Flowers.

Both stars and flowers (my two favorite “gifts” from our galaxy) play a major role in this beautiful book about life and how it is meant to be lived.

I want to share a section of the story with you since it explains the title of our post today.

In one fictional “scene” Captain Dan Miller (an astronaut who walked on the moon) invites a local florist, Ruby Jewell, to a formal dinner at the White House…along with other NASA astronauts. Captain Miller flies them to Washington in his private Cessna and it is during the flight back that Ruby understands why she was supposed to be in this plane… from the conversation that follows:

Captain Miller (Dan) tells Ruby that he has beat cancer back twice but it has returned a third time and the doctor has informed him it is the “last” time. Dan says he didn’t find the information unsettling…in fact he surprised himself with the fact that he felt almost comforted by the news.

He then shares an epiphany he had on his second mission home from the moon that changed how he saw the world and his place in it.

Looking out the window (on the space craft that rotated every few hours) Dan kept seeing the same view …the sun, the moon, and the Earth all lined up like “three balls in a row.” There was a perfect order and symmetry to them.

Then as he stared at the stars…he continued ” I felt as if I was seeing something of myself, ancient star dust,  something that belonged to me once…yet something that I hadn’t seen before. I felt somehow connected to these masses of light, as if everything I was made of could be found in them as well… that everything lines up, like the sun, moon, and Earth…everything is ordered and intersects at just the right time. We are all uniquely a  part of this great universe.”

The captain said he just shared this experience with Ruby because somehow he, intuitively, felt she would understand when, earlier, his family and friends didn’t…the idea of an order to the universe that is spectacular.

Ruby did understand.

“When I arrange flowers I know which stems belong together. A certain energy guides me depending on the person who ordered them and the circumstances for the order. It is important that the right arrangement of flowers tell the receiver the right words of encouragement, congratulations, love, or sympathy. 

“When I open the refrigerator the flowers tend to lean in to let me know which ones are best suited for this specific job..which flowers need to be taken and exactly how they should be arranged.” 

” So… I understand”…Ruby concluded. “There is a certain special order in our passions in life, isn’t there?

With one last Captain Miller anecdote…the flight ended…but Ruby knew she would never forget that story or its meaning.

“There used to be this janitor at the NASA headquarters,” Dan said. His name was Josiah but everybody just called him Jo. Jo appeared ancient to all of us when we first met him, but he worked another twenty years and never missed a day.”

“I’d see him every morning. He’s stand and salute all the astronauts when we came in the building and he always said the same thing when we asked about him…”Everything’s good with my heart.”

Being young and brash we’d just hurry past him, slap the old man on the back without much thought…but you know, I always knew that what he said was important and I always thought that was the thing I wanted to be able to say one day too.”

“It took a while, but you know, I can finally say the same thing as Jo. Everything is good with my heart…mostly I am finished with my time on Earth. I feel ready to return to star-dust. Everything is good with my heart.”

*The Nasa photo used in today’s title picture is that of The Heart  Nebulae. This heart-shaped formation of stars are part of the Milky Way and farther off is the smaller soul nebulae...together they are called the Heart and Soul Nebulae. (photo on left)

So until tomorrow…At some point in our lives…an important intersection…don’t we all want to be able to say daily…  “Everything is good with my heart” and “All is well with my soul.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Everything is ‘good with a grandmother’s heart’ when Walsh sent this photo of Rutledge when he was an one-year-old at the Outer Banks… digging in the sand… and now six years later…as Rutledge is about to turn seven on the 18th. ***That boy likes to dig…engineer or archaeologist…only time will tell?

It was duck-like weather in Duck too yesterday…on and off rains…but by late in the afternoon the family was able to head over to the beach.

Rutledge is staring at a dolphin swimming along the coast-line probably looking for what he’s going to have for supper!

I hope Duck had as beautiful a sunset (after a soaking wet Friday…apparently like ours)…it was breathtaking here in Summerville last evening.

Dear Reader:

Over the years I have taken you many places, along with me on the blog journey, and announced to you that “This was my happy place.” It might have been the refurbished den, my new deck, the finished garden or the lovely fountain…even Ireland or lately Maine…but it always dealt with a geographical “place.”

Now I know that this wasn’t and isn’t completely true. My “happy place” is where “I am” in a precise moment… filled with happiness and gratitude. Happiness is me…not a location.

This epiphany evolved yesterday by a combination of two things…a quote I ‘randomly ‘ came across and Mother Nature entertaining me with seconds of pure delight from her plants and insects. (***And for once in my life I caught it all on my little iPhone camera. Amazing morning! )

Grandmother Wilson was the first person to allude to the fact that external factors- other people, objects…even gifts…can’t make one happy. Only we, ourselves can do that ….we must be happy inside before we can accept happiness from the world.

So I have always been conscious of the fact that happiness comes from within…but for whatever reason…it finally solidified when I came across this quote.

“You were born with  seeds of success and happiness, however nobody else, but you, can plant them in your life.” ― Edmond Mbiaka

Mother Nature planted these seeds of happiness for me yesterday to witness and laugh out loud.

It started out another hot, sticky day with humidity so thick it was laborious to even breathe outside. Rain showers have been playing ‘peek or boo‘ most of the week (missing our neighborhood for a couple of days)… so I dragged the hose out into the bright sunshine to water the plants along the driveway and fence.

I got to the”Guara lindheimeri” or “Whirling Butterflies” plant and was hosing it down when something caught my lateral vision. I thought it was a pesky mosquito (they have been terrible lately) but to my amazement it was a bee… looking like a drunk driver…circling around and around…I finally caught it in my lens.

It was headed “zig-zaggidy” right towards a beautiful little pink “butterfly” bloom. Little did it know that the stems on this particular plant are as delicately light as the bloom itself….not up to holding a plump bumblebee’s weight. Especially one who looked like he had ingested too much ‘nectar of the bee gods.‘ 🙂

For a split second or less (when miraculously I got this “shot”) he landed on the bloom solidly. It was then, however, that the fun began…the stem started whirling around and around (like a Tilt-a Whirl) carnival ride. The poor bee was so dazed it just hung on for dear life…until (I guess) it remembered it could just fly off …which it did. ***Leaving me laughing hysterically behind.

It was while all this was going on that I spotted Sammy the Cardinal pecking food off the ground in the empty lot on the other side of the fence…I took the photo shot right through the “Whirling Butterfly” plant…I couldn’t believe my luck. Only later did he fly and perch on the opposite side fence towards the street.

I had the two hibiscus bushes left to water and the rose bush…As I watered one hibiscus bush I noticed something red caught up under it…I thought it was a piece of trash…some red advertisement or something that blew against the fence… but look what was hiding under the thick stems of foliage. Surprise! First bloom of the season and what a way to start!!!

I then went in the back yard and started cleaning up the fence area and staking trellises for the emerging morning glories to climb and get off the ground. I added a new hanging basket and nailed the art fixtures tighter to the fence.

I had just finished watering when…(Murphy’s Law) the sun disappeared…one maverick dark cloud drifted over my head and the bottom fell out of the skies. I was taking my last photo when it happened and I took off running.

The Oak leaf Hydrangea bush’s blooms have turned from a creamy white to a perfectly pastel pink color….just gorgeous…worth the change from wet clothes.

So until tomorrow….

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Encouraging news…Pip is gaining more votes and close to being recognized as a high-level contender…but he still needs more numbers to make the cut-off…so once again…if anyone out there can vote that hasn’t yet or “time-share” the information with others…you would be making our family much indebted to your efforts with loving gratitude.

Procedure: Click on the website below:

Hit Submit to enter magazine...find Pip’s photo as seen above and click on the heart next to him. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! We so love this rescue dog … with no teeth (due to malnutrition in the puppy mill) but lots of tongue and heart !

https://1.shortstack.com/MnpPN0

Fun in the Sun:

Don’t you remember trying to dig a hole to China as a child?

Hummm…maybe not such a great idea any more? 🙂

Looks like everyone is having fun at Duck, NC!

Dear Reader:

I was reading an article on Sagamore Hill, Theodore Roosevelt’s private home, in which he proclaimed the day before he died (January 6, 1919) “I wonder if you will ever know how I love Sagamore Hill.”

From 1901 to 1909, while Roosevelt served his terms in office as the 26th President of the United States…Sagamore Hill became known as the “Summer White House.” Many important political discussions of the times and even cabinet meetings took place within its walls.

At one particular grid-locked discussion one late afternoon (that left everyone disjointed and irritable)…dinner and drinks were announced…allowing for some much needed respite from the heated conversations.

At the end of the lovely dinner….President Roosevelt asked his cabinet to retire outside for half an hour to stare at the stars…no talking or sounds allowed. At the end of the allotted time…they were then to return to the discussion room.

Roosevelt began the discussion about how he loved staring up at the stars because the majestic galaxy reminded him how small man and his problems were in the great scheme of things. He admitted that the stars humbled him and jokingly added “And all of you seated here know that takes a lot of doing.” 

***(Roosevelt wanted every participant to realize that their point of view was not the ‘all or nothing’  only solution but simply one idea among many that needed to be fitted into the communal puzzle problem in the correct proportion of magnitude.)

The group laughed…and then it was back to work with Roosevelt’s  famous quote – “‘Look toward the stars but keep your feet firmly on the ground.’

I love the moments in life when I am so caught up listening to the sound of nature or someone telling a story or a whisper that floats, across the room,  towards me… that I can actually see and feel what is being said.

I think that this deepest definition of listening is what God hears and feels about all of His creations. Like scripture says:

Psalm 116:1-2:

“I love the Lord because He hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because He bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath.”

Don’t you love the idea of God bending down to listen to us as a parent does to a child? I can think of no better gift than a listening heart…

Let’s take time to look at God’s Handiworks each night…His galaxy of stars and then thank Him for His gift of deeply listening to our personal problems and helping us keep our problems proportionately appropriate.

So until tomorrow…

The Dingles are off to Duck, North Carolina (Outer (outer) Banks)…to join Mollie’s sister and brother-in-law for a family vacation. I didn’t realize how long this trip would take Walsh and Mollie until I googled it…almost 8 hours from Charleston, SC to Duck, NC. (Didn’t think anything would take that long between the two Carolina states…those Outer Banks just keep on keep on going.

So they stopped in New Bern, NC for an overnight break for the children and then heading in today. Thank goodness for headphones for children now…does anyone spot “Spider Man” Lachlan in the back seat? * You just never know who you might find hitchhiking these days? 🙂

The Lowcountry Dog contest is still on and our sweet Pip sure could use your help…the contest ends in just a few days...June 15...and Pip needs  more votes!

You can only vote once…but if you haven’t done so yet… please do and send the info to friends…it literally just takes a minute! Hit Submit...find Pip’s photo as seen above and click on the heart next to him. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! We so love this rescue dog who rescued our hearts!

https://1.shortstack.com/MnpPN0

Dear Reader:

As I walked through my garden yesterday morning (following torrential rains Monday afternoon) some flowers looked a little beat down but most were smiling happily back at me…their thirst quenched from the heavy rains.

All I could think of was the line from the Ancient Mariner: “Water, water everywhere…but not a drop to drink.” Don’t so many of us confuse wants and needs…standing knee-deep in the river of abundance… still thirsting after happiness?”

And as much as I wish I had the money to finish fixing up my house to get it in prime shape…I still love it, with all its strange electric and plumbing idiosyncrasies- which light switch to jiggle and which to jingle to get the light bulb on or the oven cooking. I would probably have trouble adjusting to turning on switches in any “normal way” after all these years. (the same goes for jiggling commode handles 🙂

These are only “wants”…like a new kitchen and bathroom. I can live my life comfortably with just me living here and never give these “wants” a second glance.

I would rather spend my time in the garden surrounded by new beauty popping up each and every day. Since I love magic, as in my fairy garden, I have also come to realize that magic seeds of contentment are planted deep within us.

I love this quote from Simple Abundance: “Happiness that the world can not take away only flourishes in the secret garden of our souls.”

Think about how little we needed as infants to be content…to simply be changed and fed…when just our essential needs were met we cooed and smiled to the delight of our parents.

As adults we need to eliminate temporary happiness (usually material things or a short relationship) and concentrate on the daily rituals that bring us that same joy…and even better…it is permanent…residing in our heart and soul.

Things I have learned from my garden…

1. I can’t make a seed grow…only God has that power
2. If a plant looks unhealthy…change its environment
3. Don’t confuse dead for dormant…like ideas, opportunities, relationships…some things in life just take a little longer to flourish
4. Beauty is a legitimate reason for living-surround yourself with it
5. Be selective where you plant your garden…you must love the spot…a place you want to return to for peace and refuge
6. Share your happy place with others

So until tomorrow…

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

*I dropped off Colby’s graduation present yesterday…a Clemson bag filled with  Clemson decor and more…this fall. Colby wasn’t there but our wonderful, wise, witty loyal blog reader, grandmother Jo was. It had been a long time since I had a chance to chat with her…even for a short time. Love you Jo!

***I put a photo of a little Colby coming to visit me years past in her card…and now our girl is leaving the nest.

Da Dah! ..Colby in her moment of glory with family

When I went to check on the garden yesterday afternoon after the sun had been shining for awhile…blooms were popping out all over…even the second Mr. Lincoln rose had popped out. First season I have had two “presidential” roses.

Dear Reader:

When Warren G. Harding ran for President, in 1920, he ran on the slogan “Return to Normalcy”….to the pre-World War I days and get the economy back on track from the loss of the war economic boom.

Unfortunately his administration was plagued by scandals, professional and personal…that involved embezzlement in the Justice System, the Veterans Bureau, and of course the famous Teapot Dome scandal…all this plus on-going rumors of an illicit affair and child out of wedlock kept this administration from accomplishing few of its campaign promises. Harding is continuously ranked, historically in the Presidential polls, near the bottom… the least effective Presidents.

Part of the problem was the idea that Harding thought he could lead America backwards to the “good old days.” As enticing as that idea was back then (and still is today)…life just doesn’t work like that…no matter the circumstances in which we live…we must move forward and create a new “normalcy.”

Haven’t we all heard reporters and anchor men and women suggesting that what the “new normal” will look like after the pandemic finally departs…is up in the air. Right now we can only speculate what it might or might not become.

Many of the famous graduation speakers recently…politicians, celebrities, newscasters, etc. addressed this issue with the graduating high school and college students of the class of 2020.

The speeches certainly weren’t gloom and doom..the challenge with this group of students could be amazingly adventuresome...as they have the opportunity to start with a clean slate to define what the new frontier- “new normalcy” will be…and correct the problems of the “old normalcy” that have become visibly apparent…even more so as a result of the pandemic, political and equality issues that are demanding changes…a chance at a better world than the one handed them.

I have been as guilty as anyone in using excuses like “Well, when things calm down with the pandemic and the protests so I feel safe again in the community and not afraid of catching the virus…then I can speculate on what “new normal” might emerge.”

We’ve got to learn to work with what we have…we can’t wait on life to be perfect because, hey, we sure aren’t…we just have to take the steps, even baby ones, to ensure that we don’t end up right back where we started.

A new world is waiting for those brave enough to lead the pioneer expedition to and through it. Our new leaders have graduated and “Oh, the places You’ll go.”  Your generation is now given the torch of hope and the world’s hope is that you do a lot better with this beautiful world, we call home, than we did.

So until tomorrow …don’t forget:

“Faith is the very first thing you should pack in a hope chest.”
― Sarah Ban Breathnach

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Ann Graves has been given a clean bill of health from her earlier breast cancer…the best of the best of news! Her neighbor brought this sign over to give her for this wonderful and happy ending. *Since she already has a mask…Ann just needs a super cape!

What’s New in the Garden?

White Mexican petunias…yellow-striped mini petunias, petite vinca with its soft lavender stars and a  turned-over planter where the fern decided to start again in the soil (next to it) and make the edge of the woods its home.

Dear Reader:

Isn’t there something so comforting about seeing a light burning in front of a home…perhaps on the porch…or a light inside a window at night. The first thoughts that follow these sightings are…home, comfort, security, and love.

For me…even having a beautiful lamp on in the den in the evenings or on rainy days …sends me a sense of security and contentment. These days…anything we can do around our homes to bring us inner peace, amid so much turbulence and unrest, is appreciated by our physical, emotional, and spiritual sides of our being.

I remember when I started dating in high school…mother told me what time my curfew was (back then too 🙂 and also warned that if I was later coming in than the arranged time…the front porch light would be off...and ominously alerted me that “would not be a good thing to happen”. 

Sure enough the night came when I was late getting home and for the first time the front porch light was off…the house was bathed in darkness. I gulped and stumbled my way to the door. It was locked. I felt around the porch and finally found the key in a planter next to the door. With much trepidation I s-l-o-w-l-y opened the door.

It was so dark I was stumbling around the living room holding on to furniture (so as not to trip) when I suddenly realized that the arm of one chair was no longer wooden… but human…mother had been sitting in the dark waiting on me.

Without going into specifics…let’s just say that I was at home for many weekends my junior year and I was never late again. I learned my lesson…light on-good….light off-bad!

With Broadway theaters shut down now…eerily deserted…the only light left burning in the theater district is the famous “ghost light.”

“The ghost light is basically a lamp that’s left onstage when all the work is finished in the theater, and everyone’s gone home for the evening.” The orchestra pit  can be around ten feet lower than the stage. “So when they power off everything in the building, there’s the one little globe  left on so that no one walks in the theater and stumbles off the stage and breaks their neck.”

“The idea of the ghost light on the stage in a dark theater is very, very magical.” “You see that little glow on stage, you can see the edge of the proscenium, like ‘Wow, we’re in this place where anything can happen, who knows what ghosts are lurking around and what wonderful shows have been here before and what stories they conceal.’

So until tomorrow…as long as we have light in our lives we have hope for a better tomorrow…aren’t sunrises God’s daily gift to us…that no matter how dark the night is…the sun will always be there for us.

Don’t we have faith that at the end of the dark tunnels of crises (covering our land) that a light is still shining for a better tomorrow for our children and grandchildren?

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

***And now here is ‘Cousin Red’…cloned off the clone of “Little Big Red” (who was cloned from the original “Big Red”)…a close relationship…but “cloningly” complicated.