Dear Reader:

Another mid-winter retreat that stands out for me from the rest was the legend of the Pawleys Island Shell. I remember the year was 2017 and I did some research before we left looking for local historical places we had not gone to or stories we had not heard.

Suddenly the Legend of the Pawleys Island Shell came up and I started reading. Every year we go to the famous Hammocks Shops to hang out and usually pick up some sales items to bring home.

I had always seen Whitmire’s Fine Jewelry Shop but had never associated it with a legend about a Pawleys Island Shell before…I was intrigued.

I discovered that the story begins with John Whitmire leaving the Piedmont/Mountain regions of the state to move to the coast many years ago. He immediately began acquainting himself with his new surroundings by taking long walks on the beach and collecting a variety of shells. He was looking for something indigenous to the area, so as to make a beautiful piece of jewelry, something to connect with the magical island…an exquisite memento (he could design) for tourists.

When he kept finding some particular shells that he could not identify…he began asking “home-grown” inhabitants of the Pawley’s Island area what they were. Most people shrugged and said, “Oh that is our Pawley’s Island shell.” He knew he had found what he was looking for.

He experimented until he had created the beautiful pieces one sees immediately upon entering Whitmire’s Fine Jewelry shop. Then he advertised his new addition to his jewelry collection and the rest is history.

I don’t know if the owner, John Whitmire, will be in this year or not…I usually miss him as he likes to ski with friends around this time of year but in 2018 he was in and we finally got to talk and had a wonderful time conversing.

I told him his middle name should be Rumpelstiltskin since he had learned how to turn Pawleys Island sea shells into gorgeous one-of- a- kind memories for tourists visiting the island.

So until tomorrow…No two retreats (among all ten) have been the same…it is what keeps the gatherings exciting…seeing and doing new things while enjoying the comforts of old friendships.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Since this is our 10th Mid-Winter Retreat Edition…I want to remember one small incident from the past few years each day we are here….

Thought I would start with Libby’s famous Press N’Seal (from last year-March 2019) her brilliant idea on how to cover my foot (Remember the six month recovery period from a Mohl’s Surgery gone wrong…infection, infection, infection. Hard to believe this time last year…I was still limping and hopping around.)

More than anything at the last retreat… I wanted to just walk on the beach but was strictly told “No”…couldn’t take a chance with sand getting in the healing wound.

Libby never gave up…Press N’Seal...covered my foot completely and off I went! A friend in need is a friend indeed!

So until tomorrow…There is more than one way to skin a cat…at the end of that same month last year…I was released from six months of tenuous and painful foot procedures. Today, I am happy to announce my new skin completely covers the wound…and I don’t even have a limp. And no pain!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

For ten years (2010-2020) three of the Ya’s have kicked off the Ya Mid-Winter Retreat by meeting in Georgetown at the famous River Room Restaurant for lunch. Brooke picks me up from Walterboro and we head to Georgetown while Jackson drives in from Columbia.

We have all admitted it is our favorite part of the trip…the restaurant is the catalyst for everything that will follow…and we spend lunch eating delicious seafood and talking about all the places we want to go or see on this particular retreat.

We have had frigid cold weather, rainy blustery weather, sunny weather and even occasionally some warm weather…one never knows what Mother Nature has in store…but that is what makes it even more exciting…the not knowing. 

It always feels like the retreat will never get here … yet when it does…it always flies too fast…and as hard as we try we haven’t learned how to slow it down. But then again…maybe that is the secret…if it went on too long we would not appreciate it as much as our ‘sacred’ time  means to us today… when we know how limited together time is.

I think the reason the first day rendezvous is so special is because a rendezvous by definition is a secret, special pre-planned meeting and that is what our kick-off meal of love and laughter feels like….

Libby goes down the day before us to check on the heat or air-conditioning, the stove, fridge and other essential appliances to make sure everything is in working order.

The Carolina Inn looks warm and cozy by the time we arrive…and no time is lost getting in our most comforable clothes for the upcoming stay…comfort is what we want.

Come sit (or rock) and rest a spell!

So until tomorrow….“A friend is one who knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Anne is off tomorrow for about a week’s adventures in Mexico…she got a ‘new do’ before she left…too cute…She decided to just let her wavy curls do what they want to do, when they want to do it…looks terrific Anne! You and Jane have fun!

Jake had a “rendezvous” with age yesterday…it was Charleston County’s School District  100th Day of school and Jake dressed up like a 100 year-old-man….the cutest one I suspect! I hardly recognized him????

Dear Reader:

When Someone Deeply Listens to You

When someone deeply listens to you
it is like holding out a dented cup
you’ve had since childhood
and watching it fill up with
cold, fresh water.
When it balances on top of the brim,
you are understood.
When it overflows and touches your skin,
you are loved.

When someone deeply listens to you
the room where you stay
starts a new life
and the place where you wrote
your first poem
begins to glow in your mind’s eye.
It is as if gold has been discovered!

When someone deeply listens to you
your bare feet are on the earth
and a beloved land that seemed distant
is now at home within you.

(John Fox)

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

This poem spoke to me on so many different levels and time periods in my life. I used to read Awakin Weekly faithfully for years on end and then about a year or so ago my attention was pulled to other websites and fresh new ideas. So actually I was surprised it popped up again Monday morning…but then I don’t why I should have been…it was a God Wink directed at me… asking me to step back and concentrate on listening again…from the heart.

As most of you readers know LISTENING has been my Word of the Year for the past several ones. For awhile I actually saw some encouraging improvement during that time but lately I feel like I have slid back into my old habits of thinking, instead of listening, seeking witty responses instead of giving my full attention to what another is saying

It is not about me…not about what I am thinking, not about  judgement or assumptions I might be creating… and certainly not about  what I am going to say in response.

Now here comes the God Wink…early yesterday morning I was awakened by a dream that was so life-like I kept staring around me expecting to be standing in the wedding processional at Tommy and Kaitlyn’s wedding as we were about to join the guests, already seated…waiting on the ceremony.

This photo (above) shot back in my memory… of me holding on to the Native-American dream catchers because I felt like my dream had come true. Like the title says….”In seeking happiness for others…you find it in yourself.” That evening…I don’t know who was happier …Tommy or me.

We were all lined up when suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw Tommy pulling his father aside and speaking with him and then he started towards me. Typical me…I was rapidly trying to think of something special to say to my youngest and last child getting married instead of just concentrating on his approach.

I never opened my mouth…thank goodness! Tommy leaned in and for the first time in both our adult lives he began to thank me for my unwavering support, unconditional love, and most importantly…life…put together in such a beautiful, almost lyrical style…heart-felt beyond anything I had experienced before.

It was as if Tommy was the vessel carrying the message to me!

I was stunned. My eyes filled to the brink and ran over. Of all three children Tommy had always been the most elusive with showing emotional or deep feelings. *I have Kaitlyn, the miracle worker, for changing that in my son.

Everything Tommy said to me came straight from his heart and if you are ever fortunate enough to hear such a message from someone you love you recognize it immediately as the true source of light and love from our Creator.

So until tomorrow….The heart always sees what is invisible to the eye.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Yesterday was another beautiful day…it took a little longer for the clouds to dissipate and warm up…but by mid-afternoon it had. While taking the back roads home from running errands…I pulled over several times to capture spring knocking on Summerville’s door…ready to show off all its beauty.

Before I left there was my friend…Red-Shoulder Hawk…he acted as if he was just posing for me…wishing me a good day! And I did have one!

Springing for Spring in Summerville

Dear Reader:

Valentines Day might be the day for love and hugs but yesterday, February 3, was my day for hope and restored strength…gifts more precious than jewels. Thank you Father for blue skies, warm temperatures, kind people, and fresh air in the house…to clean out all the old germs!

Yesterday was “tax” day for me….exactly a year ago I had my taxes done …must be something about early February that pulls me like a magnet to my tax service office.

Margie was my assigned tax preparer. We knew several people in common and just hit it off…in half an hour I was out of there…a little richer for the outcome this year than last. Margie’s last words to me were “Plan something for Valentines Day because you should have your returns in the bank by then! Happy Valentines Day!”

That is always such a nice feeling to get done and over with each year. A good check-off day! Out of my hands into someone else’s…

I left feeling more energized than I have in three weeks. I rolled my car windows down, stopped and picked up a ham sandwich, took photos of my yard and porch in the beautiful warm afternoon sun. Yesterday was a good day to be alive.

But even more importantly… I realized hope had returned to me. I had gotten so discouraged fighting the horrible cough and congestion that I secretly feared my immune system, even with antibiotics, just didn’t have to strength to fight this stuff.

And now…I was scurrying around the yard, filling bird feeders, checking the mail…watching a beautiful red-shouldered hawk hunt for moles (really pulling for the hawk!…the mole tunnels in my front yard are so numerous I trip trying to walk from the car to the porch and back!- drawback for living one street back from a golf course)

This year I have made a list of the plants that survived the entire winter and year….these are going to be the first flowers purchased this spring.

*mini- red petunias- Can you believe that this one huge wooden petunia basket survived the entire cold winter on the porch on the green chair- I want to buy a variety of colors in the petunias and see how they do too.

*Gazanias- they have bloomed in baskets and in the garden soil all year…every time the sun emerged or the temps warmed only a little they popped back out. I want to buy these this year in bountiful clusters…the gift that continues throughout the year.

It took three years for the sasanquas and camellias to finally get buds and bloom but this winter was definitely one of the prettiest…can hardly wait for Brooke’s camellia to start blooming in the next few weeks.

Note to self: Plant the pansies in a hanging basket off the Bradford Pear…the pansies have loved that spot!

Look at the blooms and future blooms on Big Red…he is loving this weather!

And speaking of blooms…Big Red is filling up with them…obviously this is his kind of weather.

So until tomorrow….

“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.”  -Anne Lamott

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Yesterday when we discussed the importance of setting a personal mission goal to interact with another human being each day…I forgot to add that by doing so…we can be transforming into miracles within ourselves… many times never knowing it happened (after the fact.)

We have a tendency to categorize miracles into “Things” boxes…not “human” boxes. The “timing” was miraculous, or the miraculous gift arrived at the perfect moment, the play ended in a touchdown miraculously as the buzzer ended the game.

Yet when we look back at the “miracles” in our lives that changed the direction we were going… to a completely different detour and style of life…it usually involves the help of another person…a miracle worker.

Miracles are defined by age, maturity, spirituality…they can be something more concrete or abstract according to each individual’s needs.

For example:

I had my camera out at Rutledge’s tag football game…trying to capture some action shots…but everything happened so fast…I never had time to set up a picture before the play was over. Rutledge’s big moment when the quarterback threw him a pass that he caught (miraculous at that age, believe me) and ran in for a score…. happened on the furtherest end of the field away from me.

*But like Walsh reassured me…seeing it fresh with my own eyes (as it was happening) is much better than a photo anyway. Last night as I went through the pathetic pictures..blurry, off-kilter…I suddenly stopped. Could it possibly be?

It was still a little blurry but doggone it…if I didn’t get one action shot…Rutledge pulling the tag off the opposing runner and stopping the play. Rutledge was thrilled and me too…Boo Boo had gotten one action shot from my grandson’s tag football game! A true miracle!

And then sometimes our grandchildren can be the miracle we needed to hear.

Jakie found my pull-on sleeping cap yesterday morning when I got up and   put it on…much cuter on him (an adorable Snow White dwarf) but the most precious thing he said happened Saturday night…

We were sitting on the sofa and out of the blue he asked me how old I was? I braced myself and said 70…”I am 70 years old Jake. Without even a pause..he stared at me quite seriously and said “That’s not very old, Boo Boo…70 is a “Mommy age.” 

My little “miracle worker”…maybe I didn’t look as bad as I thought after three weeks of the hoops and croops. I hugged him and thanked him for his comment. (Sorry Mandy…one’s woman’s miracle is another woman’s cross to bear…just funning!”) 🙂 🙂

I took Eva Cate to Barnes and Noble to let her pick out a Nancy Drew book for making the A-Honor roll…of course we then had to get some tcby.. too close not to! 🙂

So until tomorrow…miracles come in all shapes and sizes…living miracles and concrete ones…but regardless they are the best of God’s Winks. They keep us as excited as little children about a surprise that will come one day when least expected.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Another God Wink…when I got home yesterday there was a box from Amazon.com. When I opened it…it was the Serta recliner/sofa mini-blanket….it had come in one day...unbelievable. I immediately turned it on…fell into the recliner and had the best nap in days! It doesn’t take much to make me happy these days and staying warm is one of them.

*As I was leaving Wakendaw Lakes in Mt. Pleasant yesterday they had this fun ditty on their Community Sign…..(Haven’t we all gotten so frustrated with “Auto-Correct“? We finish emailing or texting a note and when we glance at it…”auto correct”  has incorrectly changed everything so nothing makes a bit of sense any more. It is like we just finished a paragraph of “pig latin.”

This ditty read:

AUTO CORRECT made me say things I didn’t NINTENDO.

Dear Reader:

As soon as I read the words on the coffee cup I immediately thought of Father Kavanagh from the Mitford Series. He started each day with his thoughts centered on asking God to help him make a difference in one person’s life that day. *A very intelligent thing to do!

Cindy Ashley found a wonderful article on IQ, change, and kindness that is quite astounding. I found the particular blog post that accompanied one of the articles. I just loved it and the author. I don’t want to parrot it…but just take some information I found fascinating and share with you today! I will leave a link so if you re interested you can google it and read the whole article.

My amazingly wonderful Danish friends sent me this enticing New Year’s card…the girls are growing up so fast. Denmark is doing exercises in teaching how IQ and our emotional side should join forces so our daily assessment goals include being kind to others and changing someone’s life or spirit with a smile or a kind gesture.

Denmark has especially zero’ed in on “empathy” and the importance of taking time to understand others…it opens communication on such a higher, more intelligent level.

Empathy- a major part of emotion, is actually so important that kids in Denmark are taught this …along with math and reading.

Kids spend one hour a week learning tho to be kinder and more compassionate. Empathy is the ability to understand the feelings of others …deep down. It takes significantly more brain power than memorizing facts and spitting them back.

*Kev and Rikke…I would love for y’all to add any other initiatives you have witnessed taking place in Danish schools dealing with IQ and emotional caring for others.

• If Frida and Karla are examples of educated Danish young people…Denmark is raising some amazingly caring adolescents. My hats off to you for taking time in your educational system to deal with feelings.

Yesterday I was off to Mt. P…to see Rutledge’s first tag football game and then over to John and Mandy’s to keep the children while they got out…Thanks goodness..I have completely bored myself to death.

So until tomorrow…Don’t know if the ole’s groundhog saw his shadow or not yesterday…doesn’t seem to much matter but I hope he got to resume his long nap after the ceremony!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Resource: Creative Family Life– Ursula

Goodness Takes Intelligence: Why Kind People are the Smartest of All

Dear Reader:

In spite of adverse conditions yesterday (pretty much the norm these days) I ventured out for the first time to pick up some barbecue in Ridgeville to freeze and take to Pawleys this Thursday when the Ya’s have their mid-winter retreat! Hallelujah!

I am so ready for our gathering and chance to catch up with each other…mainly just to laugh and reminisce!

On the way home, bumping along the back country roads of Ridgeville, suddenly I was surrounded with black shadows. There was a light drizzle in the air and the temps were in the low forties…that bone-chilling cold. But I was sitting on my heated warm car seats (Love you Surcie!) (keeping my lower back warm and comfy)… and as happy as a clam…until I slammed on brakes and looked around me.

In the cold mist hundreds of crows had gathered…some paired off sitting next to each other on fences…hundreds walking together down dirt roads or gathered in large fields. I have never seen that many crows at one time.

*P.S. If you look carefully at the last photo above…a horse is standing at the end/ bend of the road staring at all the crows like…”What’s happening…What’s happening?” Were you invited here…I don’t think so!”

Crows do have a tendency to gather together during the winter months prior to mating season in March. Because crows are family-oriented (baby crows stay with their families for two years) they have a tendency to band together for protection, food-gathering, and just some plain old good gossip…they love to communicate…loudly!

In the past few decades, however, country crows have started becoming a thing of the past as the migration pattern seems to be changing to urban areas during the winter months. There are several reasons for this…scraps on sidewalks and open containers are more abundant and the asphalt cities hold heat better than the pastoral countryside…especially in the cold months and nights of winter.

(So apparently my sighting was more fortuitous than I imagined.)

Crows are considered to be the most intelligent and social of all birds and tend to mate for life, yet they’re often maligned as harbingers of evil or as a sign of death. (Unfortunately this idea originated from Hollywood, mainly Alfred Hitchcock, and his movie “The Birds” with the famous scene of black crows attacking school children.)

One of the most amusing things I learned about crows is that they choose their human friends by acts of kindness and they never forget a human face…good or bad…so it behooves one to be nice to crows…they do believe in revenge.

Example:

Dr. Kevin McGowan relates this piece of information:

McGowan has been banding and studying crows in his adopted hometown of Ithaca, New York for more than 30 years. He says crows are so smart they can remember a person’s face and learn to associate certain behaviors and sounds.

“I’ve got a number of families that know me pretty well because I toss ’em peanuts just as a snack type thing,” he says. “And they know when my garage door opens up. They know the sound of that and they’ll come over and they’ll chase my car down the street. And they come zipping across the street. It’s like wait, wait, wait, trying to catch up to the car.”

The bond between families of crows and even neighbors is especially strong in the American crow.

Juvenile crows are frequently seen defending their parents’ nest from predators. Other services they can provide include bringing food to mom and dad, or feeding their younger siblings directly.

One study found that 80 percent of American crow nests surveyed had a helping hand. And some birds become regular nest assistants, providing aid to their parents for over half a decade! (What a good son or daughter!) 🙂

… WHEN A CROW DIES, ITS NEIGHBORS MAY THROW A FUNERAL.

The sight of a dead crow tends to attract a mob of a  hundred or more  live ones. During this ritual, the live crows almost never touch the dead one, which rules scavenging out as a motive. Why do they do this? Some studies suggest that the mass gathering is part of a survival strategy: The birds are learning about threats and seem hesitant to revisit any spot where they’ve encountered a dead crow, even if food is plentiful there. Something caused their death…and that is where it happened…don’t go there!

So until tomorrow….Isn’t nature amazing? All God’s creatures can teach us humans a lesson on how to better humans...’Honor that father and mother.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

In spite of continued cold weather…Mother Nature won’t be stopped – the Japanese tulip trees are getting ready to put on their annual spectacular show, the camellias are bidding their time, and the Narcissus daffodils are starting to pop through.

Heard from Honey yesterday and look at her winter wonderland! The most beautiful yet I believe…so while I was counting crows Honey was counting inches…four and continuing!

Two weeks ago Honey fell and broke her hand…the same one she broke about 17 years ago…so you can only imagine what a trying few weeks these have been…she has had surgery and cast put on and would welcome all prayers that Monday when she returns to her surgeon he will, at least, be able to fit her into something smaller and more convenient than the cast she is presently in.

Honey…we all hope good news comes from your visit Monday…in fact hope Monday is a good day all around for everyone!!! Keep us updated!

*Oops…don’t forget…today is the first day of February! “Rabbit Rabbit, Rabbit!” Let’s pray for all of us to have an amazing February!

Dear Reader:

Waiting is given a bad rap in today’s society. Your boss wants the answer right not…not ten minutes from now. All of the new “computer games and communication gadets” promote less waiting time on their new network – time saved over their competitors.

“Everything promoted these days used similar phrases …the most popular being “Save time!” ….this catch phrase catches lots and lots of customers. The question we need to be asking ourselves is ‘What are we saving time for…how do we want to use our extra time?” 

God purposefully uses waiting time because He, unlike modern society, understand the true purpose in waiting and the life-changing alternatives that enables humans to see the world around us differently.

“God wants us to live by discernment—revelation knowledge, not head knowledge. It’s difficult to exercise discernment if you’re always trying to figure everything out. But when you’re willing to say, “God, I can’t figure this out, so I’m going to trust You to give me revelation that will set me free,” then you can be comfortable in spite of not knowing.

Trusting God often requires not knowing how God is going to accomplish what needs to be done and not knowing when He will do it. We often say God is never late, but generally He isn’t early either. Why? Because He uses times of waiting to stretch our faith in Him and to bring about change and growth in our lives. 

(Accepting God’s timing)

“God gives us hopes and dreams for certain things to happen in our lives, but He doesn’t always allow us to see the exact timing of His plan. Although frustrating, not knowing the exact timing is often what keeps us in the program. There are times when we might give up if we knew how long it was going to take, but when we accept God’s timing, we can learn to live in hope and enjoy our lives while God is working on our problems. We know that God’s plan for our lives is good, and when we entrust ourselves to Him, we can experience total peace and happiness for each day we are given.”

*(Resource: “When God’s Timing is Taking Too Long”– Joyce Meyer)

So until tomorrow: I trusted in, relied on, and was confident in You, O Lord; I said, You are my God. My times are in Your hands”… Psalm 31: 14-15

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Shout-out to Gin-g! Happy Birthday! Hope you have a wonderful weekend at Folly!!!!

Dear Reader:

It must really be easy to be a weatherman these days in our lowcountry area…”Chance of rain, wind, forties, fifties…almost making sixty…before bellowing dark clouds move back in and then more rain….to be repeated tomorrow.

“And you have yourself a good day…okay?”

I have been to Portland during the summer once and really liked it…but have never been to Seattle. And that’s okay because I think Seattle came to visit us and stay. Rain, wind, pop-up showers, peek of sun followed by clouds, wind, and more rain. (To be continued tomorrow)

*Remember the cute little children’s states story in which all the states decided to trade places with another state…only to realize that they were miserable and uncomfortable with certain states like Nebraska poking them in the back. In the end they all returned back home to their original spot… and vowed never to leave again.

This unusual January in the lowcountry has played havoc with the local economy here and especially in the Myrtle Beach area. After three or four days of constant rain…apparently many tourists have decided they could have this cold dreary weather experience at home for free…so they packed up and left.

Especially disappointed golfers with their “special” winter package golf deals. No deal is good if you are playing in cold, blustery wet, wintry conditions…normally January in the lowcountry has its fair share of blue skies, occasional sixties and seventies temperature….just not this January.

And as much as we don’t like to admit it….the weather does play havoc on  us physically and psychologically. I know my congestion/cold/cough wouldn’t have felt so detrimental if I could have gone out on the deck each afternoon and gotten the benefits of a warm winter sun beaming down. Instead I was wrapped up with blankets , even electric ones and the house still felt damp and cold inside.

I am happy to announce after 24 hours of antibiotics…for the first time…my cough is starting to quiet down to a manageable level ! I still sound like a dog barking but no longer a pitiful howling sound like a basset hound. Thank you Dr. Montoya!

I am also keeping mac and cheese, pasta, plain breads down….trying to coat my stomach before I take all my pills…haven’t had a bad stomach issue in four  days!

We are almost ready to tell our fickle January good-bye…not exactly as we hoped 2020 would start but still February is knocking on the door…and bulbs will soon be shaking out of their hibernation in exchange for amazing beautiful blooms.

First bulbs out! Mini-Tiny Daffodils!

“Spring calls us back to nature, fills our sails with warmer winds, soothes our weary bones, and lifts our spirits. Spring is full of psychic potential because it satisfies the four basic motives that underlie hope. Perhaps this is what prompted Bern Williams to offer one of most succinct reflections on hope and spring: “The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created spring.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh