Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

The quote in the title comes from George Herbert (1633)…an amazingly insightful poet, who metaphorically saw his aging life through a beautiful bud on an old flower that looked like it was dead… more than once..but now had returned…not just beautiful…but having arrived in its”Golden Age.” (“The Flower” – George Herbert)

*This is what happened to this gorgeous white camellia…it was left in a pot hidden halfway under the deck and forgotten…but after years of neglect it got just enough sun to emerge this past year as the most beautiful camellia of all. Queen for the Season! Sometimes it just takes some of us a little longer to bloom…and that’s okay too. Today it has taken its rightful place in the back yard with the rest of the camellia family!

Isn’t that our dream…that we continue to grow and love deeper and delight in the new perspectives on life that come with age…it radiates us far more than any cosmetic surgery!

“Tesha” Randall, in her book The To-Be List found herself in a quandary one day when she suddenly had an epiphany about some short-comings that would lessen her total fulfillment in life.

Author Latesha Randall lived for checking off items on her to-do lists until one day she had an epiphany: even though her days were filled with things to do, she was missing out on life. So she stopped writing down everything she needed to accomplish and started a new list of ideals and behaviors to adopt things like… Be present, Be engaged, Be authentic, and many other practices that focus on being rather than doing.

Like George Herbert, she too has realized that with age and maturity there comes a moment when letting others run your life is no longer acceptable and instead it is time to get self “selectable.”

One of her chapters on being rather than doing is called “Be Selective.”

She remembers, in the past, saying “yes” to everything and running around in circles trying to please everyone….this included staying late at work to make sure her boss and clients were happy…it was a “recipe for exhaustion.”

So she became more selective...with friends, events, and clients…recognizing the people in her life who drain her energy and who aren’t in line with her values in life.

She concludes by observing that being selective has brought her “more calm, more enjoyment, and a deeper connection“to whom she really is and what she really wants to do.

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So until tomorrow….We only get one chance at this thing called life…so let’s remember to surround ourselves with people who share many of the same values on life we do…instead of allowing ourselves to be  “tiptoeing” around consistently cantankerous individuals who bring us down….not up… to appreciate and feel the fulfillment of the individual, unique life we all deserve.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Is there anything more gorgeous than early spring snap dragons…they are such happy flowers…especially when they all hang out together!

Dear Reader:

As a teacher, when I came across this story, and the desire this young boy, Matthew, had to read anything he could get his hands on…I was touched. ( *And the generosity of the American people, as well as, people all around the world never ceases to make me proud.)

No Junk Reading

Last year, Mathew Flores, a 12-year-old from Sandy, Utah, approached postal worker Ron Lynch and asked if he had any extra advertisements or random newsletters. The boy explained that he loved to read but couldn’t afford books or even the bus fare to the library, so he would take anything the mailman had. Lynch was floored.

“He didn’t want electronics; he didn’t want to sit in front of the TV playing games all day. The kid just wanted to read,” Lynch told deseretnews.com. Lynch asked his Facebook friends for reading material. Soon, Flores was getting books from all over the world—the United States, England, and even India. For his part, Flores said that he plans to read all the books, then share them with other book-starved kids.

The astounding thing is that Matthew already understood the power of books and knowledge that opened him up to other worlds, cultures, and new understandings/perspectives unavailable to him in his present environment. Stories change lives.

So until tomorrow….“If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Kipling

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Resource: “Extraordinary Stories of Giving from People”– Reader’s Digest

Sammy popped by Monday morning to tell me good-bye. I caught the screen wrong with my picture shooting… so the photo looks abstract…but Sammy and I just stared at each other like two old souls.  (*I put out some extra food for him and the “Mrs.”)

Late last Sunday afternoon when I was returning to Summerville from the American Girl Performance I had a text from Luke saying that Chelsy had transplanted “Little Big Red” into his new, larger planter home. He texted a photo. I was so excited I squealed out loud at the next redlight! “Little Big Red” now has room to grow!

Dear Reader:

When it comes to thinking of a small act of kindness to do on any day that comes along…a small act can go a long way. When I read this little short idea…I thought to myself how simple it was but also so profound in bringing a moment of joy to a child.

“Little Gifts” (KindSprings) Alisamom

“Today at the grocery store I gave my daughter two quarters and told her to put it in a random gum machine to make some kid happy. She added two of her own quarters and loaded up the most expensive dispenser machines there!”

Can you only imagine some child’s excitement to spot the gum or toy dispenser already filled with quarters…just waiting to be turned? A small act…but with such excited benefits.

I have to laugh thinking about leaving quarters in a gum machine…because many of you like me…still remember the penny, nickel, and dime machines. It wasn’t until the Super Gumball machines were created that the price “skyrocketed” to a quarter.

I started reading about the history of gum machines and it was really interesting.

HISTORY OF GUMBALL MACHINE/VENDING MACHINES

Did you know that holy water was once vended? The first known vending operation started way back in Egypt in 215BC. It is thought the Greek mathematician Hero invented a machine to vend holy water in Egyptian Temples. Since then there have been many different variations on the vending machine.

During the early 1880’s the first commercial coin operated vending machines were introduced in Europe to sell postcards and books. Vending machines started to become universal selling everything from stamps, postcards, books, cigars, candy and gum. There was even a coin operated restaurant in Philadelphia, “Horn & Hardart”.

1 cent Gumball machines first became popular in the United States in the early 1900’s. The machines at the time dispensed gumballs or peanuts. At around this same time vending machines were gaining popularity. In 1871 Thomas Adams patented the vending machine in the U.S. to dispense gum. In 1888 he put the vending machines on the New York City train platforms which dispensed his chicle chew stick gum. Newer vending machines have taken an old idea and made it new again by offering everything from ice cream, sandwiches, candy and pop.

So until tomorrow…there will always be a certain excitement about getting a pleasurable item out of a vending machine…a childhood pleasure that continues throughout adulthood. Shouldn’t life be that way too? We never know on any single day what might pop out at us…but it is all part of life…sometimes good, sometimes not as good.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Don’t forget that tonight is Brooks Moore’s “Book Talk” concerning his book Chalk Talk… 30 short stories remembering special moments in teaching. It will be held this evening at Miler Country Club at 7:00 P.M.  80% of the proceeds go to St Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Since both Brooks and I are cancer survivors…this is a charity near and dear to both our hearts. Please take a few minutes this evening to laugh, chuckle, and maybe wipe away a tear or two.

Dear Reader:

Today I am leaving to stay over at the Turners to help out with the grandchildren while John is gone…so I thought that an example of a random act of kindness might be just the thing to leave for each day I am away.

Like in today’s story (GuidePost) sometimes all it takes is a little nudge or encouragement to guide someone towards their purpose and passion in life…that is the case in this story.

(Courtesy Avi Loren Fox)

We all need that little nudge to take a big risk, and for Avi Loren Fox, the now-founder of clothing line Wild Mantle that push came from a well-intended friend.

“A few years ago, I was in a coffee shop with some friends talking about how I really wanted a hooded scarf. I had seen a few around but could never find one to buy in stores. We all mused about how you could totally make the shape by cutting up and sewing together some old sweaters. I guess I kept going on about it, because after a while one of my friends was like ‘Come on, let’s go!’ and marched me to a thrift store down the street and bought me a bag of cashmere and wool sweaters.

I went home that night and made a hooded-scarf. It turned out really well, and when I wore it out into the world, people noticed and said, ‘What is that? I want one!’ I started making and selling them, and now two kickstarter campaigns and a Tory Burch Foundation loan later, that first hooded scarf  turned into the company that is now my passion and work: Wild Mantle. I still think back to how that random act of kindness changed everything, and without it, Wild Mantle probably never would have happened. Thank you, Roni!”

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So until tomorrow…Encouragement is so important in life…just having someone who believes in you can turn your life completely around. We must, also, always be ‘encouragers’ to others and accept encouragement when given to us…it just might possibly change a life…including yours.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Yesterday I accompanied Mandy and Eva Cate for the long-awaited American Girl Performance at Gaillard Auditorium downtown Charleston. I have never seen so many little girls with their dolls in one place all my life. Absolutely adorable. Eva Cate took Gracie, her doll, all decked out like she was…in her fifties-looking dress Mandy found several weeks ago. The show was adorable and all about “Girl Power”…about being true to yourself and never giving up.

Eva Cate was so excited about going before we left and she was in utter blissful reverie following the performance.

The ceiling inside the auditorium is breath-taking….and the happy grin on Jakie’s face is equally adorable…but just this time…no boys allowed! 🙂

Mollie sent these precious picture of Eloise…before I blink it will be time for Eloise to go see American Girl…it happens too quickly!

***Extra Extra! Brooks Moore is the author of the book Chalk Talk ….(which contains the very popular Christmas story I put on the blog post around the holidays ….(Christmas and the Magic Pencil-December 20)

Brooks is having a Book Talk tomorrow night (Tuesday, March 12 at 7:00 P.M. -Miler Country Club.) 80% of the proceeds will go to St. Jude’s Children Hospital. 

Brooks just finished fighting a very tenuous battle with cancer himself and it is what prompted him to write his book Chalk Talk...telling stories of his teaching days in the classroom.

I am just sorry I will be in Mt. Pleasant but please come out for this great cause and be thoroughly entertained with Brooks humor and nostalgic look at his personal teaching experiences You will be thoroughly entertained!

Dear Reader:

You might remember, several years ago,  I started a personal contest with Scheherazade to tell one more story than her famous 1001 Arabian Nights… through blog posting…to write a post each day for 1002 days beating her 1001 nights of tales. I did it….and suddenly an apparent observation was made… I was still breathing… so I  decided that very day to just keep on ‘keeping on’ writing.

But what if the challenge was to tell your life story…in a single night?

I came across this novel quite by accident but when I saw it had been endorsed by Louise Penny (my favorite mystery writer) I was immediately fascinated. Penny wrote on the top cover of the novel:

“Beautiful. Intimate. Aching and lyrical. So simply and beautifully told.” 

The whole concept of choosing five people,whose lives most affected you in your own lifetime, and then re-telling each story in a single night… in a bar through five toasts… is a quick lure.

Goodreads gives this synopsis:

“If you had to pick five people to sum up your life, who would they be? If you were to raise a glass to each of them, what would you say? And what would you learn about yourself, “When all is said and done?”

This is the story of Maurice Hannigan, who, over the course of a Saturday night in June, orders five different drinks at the Rainford House Hotel. With each he toasts a person vital to him: his doomed older brother, his troubled sister-in-law, his daughter of fifteen minutes, his son far off in America, and his late, lamented wife. And through these people, the ones who left him behind, he tells the story of his own life, with all its regrets and feuds, loves and triumphs.

Beautifully written, powerfully felt, When All Is Said promises to be the next great Irish novel.”

My book just arrived Friday afternoon so I will take it to Mandy and John’s house next week to read…I will be helping Mandy out with the children while John is at a meeting in Orlando. I can hardly wait to start.

Books like these always make me stop and think…If I chose five people who had the most influence on my life…who would they be?” Definitely food for thought. Most importantly…if we made a toast to them…what would we say? And then what could we learn about ourselves, “When all is said?”

The inside cover gives us this enticing bit of intrigue…”At the bar of a grand hotel in a small Irish town sits eighty-four-year-old Maurice Hannigan. He’s alone, as usual-though tonight is any thing but. Pull up a stool and charge your glass, because Maurice is finally ready to tell his story.

So until tomorrow…What about us? Are we ready to tell our story…the story of a lifetime…our lifetime? And if not now…when?

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Luke and Chelsey’s little nephew, Ryker, came for a visit yesterday and he was put to work helping Luke and Chelsey dig a hole for my redbud tree. He was so proud…I gave him a toy and he showed me all the work he had done…I am sure the Redbud will bloom and live forever with little Ryker’s assistance.

Way to go Ryker!!! You are taking after your Uncle Luke…always helping people!

I left yesterday and met Brooke and Libby in Walterboro and then we all went to Beaufort for a wonderful luncheon at Wren’s for Lacy…Brooke’s soon-to-be daughter-in-law. We had such fun!

Brooke & Lacy…her beautiful daughter-in-law! Such a fun crowd…we had a ball! Beaufort and family outdid themselves!

Dear Reader:

If this all-purpose weather coat could talk it would have some tales to tell…some of you long-time readers know this was the “coat”…the one Mandy and John gave me for my Ireland trip with Anne back in 2014. Has it really been that long?

It was perfect for the weather and almost every single picture of me throughout the 10 days I was there has me in this coat. But the thing I loved most about it was the pockets!

I am a “pocket” girl…What is it about having a place to put your wallet, cards, cash and ID quickly out of sight without dragging a heavy pocket-book or purse around?  Since Anne did the driving…I could stuff everything I needed for the day in those pockets.

But it isn’t just using pockets for I.D. traveling purposes…there is also a certain inner emotional sense of comfort in having pockets  on oneself…whether with pants or a coat…a sense of security unveils in having a place to simply rest your hands.

As I went to hang up this coat to take a picture of it…I felt myself feeling around the pockets and lo and behold…there were two old Luden Cherry Cough drops in one pocket (You know how much I love them) and a crinkled five dollar bill in another pocket!) Happiness is finding money in an old pocket…crinkled or not!

 I texted Anne to ask if she still had some of the Ireland pictures around since Chapel of Hope Stories Part II started in November and the Ireland trip pictures were before that…in June. She did and we had to laugh…not a day went by without the jacket. I told Anne we should have written an Irish story about “Traveling Rain Coat.”

In the latest edition of Kelly Rae Robert’s newsletter she announced that the family was in a rental house for six weeks while their house is being completed…snow has definitely slowed down the process. Kelly said their family was completely in awe of the amounts of snow in Three Sisters, Oregon. Her son, of course, loves it and his new school. Kelly admitted to having a bawling session after dropping her son off the first day…but still she knows that this was the right move…as tough as it has been. She knows she must listen to those whispers within her as she takes this new path in her and her family’s lives.

“This move is reminding me that following our whispers isn’t always the easiest of soul work. It takes courage to tune in, and listen to all that is calling us. And then it takes more courage and work to make changes (sometimes small and sometimes BIG) toward the lives that are waiting for us and our families.”

“Sometimes, this journey feels exhausting. Sometimes exciting. Either way, I’m, digging deep into my optimism pockets and practicing Trust along the way.”

Now that is another reason why we need pockets…so when we are down we can ‘dig deeper’ into our pockets and find the happiness and optimism we need to continue our journey!

(Kelly Rae Roberts art work)

So until tomorrow…let us take time to stop and listen to those whispers calling from within guiding us gently through the next bend along our path. Keep those whispers in your pockets always…ready to grab at a moment’s notice.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Eloise got to visit Rutledge at school and she loves it…she will want to go to school with him everyday now!

* Looks very promising that something wonderful might happen at my next foot appointment on Friday March 15th…getting excited!

Dear Reader:

As I was thinking about Bob Williams’ closing remarks yesterday concerning the best thing he receives, in exchange, for his Hershey candy bar giveaways…getting a hug and that at 94 it was the best gift of all…it made me pause and reflect on that statement.

It really is true, isn’t it?  For most of us the older we get the less we want material items…instead what we crave is physical closeness in the form of hugs from grandchildren, our children, nieces, nephews- up to our peers, new friends or even strangers. It is that moment of physical contact that makes us still feel connected to the rest of humanity.

I have come to realize that the last several Steve Hartman ‘the ‘On the Road’ stories on CBS have been mostly about just that…hugs. A few months ago it was the little girl that grabbed an elderly gentleman’s hand and befriended him in a grocery store…initiating an on-going beautiful relationship. Sunday it was Bob Williams and his “Hershey Hugs” and then some of you might seen the story of eleven-year-old Ruby and her amazing presence in an adult convalescent home.

Source: CBS Evening News (“On the Road”) Steve Hartman

Harrison, Ark. — At a nursing home in northwest Arkansas, we found a gem named Ruby. At 11-years-old, Ruby Chitsey likes to go to work with her mom.

Amanda is a nurse who travels to several nursing homes in the area. And it was on one of those visits, that Ruby started going up to residents with her notepad, asking them if they could have any three things, what would they be.

When asked what was Ruby’s initial intention…her mother replied.

“I don’t think she had an intention, really,” Amanda said.

Ruby said she was mostly just curious what they’d say.

“I was very surprised. I thought people would say money, houses, a Lamborghini,” Ruby said.

But, instead, here’s what she got: electric razor, new shoes, Vienna sausage, for some reason a lot of people asked for Vienna sausage and other really basic items. 

Like, that’s all they wanted. And I really decided that I needed to do something,” Ruby said.

So she started a charity called, “Three Wishes for Ruby’s Residents.”

Now, while her mom is caring for patients, Ruby goes room-to-room, jots down wishes and then sets out to grant those wishes. Ruby has a GoFundMe to cover costs, but again, no one is asking for a sports car here. Her expenses are minimal, especially compared to the rewards.

“It really lifts you, it really does,” Ruby said.

On this day, she came back with a wheelchair full of sausages and other grocery items. But make no mistake, this isn’t about food.

Whether she knows it or not, Ruby is satisfying some much more basic human needs here, to be remembered, to be cherished  especially by a child. That is what our seniors are truly hungry for. That is what Ruby brings every time she sets foot in a nursing home.

Who needs a Lamborghini when you’ve got home delivery of all the happy you can handle?

*Don’t you just love Steve Hartman’s human interest stories? Here is the video shown on CBS Sunday Morning Show in case you haven’t seen it.

https://www.facebook.com/CBSSundayMorning/videos/steve-hartman-three-wishes/617043965407289/

So until tomorrow…The next time you can’t think how to start or end a note… try something like… “Much love and even more hugs.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

The red-headed woodpecker’s favorite place to roost now is the little chapel bird house feeder….I am going to have to move my car “Surcie” to the other driveway to get it away from the trees, falling leaves, and pollen…but mainly to open up the wide view of the driveway for  all the birds visiting the “little chapel.”

*It pays to wake up early…to see the sun come up….I was at the computer a few minutes before seven this morning…and a tiny splash of light caught my peripheral vision…30 seconds later the sun burst through. I think it is going to be a great day. Off to Mt. P to the foot doctor….prayers said…fingers crossed!

Dear Reader:

I remember several years ago doing a blog post on Hershey’s candy bars in connection to my mother’s love of them. She always had some stashed around her house or apartment. It was a pleasure she looked forward to each night.

Apparently mom was not alone. Bob Williams of Long Grove, Iowa was in the habit of eating a banana, half a chocolate bar, and a glass of milk each day. He is 94 years young this year and famously known throughout this small Iowan town of Long Grove (850 residents) as simply “The Candy Man.”

It started small…really small. One day at the Dollar General instead of getting his one Hershey bar for the next day he got three. He had just seen a documentary on the expression “paying it forward” and he decided to give it a try. This time he bought three bars, kept one for his meal the next day, and gave the other two bars away to people passing by him at random. That was 6,000 Hershey bars ago.

“You’d think I’d given them keys to a new car…Honest to God these people were thunderstruck.”

“It made me feel warm and needed again…a feeling I wanted to keep.”

For 39 years Bob Williams taught psychology in nearby Davenport…today he makes weekly Saturday trips to the Dollar General...he buys 2 cases of Hersheys for $45 dollars on $5 dollar discount day. On these days he hands one bar each to the two cashiers and then one to the person behind him in line…before heading out to pass out the rest.

Hershey’s has recognized Bob for his warm-hearted, homespun philanthropy by sending him a check for $1500. On his last recent birthday (94)  Hershey’s Incorporated sent a representative to his birthday party. He was told by the representative that Hershey’s considers him the “North Star” of chocolate kindness.

Bob was married to his beloved wife Mary Elizabeth for 68 years and loved giving her chocolates. She died in 2012 at the age of 88. Every day he stops at a special bench with her name on it to visit and just talk with his wife.

When people stop and tell him he is doing this because “You can’t take it with you” he just smiles and replies: “You can take it with you…if you remember to also give it away.”

And what does he get in return. “Hugs…lots and lots of hugs…when you are 94 that’s the best gift of all.”

“A lot of people have said we need more sharing and smiling and patting people on the back,” Williams told the local newspaper The Register.

“I hope everybody picks up on that. We need to lighten up and smile a bit more. Share whatever you can with people.  (And then with a grin) “There is no charge for that last bit of advice.”

Source: Title picture: Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images

A memory lane photo…was going through a shoe box of old cards and photos …and found this Valentines picture in a card from Eva Cate….so cute!

(Jo Dufford Pooh Cards for Daily Messages)

Dear Reader:

I love days, like the one Piglet describes in the title photo…and yesterday was one of them. The cold weather prompted me to make spaghetti…there’s just something so comforting and soothing about hot pasta on a cold night…especially when I have a fire going.

As Honey and I were talking on the phone (celebrating her birthday) yesterday afternoon…Luke stopped by. He had fixed the Clemson sign on the oak tree that blew down and was damaged by a recent wind storm. He just picked it up yesterday…nowadays I wonder how I ever managed to make it without Luke and Chelsey across the street from me?

So I piled the spaghetti on two plates with garlic rolls and Parmesan cheese. Chelsey is having to travel more now and putting in long hours…I thought it would be nice to come home to a hot meal…and just let them know how much their presence is appreciated by all the neighbors. They are so giving!

So when I saw this little short story that was published on KindSpring…Small Acts that Change the World I knew I was getting a God Wink since Honey kept Vietnamese Pot-Belly hogs for many years and loved them like one of the family….“Sharing a Smile” is about a pig that brought a smile to someone in distress. It is an example of how we can change the world with kindness… even when we don’t set out to do it.  (Written by NoonesNME)

“While stuck in traffic, I noticed the woman in the vehicle next to me was crying. Alone in her vehicle, she wiped her tears, and struggled to catch her breath. I didn’t mean to stare, but I

could hardly look away. As she pulled ahead of me, I could still see her crying for quite a few minutes.

When it was my turn to drive up beside her, I managed to get her attention by waving a little stuffed pig I happen to carry in my car. I tilted the pig’s head from side to side and gestured with my fingers over my biggest smile for her to do the same. She wiped her tears, nodded, smiled, and gave me a big thumbs up! At that moment, traffic cleared up and we drove off.

It was quite emotional, and even recalling it stirs up some mixed feelings. I’m glad I got to see the silver lining behind the turmoil she was experiencing, even if it was for a few seconds. I’m grateful to have been a part of that.”

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So until tomorrow…like Father Timothy said each day…”Lord, Make me a blessing to someone today.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Like so many gardeners and flower lovers…we are all holding our breath and saying a prayer that the below freezing temperatures last night and tonight will not kill many blooms…so many trees and buds are ready to pop at any moment. So I took pictures yesterday in the damp grayness…until suddenly the sun appeared later in the afternoon.

I took two pictures of the Bradford Pear…the first one on the left had dark forbidding skies behind it…but a minute later…the sun burst through and lit the pear tree up like a smile!

Nowadays I am cutting azalea sprigs to bring inside….

Mollie and some of the other Lowcountry BeautyCounter representatives met with the Director of Community Outreach for Joe Cunningham. Their mission and voices resonated with pleas for better surveillance of harmful products that go into children, men and women’s cleaning and beauty products. No one should have to worry about harmful ingredients in everyday cleaning products.
 

Dear Reader:

After finding the Carolina Parakeet glass engraving ( absolutely magnificent) by Lex Melfi (sponsored by Sculpture in the South) last Saturday on our scavenger hunt…some facts about this (sadly extinct) bird kept trying to pop up in my mind from teaching South Carolina History for almost three decades. There was something really interesting I had read recently about it…but what was it? I had to know.

*There was a little limerick clue for each sculpture on the B.I.R.D.S Sculpture Trail which made it fun for adults and children alike. The limerick for the Carolina Parakeet said:

“At Town Hall, there’s a bird in the glass, From flocks of great numbers, one’s been cast. They once ruled the air, But now they’re not there, Sad to say, this BIRD’s lost to the past.”

Sunday I pulled out my big heavy  South Carolina…A History by Walter Edgar and started looking for any information I could find on this once rare bird. “Walter” didn’t fail me. He exclaimed:

The first Europeans to settle in the lowcountry of South Carolina wrote: “There are divers sorts of Birds unknowne in England” one of which was the Carolina parakeet, a colorful bird that always seemed to attract attention….the only parakeet found in North America.

Edgar went on to say, ” There are probably more species of birds in South Carolina than in any other state. Turkeys back then were reported weighing forty and fifty pounds. Flocks of passenger pigeons were so thick that they darkened the sky. Carolina parakeet flocks were also large, but the birds were not as numerous as the passenger pigeons.”

From the Smithsonian Libraries, I found an interesting excerpt from an article titled “Carolina Parakeet: A Splendor of Beauty Gone Forever” by Liz O’Brien.

Jewel-colored Carolina parakeets traveled in huge, noisy flocks from southern New York and Wisconsin to the Gulf of Mexico, favoring old forests along rivers. Although they looked tropical, Carolina parakeets didn’t migrate south in the winter but weathered the cold.

As their forests were cut to make space for farms, the parrots were shot for feeding on crops and orchards. Trappers captured them to sell as pets, and hunters sold them as colorful decorations. Hat makers and clothiers prized the Carolina parakeet’s brilliant plumage, using feathers or entire birds to decorate ladies’ hair, hats, and gowns. In 1886 alone, the hat trade claimed an estimated 5 million birds of various species—victims of fashion. By 1904, they were gone in the wild. The last Carolina parakeet in captivity died in 1918.

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All of this information I found fascinating but I was still missing something new I had heard about the Carolina Parakeet…finally it came back to me and I found the information in an article by National Geographic News called: “Opinion: The Case for Reviving Extinct Species.” (Stewart Brand)

Scientists who deal in genetics now have the capability of bringing back certain extinct plant and animal species from the past…the number one most hopeful project will probably be the Wooly Mammoth (because of direct DNA from certain elephants today) that once roamed through South Carolina and and other sections of the country. In the article Brand also mentioned the Carolina Parakeet as one extinct bird species they would like to see resurrected. 

The article discussed the pro’s for experimenting with these “Jurassic Park” type projects… I am providing a link to the article if you are interested in reading it. It ended with this thought about the future and going to zoo’s with children…

*So until tomorrow…If you go to the Gibbes Museum of Art in downtown Charleston you will see this beautiful art work by Anna Heyward Taylor.

*This gorgeous wood block print on paper art work was given to the museum by the artist, herself,  (Anna Heyward Taylor- 1879-1956) as a gift. A rare treasure for a rare bird. Beauty lasts forever when captured by an artist…though the subject of that beauty might be gone forever. (Or maybe not?)

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

Today really is my favorite day because my wonderful friend, Honey Burrell, was born on this day…and it was only a matter of time before we were destined to meet and become the best of friends.

Happy Birthday Honey!!!!! You are the rarest of all things beautiful…inside and out!

“Little Big Red” outgrew his pot yesterday. I was going to bring him in, anyway, since the temps are dropping below freezing the next few nights…but when I looked at him…he was leaning precariously to the right…so tall he could no longer stay straight up….I found a deeper pot and after the freeze I will help Chelsey replant the red geranium who is a definite offspring of his famous ancestor who came before him. (*Luke propped him up with a stake temporarily)