Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

I decided, yesterday, to check in on another one of my favorite author’s Laura Bradbury (author of the “Grape series“) whom I discovered by “accident” a few summers ago. There are  four books in her series…each story is a  true incident of falling in love with France and a certain Frenchman, whom she later married. (Then renovating four old French chateau’s while raising three children.)

Sadly, five years ago Laura was diagnosed with a rare liver disease PSC ( Primary Sclerosing Cholargitis.) There was no cure…only a liver transplant to save her life. Finally last March a donor that matched her liver came forward and she had the surgery.

Today Laura is working on her fifth book in the “Grape Series: called “My Grape Paris.” She had hoped for it to be in publication by this past September but to date nothing has appeared. I am praying this doesn’t have anything to do with her health. Her writings are honest, contemplative, and filled with humor…even when fighting for her own life in real life.

Periodically, on her blog, she writes about short, fascinating glimpses of life/culture in France (she is Canadian by birth.) In one of these posts…she included the title picture (on this blog) while telling about the beautiful tradition of opening and closing shutters to welcome in each day and then bid it “good night.” ( The title picture is of one of her renovated rental homes in Burgundy…La Maison des Chaumes.)

Laura describes the tradition of opening and shutting exterior shutters in France this way:

“One of the things I love most about our slower days in France is the routine of opening up the shutters at La Maison des Chaumes in the morning and shutting them again in the evening. 

It gives me a chance to welcome the new day in the morning and to open the windows to fill the house up with crisp, fresh morning air. 

In the evening, closing and locking the shutters refocuses my attention inwards towards my family and our beds. There is nothing like closed shutters that make me feel all snug with Franck and our baby chicks inside our Burgundian nest. 

When our french family and friends come to visit us in Canada they are astounded at how the houses in North America have no shutters. “Don’t you feel unsafe?” they ask. “Don’t you feel exposed?”

I don’t, really, because I grew up without shutters. However, I do suspect this makes me more appreciative of them than the average french person.” 

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I only have shutters on my two front windows in my “Happy Room”...a big reason it is happy. They are only interior, not exterior, but they are wonderful!  (I got one of the last Pre-made plantation shutters from Lowe’s before they did away with their store stock …now plantation shutters have to be special ordered. *Years ago, Paul Sanders came over, installed them, and made them work…since they were a fraction of an inch off. I just love Paul Sanders…so gifted in woodwork!)

I know what Laura Bradbury feels about the ritual of throwing open the shutters to welcome a new day in, to receive the rays of glorious sunshine…thanking God for another day of life. Yesterday was beautiful…warm (80’s) but with a cool breeze and just perfect for flinging open all the windows…letting the fresh air drift in!

And then at night I close the windows, pull the shutters together and feel secure too… turning inward to all that is warm and cozy in my “Happy Room”… taking time to thank God for the beautiful day I just lived.

Jackson and I talked on the phone yesterday and I was telling her about the blog today…she told me that her mother (our beloved Mama Mia) always got up, got dressed, with her earrings on and make-up on before she ever opened any blinds, shades, or shutters.

She said her mother  told her that the only person who can decide how much light or darkness, sunshine or clouds,  will be  allowed into his/her day…is you! It is a choice you must make each and every day. You should never be influenced by anything outside your home…especially the weather. Happiness rests within your heart…no umbrella or coat ever needed.

Mama Mia raised the bedroom blinds first after she dressed to the hilt, then went to the kitchen and raised the shades there… regardless of the weather or season she was dressed for any occasion or opportunity that came her way.

So until tomorrow…

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*My favorite flowers this past summer have been my morning glories…They are not content to just bloom in the morning, but every afternoon and evening…I am finding blooms on the back side of the fence and mixed in with all sorts of other flowers. They have given me beauty with no time restrictions applied…all summer and fall.

And Vickie’s and my ‘co-op’ rose bush is covered in blooms….

Dear Reader:

Isn’t it funny how we can live somewhere for a lengthy period of our lives and not see something right in front of us? That happened to me yesterday morning…when my eyes were finally opened.

You remember that my Ya friend, Libby, spent Saturday night at the B&B (to attend a high school reunion) and stayed over Sunday. We made lunch after I got back from my storytelling at church and then proceeded to the back deck where we literally stayed until five o’clock when Libby reluctantly left the quietude of the “sanctuary” we both felt throughout the day.

It was so pretty and sitting in the shade on the deck the temperature was perfect. The sky was sapphire blue and I remember staring up at it as we talked about our children, grandchildren, with dreams and hopes for both.

It was after Libby left and the darkness quickly closed in that the feeling of having forgotten something I needed to do crept in….the change in time making me feel a little off-kilter. (which I talked about in yesterday’s blog.)

I texted Libby a couple of hours after she left to make sure she made it home (Columbia) okay and she texted back “Made it home fine…but then just wanted to turn around and come back to the B&B for longer…exactly what I needed.” 

It was exactly what we both needed. The nice thing about being around old friends is that we don’t have to explain feelings or actions because our friend knows us probably better than we know ourselves. We can have lapses of a comfortable silence…not commonly found with other acquaintances in our daily lives because we have shared so much living history together.

I am creeping along with Book 13 of the Louise Penny series because I don’t want to finish it…not knowing when the next one will appear. It is kind of scary. I am already getting a bad case of: (my new word)

Angsticipation
When you finish the latest book in a series, it ends on a serious cliffhanger, and there isn’t even an estimated publication date for the next book in the series yet. (!!!)

Yesterday morning (Monday) I went back out on the deck where Libby and I had spent most of Sunday and looked up in the sky. I immediately sat up, stared, and then started laughing. Libby had made several comments throughout the day Sunday how peaceful my back yard and garden is…quiet, serene, and relaxing.

Sunday night when I read my (self-imposed two chapter allotment ) I underlined a wonderful comment Gamache made about his beloved village of Three Pines.

“Three Pines is a state of mind. When we choose tolerance over hate. Kindness over cruelty. Goodness over bullying. When we choose to be hopeful, not cynical. Then we live in Three Pines.”

I was re-thinking that passage yesterday morning on the deck…and how much I love my town of Summerville…it is the place I proudly call home and it, too, is the land of tall pines…a town where the pine is sacred.

I looked up into the sky and there smack dab in front of the deck were three of my tall pines clustered together. My “Three Pines” ….my state of mind…my sanctuary of peace and tranquility.

Yes…life will go on after I finish Book 13…because I have my own “Three Pines” too and many Armand Gamache friends who make my day with acts and thoughts of kindness. I don’t need to climb into the book…I just need to open my eyes and see  “Three Pines” in my own back yard.

So until tomorrow…Let us find our own “Three Pines” …that secret sanctuary of peace where we can  find serenity and  kindness.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

( Art by Chris Lawton)

Dear Reader:

Maybe it is all the retailers that started the scrunched-in feeling between Halloween and Christmas… because this time of the year feels “off” for me. It doesn’t help that Halloween has to share Christmas at department stores, retailers, drug stores, etc…while poor Thanksgiving is lucky to have a pilgrim or two around with maybe a turkey.

Then we throw daylight savings time into the mix and my biological clock is completely off-key. Yesterday as darkness descended a little before six I felt slightly like the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland …that I was “late for a very important date.” The problem was there was no date…just an uneasy feeling that I was lagging behind some kind of schedule…but not sure what schedule that was?

It feels like some kind of purgatory Advent season before the official Advent season. (We are actually a month away from the start of this year’s season.) So what is throwing me off?

Yesterday our church had their special All Saints’ Day service. It is always a beautiful service. The theme this year was  ‘Angels’  so I pulled out my favorite angel “Gloria” (the klutzy little angel who never got anything right- but who ended up getting the most important message right as she announces the birth of Jesus.)

…And then a little God Wink for an extra prop this year for the story…Kaitlyn had brought me back an Irish fairy-angel from Dingle, Ireland and with just a little help she became Gloria from the book illustrator’s imagination…it is always a fun story to tell. *And thank you Kevin for allowing our own ‘heavenly’ choir to help tell the story…you are our Gabriel with “Angels We Have Heard on High!”

After church the congregation went outside to the Memorial Garden where Harry and his wife Susan Johnson  donated the most beautiful angel statue in memory of Harry’s sister. So moving.

I think it is the lack of rain that has slowed down the process of the colorful autumn leaves this year…but yesterday, for the first time, it did start to look more like fall. The grandchildren’s Japanese Maples are slowly starting to turn. Eva Cate, Rutledge, Jakie, and Lachlan.

I think sometimes Mother Nature gets confused too with the seasonal transitions…somehow she never gets the ‘office email’ telling her the dates of the upcoming holidays and how each holiday should look outside in her domain.

But the urgent feeling of waiting for something or Someone persists…and I if had to take a guess…I would guess God. I think I need to get Him back on my calendar and then everything else will fall into place. Somehow I think He got scrunched out too….stuck between the pilgrims and the turkey.

I am slowly realizing how important it was on Christmas Day that God “chose to dive into our daily lives with us and not leave us until the end…now that is worth waiting for…”  ( Quinn Caldwell)

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Yesterday Kate Wolfe-Jenson’s monthly newsletter popped up and I had to laugh. We have been thinking along the same lines with November, Thanksgiving, and gratitude. Jenson always makes me more aware of the fact that her challenges are so difficult but she always keeps going…for example…the drawing above is one of her originals drawn with her mouth/teeth since she can no longer use her arms during to debilitating restrictions of MS.

Amazing. Her idea of gratitude paralleled mine but she used all of our “senses” to reinforce the gratitude we should feel doing the simplest things every day.

You are awash in blessings, but sometimes you forget to notice them. The trick, then, is to find ways to remember.

Let your eyes invite you into gratitude.
– – Look around you and find something orange. Today, may everything orange invite you to give thanks.
– – Look around you and notice something round. Tomorrow, may everything round beckon you toward gratitude.

Let your ears invite you into gratitude.
– – Listen for the roar of an engine. The day after tomorrow, may the noise of your car be an invocation.
– – Listen for the voice of someone you love. Three days from now, may your loved one call you to give thanks.

Let your nose invite you into gratitude.
– – Sniff the air. Four days from now, go outside, take a deep breath and sing praise.
– – Smell the aroma of your soap. Five days from now, may you wash your face in a pool of grace.

Let your mouth invite you into gratitude.
– – Taste your morning drink. Six days from now, let your coffee, tea, or juice trickle you into thanksgiving.
– – Taste your food. A week from now, may the flavors of your dinner remind you of all that is good.

Let your fingers invite you into gratitude.
– – Enjoy the smooth. Eight days from now, may dishes, countertops and computer mice call you to give thanks.
– – Enjoy the rough. Nine days from now, may the brushes, roads and bushes near you prickle you awake.

So until tomorrow….For the next ten days let sights, shapes, sounds, touch, and taste remind us of all the blessings that surround us 24/7.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Ya Libby came to spend the night…her high school St. George graduating class was having a reunion right at Miler Country Club…one street down from me. The B&B was so happy to have someone stay over there again. Looking good Libby…hoping you are shagging to all the Motown music!

Dear Reader:

I was thinking the other day about the difference between two words….gratitude and thankfulness. I love how the Oxford Dictionary distinguished the two. It said:

The Oxford Dictionary defines the work “grateful” as “showing an appreciation of kindness.” This where the difference lies; being thankful is a feeling. Being grateful is an action. … Gratitude is when we dwell on more than just the feeling of thankfulness.

I had never thought about the difference, yet it is two different perceptions.

Example: “Thankful is just a feeling” – We sure were thankful for all the help when we moved. (And the feeling and sentiment ends there)

Example: Gratitude is the act of demonstrating an appreciation of kindness.

We brought a meal over for you in gratitude for helping us move into this wonderful neighborhood.

This year I want November, the month of Thanksgiving, to have more gratitude involved than just good (thankful) thoughts.

If any of you have a printer and some card stock paper…here is a little surcie for you for this month of Thanksgiving. (I am going to read my last Louise Penny book using it. It is a potential book marker.)

It contains quotes dealing with thankfulness and gratitude  (not just in November) for life.  And I feel, especially thankful and grateful for all I have today while writing this blog… which is such a gift for me.

So until tomorrow… I like Max Lucado’s definition of gratitude:

“Gratitude gets us through the hard stuff. To reflect on your blessings is to rehearse God’s accomplishments. To rehearse God’s accomplishments is to discover his heart. To discover his heart is to discover not just good gifts but the Good Giver. Gratitude always leaves us looking at God and away from dread. It does to anxiety what the morning sun does to valley mist. It burns it up.” 

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Nancyjean Nettles and I met for lunch at Oscars yesterday and it was so fun catching up in our lives. I taught some of Nancyjean’s children and now they have children….all beautiful and wonderful…life is amazing! * Here’s a life’s ‘little extra”– our waitress brought us an extra glass with ice and two spoons to make sure the utensils stayed cool while eating it. Now that’s service!

Dear Reader:

Yesterday I received my monthly newsletter from Kelly rae Roberts, creator of the Possibilitarian Movement, and a wonderful whimsical artist. I love looking over all her angels and other paintings that seem to speak to me so often through her newsletters and websites. I own several of her artworks around my home…including my favorite clock with wings…literally time flying.

In this newsletter you could pre-order her latest 2018 calendar and daily planner…which I did. Then as I started browsing through some of the sample calendar pictures for each month I saw the title photo.

It is a painting of a postcard “Dear You, You have what it takes. Sincerely Courage. (P.S. “You heart knew it all along.”)

The more I stared at it…the bigger my imagination grew. Even though we know that our favorite nouns, adjectives, and adverbs are Faith, Hope, and Courage wouldn’t it be wonderful if they could speak to us from outside our body, as well as inside. These nouns are alive for us…but if they were truly our personal nouns and we could communicate as such…as with another person…how cool would that be?

For example we could call up our friends, Faith, or Hope, or Courage and talk to them about our ups and downs and they could direct us, encourage us, and guide us through the problems of life we all face?

We could also get snail mail from them (my favorite kind of correspondence) in the form of post cards.

Wouldn’t you love to go to your mailbox and find a post card from Faith or perhaps Courage…with a little upbeat message on it letting us know we can handle this problem because God will supply us with the faith or hope or courage we need to overcome any obstacle in our life?

Then, my next thought was, what if we become the noun we know that a loved one, family member or friend, needs. Instead of signing it with our own names…we send them a card signed simply Faith, or Hope, or Courage. I am going to try it soon when the next occasion arises. I think it would be a wonderful “message gift” to receive. A “Prop Up Postcard!”

So until tomorrow…Let’s take encouraging words and turn them into words of comfort…personalized for others by attributes of love.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Cindy shared with me a french expression from the website…A French Word A-Day. The expression was:

“donner le meilleur de soi-même”

It means: to give one’s best

The visual metaphor for this meaning comes from the grapevines in southern France. I love this little tidbit of information on growing grapes for wine.

(Chateau La Canorque, Provence)

(” to give one’s best”) Vines are like humans. The older they become, the more they give their best thanks to their roots rooted deep in the soil. There is a simple reason for this. The older a vine is, the more it is rooted in the soil and the more it can feed the grapes with all the under ground components.

Paradoxically, the more the vine is “old”, the less it will produce grapes while its nurturing potential becomes more important. As a result, the grapes produced are of better quality because they are brought to perfect maturity.

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I like the idea that though, as we grow older, we perhaps can’t produce as much (do as much or do it slower) but the quality of what we do, say, act upon, is at a much wiser, richer, more mature level than when we were young. (I’ll take that and run with it…or maybe walk with it!)

What is that expression? “One man’s poison is another man’s candy.”

I bought two adorable penguin Halloween costumes for Lachlan and Jakie  two Halloweens ago. Neither were amused with the costume…all I got for buying the penguin  costumes were two crying, sad faces. Then the costumes came off!  (Left to Right) Jakie and Lachlan

But then there is hope…Mandy passed Jakie’s Halloween costume down to cousin Rhodes and this was a young man who appreciated being a penguin…(Maybe it was the top hat that was too much for Jakie and Lachlan.) Too cute Rhodes!

Dear Reader:

Have you ever gone through a period of time when many of the  important players in your life (you depend on for their expertise) suddenly disappear… leaving you feeling vulnerable and lost? And doesn’t this seem to happen all at once instead of in more sizable bites that we could handle?

These “players” are people we have turned to for medical advice, or financial help, or insurance needs, daily household repairs, lawn maintenance and so on and so on and so on…they cover so many aspects of daily life. We count on them being there for us and suddenly one day they are gone.

I am going through such a period of time. Over the last three to six months…I have received notification that my tax consultant and preparer retired, my insurance agent who has been there for me for almost four decades is no longer there, my lawn maintenance help has changed three times in six months, my electrician and plumber retired, and my oncologist of nine years left suddenly for a family emergency and then retired.

Some of these people I saw monthly, some yearly, some throughout the year as needed…but I counted on each and everyone of them…and now they are gone.

I know it is time to “put on my big girl panties and just deal with it” but still, it is hard isn’t it?

Saying good-bye is difficult but I have discovered that not having the opportunity to say good-bye is even harder.

It is an eerie feeling to discover people have just “disappeared” from your radar and no longer visible in your daily life. Sometimes we receive a letter of explanation, other times we just discover the departure by accident….calling or stopping by and the office or store is closed up or another person answers the phone when we call.

I do try to remind myself that each person who helped me through life was placed there for a reason and it is simply time for them or me to turn a new page in their and our lives. And I am glad that I was fortunate to have them in my lives for the time I did. These thoughts help take the sting out of sudden departures.

Quinn Caldwell, in one of his daily devotionals, discusses the importance of good-byes.

“Nobody likes goodbyes, and we go to many lengths to soften or avoid them.  A colleague leaves or a friend moves, and we say it’s not goodbye because we promise to have lunch, or to write, or to Facebook.  Sometimes we avoid the moment altogether: even though I barely knew her, I once hid in the bathroom for half an hour at a coworker’s goodbye party to avoid the moment when she actually left.

When Paul says goodbye to the Ephesians, he gets it right.  He remembers what they did together, he tells them what they mean to him, he commends them to God.  The word “goodbye” is a contraction of “God be with ye.”  Saying it is a reminder that even when we’re apart, God is with us both. 

It’s an act of faith that if God is with you and with me, then somehow we’re still together, and that in the end we’ll join each other at a reunion in God’s heart.  It’s a promise that even when I can’t be with you, God will be, and that that will be sufficient.

Sometime soon you’ll have to say goodbye to somebody.  It’s worth doing well, for it’s all about faith.

So until tomorrow…as people of faith let us learn how to say “good-bye” to people with memories and humor…promising to reunite some day, some where, beyond the timely restrictions placed upon us on earth.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Yesterday afternoon was so much fun…Luke came over and helped me replace ceiling  light bulbs…Thank goodness for our new neighbor…I would be walking around in a half lit house. Then Gin-g surprised me by kidnapping a most willing “victim” to take to  Arby’s  for the best milkshake you have ever put in your mouth...Ghiradelli Chocolate Shake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We stopped in Hutchinson Square and enjoyed every morsel of it while we watched the children playing with all the Halloween displays.

When I got home and checked my Iphone I saw where Anne had sent out an SOS for her sister, Lucy, who is visiting her, along with her husband, Dave. Lucy had just finished number 1 of the Armand Gamache detective series and was in need of an emergency “fix” to read number 2. I gave her books 2 and 3 since they are staying until Saturday.

Anne and Lucy have now turned Armand’s surname into a verb…they said they have “gamached” over several puzzling situations encountered while walking and riding their bikes around Charleston and Summerville. Poor Dave is stuck ‘in the middle’ between two Armand Gamache enthusiastic fans! What’s a fella to do?

All three went to the Coastal Carolina Fair and guess what Anne discovered…she won a blue ribbon (Award of Merit)  for her “Tea Cup” (Limoges) Way to go Anne!

Dear Reader:

Halloween is over. November 1 has arrived. All Saints Day. The day we remember (not only the scriptural saints) but also our loved ones who have gone before us. It is a day to step back and give ourselves time to think about our own lives, the brevity of the days, and how to step up more to the plate for others in the time given us.

Yesterday morning, when I decided to get started on today’s blog (since I would be going over to John and Mandy’s to see the children trick or treat in late afternoon/evening) my thoughts turned left and right in direction.

First, I got the idea of using this phrase (stepping back while stepping up) from Louise Penny. At the end of novel 12, I started reading her “Acknowledgements” and discovered that her beloved husband, Michael (whom the main character, Armand Gamache, is loosely based on) had dementia.

I was moved to tears from her personal story and struggle. She was thanking friends, family, the community, publishers, editors, and  the readers for the support she has received throughout this difficult time….especially trying to write in the midst of it all.

It was one acknowledged thank you that got me started along this line of thinking…Penny thanked her agent for “stepping back while stepping up” …for being a friend first and a colleague second. In other words deadlines had to be pushed back, book tours cancelled, while support and friendship took the driver’s seat.

Then I started thinking back to a time when I had witnessed “stepping back to step up” first-hand. It was a hard memory to re-live but an important one.

One day, while teaching, my classes had gotten to the “Roaring Twenties” period of American History. I was reading some excerpts from the wonderful book Cheaper by the Dozen (written by the oldest son, Frank Gilbreth Junior and his sister Ernestine Gilbreth Carey.) It tells the story of growing up in a family of twelve siblings during the 1920’s.

(* We residents of the lowcountry have a special affinity for Frank Gilbreth, Jr since he was a popular columnist for the Post and Courier for decades…his column was called Doing the Charleston while using his pen name- Ashley Cooper. )

Many of these articles were bound together in book form due to the popularity of the witty writings and observations of people and the lowcountry.

The students were laughing at some of the true antics of the parents and twelve children during this time period of history when I remember my classroom door opened. There stood Mr. Charlie Dubose, our school superintendent at the time. He was a wonderful man but could terrify a young teacher…since his philosophy was that a teacher never sat down but always walked the classroom while teaching.

My first thought when I saw him walk in was….”Oh my gosh! I am leaning up against the desk”…so I immediately stood up, kept reading, but started walking around the classroom.

It was only then that I realized  another faculty teacher was with him. I kept reading but my face was puzzled…what was going on?

Mr. Dubose nodded to me, called me over, and told me that the teacher with him would now take over my class…she would pick up the story where I left off. With trembling hands I handed the book to the teacher and then followed Mr. Dubose out into the hall; but not before he told me to collect my pocketbook, jacket, etc. to take with me.

My mind was swirling…had I done something wrong…was I being replaced…what was going on?

I will never forget Mr. Dubose hugged me right there in the hall and told me we would talk in an empty classroom adjacent to mine. He told me that my mother-in-law Dee Dee, her neighbor, and my son, Walsh (four at the time) had all been in a serious car accident…right in the middle of town…at the one major intersection (at that time) by Town Hall.

Mr. Dubose had already contacted my husband and told him to go directly to the hospital and that he would come get me. He didn’t know the condition of everyone but he did know that everyone was alive. He told me he was taking me straight to the hospital to join the rest of the family and that my oldest daughter Mandy was being picked up from school and taken care of by more family.

I had so many questions but I knew they would have to wait until I got to the hospital. All the way to the hospital Mr. Dubose quoted scripture and kept patting my hand with reassuring words, that it might take time, but everything would be okay.

He was exactly right…things were serious but everyone pulled through and everything returned to normal…except for a greater appreciation for life and family.

I later discovered that Walsh had been sitting on the console between grandmother Dee Dee and her neighbor who was driving. They had planned to drop Walsh off at a church pre-school in order  for them to attend a planned activity when the wreck happened. Their car was hit by a huge truck.

It truly is a miracle all survived. Several years later I taught a student who told me that his mother, a registered nurse, was the first one on the scene after the accident. The wreck threw Walsh out of the car…all the way over to the park. He had hobbled up and was trying to walk when the nurse chased him down and made him lie down to check to see if his neck or back was broken.

At our first-parent-teacher-conference the student’s mother told me the whole story of what happened that day and I told her that she was my son’s guardian angel…no doubt.

And Mr. Dubose? I later discovered that he and some of the district staff were supposed to fly out that day for a national educational conference but he stayed behind and flew out the next day …not leaving until he knew the prognosis of everyone.

Mr. Dubose had stepped back from his own life’s daily plans to step up and help a teacher, in need, in his school district.

So until tomorrow…May we all take time to step back from our daily plans and goals, take time to reassess our lives, and then step forward with an action plan to help others…letting each day be “All Saints Day.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Today is the first day of the month of November. Say “Rabbit” and have a wonderful month of thanksgiving!

Before I left to go over to Eva Cate and Jakie’s to watch them trick or treat…Cindy Ashley stopped by to pick up a book she had loaned me. I told her I needed her to model some of my Halloween gear I found after cleaning out closets this past summer. She had brought some napkins that said “More Boo’s Please“…too cute! Then I got a photo from Honey…now this witch has it going on….party time!

We had fun last night…there were so many trick or treaters we needed a traffic cop to control the crowds…perfect weather for Halloween….cool with an almost full moon. Carrie was able to join us…always so wonderful to see her…John held down the fort at home while the rest of us took the kids trick or treating…the smell of burnt autumn leaves was in the air…the scent of fall….lovely!

Dear Reader:

Happy Halloween!

Last week I was browsing through children’s books on Amazon.com about Halloween…and when I found this old Scholastic one…I had to laugh out loud. This little children’s book (written by a “Barber”) features a ghost named “Ben.” (Very similar to my brother Ben’s last name Barbour.) So that first caught my attention.

Then when I read the synopsis I really did laugh. Ben is a ghost who can’t say “Boo!” He can say “Moo” and “Woo” but not “Boo.” At this point I knew I had to order this book.

Walsh, my oldest son, has always signed his nickname to cards with “Woo or “Woo Woo.” And I don’t know who first started calling me “Moo” (Ben or Walsh) but it stuck and cards from both of them are always addressed to me  with “Moo Moo.”

Then, of course, along came the grandchildren and I got my old collegiate nickname back…which remains to this day….”Boo or Boo Boo.” Who knew?

Eva Cate and Jakie have three grandmothers… nicknamed “Ba Ba” “Be-Be” and “Boo.” In other words, collectively we are  “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!” (From the 1950 Cinderella Disney movie) The words that can make dreams come true. And isn’t that what grandmothers want to do with their grandchildren… with the best magic of all….LOVE!)

 (1 min clip) Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (from Cinderella) – YouTube

When I saw this funny true Halloween (firemen) story I had to laugh.

The Firefighters’ Halloween Treat

Notice:

County Community Burn Ordinances Pertaining to recreational fires and burning of yard and household waste.

All outdoor burning is prohibited in the City except for those parcels described in ordinance. Recreational fires are allowed, but not during the hours of 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.

At 8:00 pm on October 31st two fire-fighters could see a fire raging in the back yard.  It was clearly in breach of the rule on burning leaves after dark.  One of the fireman knocked on the door, and they both waited each holding their helmet in their hand.

The little old woman opened the door and promptly dropped a bar of candy into each helmet.  She then told them, ‘Aren’t you boys are a little old for trick and treat, and closed the door’.  The fire-fighters left open mouthed.

The Halloween Comet

Out in the Andromeda galaxy is a newly discovered comet.  The C/2007 L1 is one of the most unusual structures that astronomers have ever seen.

On October 31st, 2007, astro-photographer Pedro Torres of Puebla, Mexico, took a close-up picture of the comet’s core.  Pedro used a combination of two 120-second exposures obtained using a 30-cm reflector, a Sigma 6303 CCD camera, and a blue filter.

The photograph was taken at a perihelion distance of 1.07 AU.  What it reveals is startling new structure in the center of comet C/2007 L1.  The whole of the coma is very brilliant and unusually, the nucleus containing two extra bright eyes.  The comet’s tail was not curved thus producing a circular effect. 

Pedro has applied to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) for the official name of comet C/2007 L1 to be called ‘Halloween’.

This last anecdote is a famous tall tale from Vienna that now is told every Halloween about the cemetery Beethoven is laid to rest in.

Tall Tale from Vienna Graveyard

Chris Cross, a tourist in Vienna, is going past Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof graveyard on October 31st.  All of a sudden he hears some music.  No one is around, so he starts searching for the source.  Chris finally locates the origin and finds it is coming from a grave with a headstone that reads: Ludwig van Beethoven, 1770-1827. Then he realizes that the music is the Ninth Symphony and it is being played backward! Puzzled, he leaves the graveyard and persuades Tim Burr, a friend, to return with him.

By the time they arrive back at the grave, the music has changed. This time it is the Seventh Symphony, but like the previous piece, it is being played backward. Curious, the men agree to consult a music scholar. When they return with the expert, the Fifth Symphony is playing, again backward. The expert notices that the symphonies are being played in the reverse order in which they were composed, the 9th, then the 7th, then the 5th.  By the next day the word has spread and a throng has gathered around the grave. They are all listening to the Second Symphony being played backward.

Just then the graveyard’s caretaker ambles up to the group. Someone in the crowd asks him if he has an explanation for the music.

“Oh, it’s nothing to worry about” says the caretaker. “He’s just decomposing!”

(I know, I know :)…but hey it’s Halloween!)

So until tomorrow…I hope you have more treats than tricks this Halloween and your home embraces childhood memories…like trick or treating- that wonderful day when imagination is allowed to bloom! Everyone be safe!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

My little dwarf camellia bushes decided to surprise “Boo” me on Halloween by blooming…the blooms are bigger than the plants. Happy Halloween camellias…thank for the treat!

When Eva Cate gave me the Christmas Tree ornament (decorated for breast cancer awareness) she also gave me a card with a dollar in it. Now times they are a’changing…when your grandchild gives you money…too funny, too cute!

(Maybe I need to sweep more too…and find a dollar …love my treat card!)

Dear Reader:

I remember hearing on numerous occasions… from quotes in medical magazines, to true cancer survivor stories and books…the expression that “cancer is just a detour”….and that we are to remind ourselves of this fact while looking forward to the day that the “detour” connects us back to the main highway of life…the road we were on before the diagnosis.

It really sounds good and I have used that metaphor many times myself. Saturday night, however, I had another personal epiphany about this popular analogy…comparing cancer (as an off-the-beaten path detour) to mainstream life…as a highway. What if…?

What if cancer’s detour is not really a detour. What if we never leave our true path we are destined to follow throughout our lives? What if the only true thing that changes (when we face potentially life-threatening health issues) is our vision?

God is guiding us, a fact I firmly believe…and I don’t visualize God as a ‘detour, short-cut’ Creator. However long or short our lives are, according to our mortal understanding of time, the path we are given to follow is the one true path. How we handle the obstacles along our path, I believe, is the most important part of the journey.

Over the weekend I agreed to be a Confirmation mentor to one of our church’s youth. Even though she wasn’t there Sunday I had looked over the list of ideas we were supposed to discuss. It was to start out with the youth taking one minute to share his/her story and the mentor taking two minutes.

So after the Clemson game (Go Tigers, Go Kristen!) while I was ‘coming down’ from the excitement of the game (and before I fell asleep) I thought about how I would introduce my life story within a two-minute limitation.

Already in my mind I had conjured back up the “breast cancer detour” quote as part of my story. Suddenly I sat up in bed and thought to myself…that I don’t feel like I have been on a separate trail or path running parallel to life’s main highway….NO!…I have been living my life more fully and completely than before my diagnosis.

I am a much better driver now…I am rarely in a hurry…I pull off highways, country roads, neighborhood streets to just admire the scenery or to take photos of something beautiful so I can share it. I would never have done that before…I was always rushing from one deadline to another. It took the prospect of a final deadline (perhaps confronting me) to stop accepting projects that stressed me out and put me back in the ‘deadline’ way of life. It is no way to live.

I remembered a favorite phrase I read and saved a few months ago on my computer screen to end my two minute saga….it goes like this:

“…in the end she became more than what she expected. She became the journey, and like all journeys, she did not end, she just simply changed directions and kept going. ” r.m. drake

So until tomorrow…Let us never forget that we are all born with a spiritual compass…when we remember to use it…we never get lost.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

I am so glad I was at church today…I ended up getting “Booed” and “Surcied” by two different friends.

Dee Lesko gave me a fall garden flag with none other than Sammy, the cardinal, on it. The way the wind was whipping today…Sammy was getting a real workout. Then she gave me a “Boo” bag filled with candy and ….and…Luden’s Cherry Cough Drops! My favorite “candy” of all!

Rick Sutton, also, told me he had a surprise for me out in the car. Rick runs a framing shop and while cleaning it out he came across an old photo of me  surrounded by my two teacher pals Beth Eidson, and Sherri Houston dressed up like saloon gals. (Y’all didn’t know I had a night job did you? :)! You just never know about teachers!

“Tis the season for ghosts of the past to come a’haunting!”