Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

Sunday night I was watching a re-run episode of Madame Secretary (love that show!) and remembered it was one of my favorites. In this episode Alison, the younger daughter, is looking at colleges and her mother and older sister, Stevie, are going with her to visit one.

The low-key, anonymous experience they had all hoped for and been assured would happen…didn’t. Banners, photos, and even a protest rally take place within minutes of their arrival. This puts everyone on edge accompanied by several international crises that must be dealt with during what was supposed to be a memorable mother-daughters get-away weekend.

Finally the younger daughter escapes by sneaking out to go to a Welcome Party for the incoming freshmen… until her older sister discovers her absence, finds her, and drags her away. Furious, Alison proclaims to Stevie….“You and mom aren’t fun any more….you never, ever do anything spontaneous just for the sake of having fun.”

In the next scene Stevie is waking her exhausted mother up from sleep and exclaiming, “She’s right, mom, we aren’t fun any more.” She goes on to explain to her mother what Alison had said and started recalling fun times from the past.

Earlier that day, while touring the campus, the guide pointed out a high hill that was known as “Stress Reliever Slope”….where students could go in the winter and slide down the snowy slope amid squeals of delight like little children. Elizabeth McCord, longingly, wished that the White House had such a fun escape…it was much needed.

So, as you can imagine, the last scene shows Elizabeth and Stevie waking up Alison and all three of them sliding down the slope- squealing so loudly they drown out the poor secret service man who keeps repeating “Madame Secretary….this isn’t a good idea”….over and over.

When the show ended, I paused and thought to myself…“Am I still fun?”  I enjoy myself in most situations and feel quite contented with my life….but enjoyment and contentment sound too much like a rocking chair and walker.

What about spontaneous, unplanned activities or side trips that make us laugh out loud and discover something new? The older we get I think it is even more important not to act our age.

How could any of us forget this man’s ‘last lecture’ on living and dying?  “Randy” Pausch was an American professor of computer science, human–computer interaction, and design at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

When he discovered he was dying from pancreatic cancer and there was no medical hope in sight to save him….he decided to share his personal last journey with his classes. It was recorded and millions watched this courageous young man’s last thoughts directed to his students and family. It was unforgettable and was later turned into a best-selling book. He died in 2008 leaving behind a young wife and three small children.

Yet…having fun was one of his top priorities for as long as he was alive. He knew intuitively God doesn’t like the gloom and doom attitude towards death because so much joy awaits each of us. And besides having fun with our children and grandchildren provides the memories in them that will last a lifetime of us long after we are gone.

So until tomorrow….Let’s go do something spontaneous ….something that makes us pause in the middle of it and think to ourselves “Wow! I’m really having fun!”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Disney World put a plaque containing a quote from Randy Pausch right next to the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party Exhibit. He believed in keeping child-like wonder and being a Tigger over an Eyeore.

• *It is amazing what a little rain can do….yesterday this double beauty bloomed at last. It had been in bud form for weeks….as if knowing it was too darn hot to bloom.
• A “Shout-Out” to Brookie for once again heading up her church’s “Hands of Christ” back- to-school supply project. It is a mammoth undertaking, particularly with Brooke’s small church congregation. It is even harder to pull this off…but she and a friend do it again and again. Way to go my friend!
• Brooke sat under this tent in the 100 degree heat all day last Friday and Saturday giving out supplies for school. 259 children walked away with school supplies!!!!!
• 
• The sweetest thing I have ever witnessed at a funeral service took place yesterday in my church sanctuary. Bob Wickersham (teacher, coach, administrator, friend to all) was laid to rest and his service was packed to the hilt.
• Our pastor, Jeff, talked about Bob’s love of sports and the last song he ever sang with his sweet little tiny granddaughter a few weeks ago.
• Suddenly this precious child was picked up by Jeff with the microphone placed in front of her… and we were told to let her start the song and then  chime in. I figured it was probably “Jesus Loves Me”….but, instead, we were soon all singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” (You hit a “fun” home run to heaven Bob!)

Dear Reader:

In a few weeks Walsh, Mollie, and the boys will move into the B&B side to live while their home is being renovated. I knew when I started renovating (myself) the other side that it would come in handy for emergencies ( Like air conditioning failure) family and friends overnight stays, and a place for family to live between moves or renovations.

Life is crazy with two little boys (3 and almost one and a half.) It can’t possibly be anything else. So every now and then Mollie and Walsh know you just have to stop and have a family hug fest. As long as everyone knows they are loved….the rest will work itself out.

I admit that I am a “HGTV” junkie…..flip or flop, renovate or sell, fixer-uppers, etc. I love them all. It has occurred to me that we humans are faced with the personal choices of whether we, ourselves, are going to “sell out” or fix our own lives up to the dreams we harbor.

It really does come down to “To be or not to be….that is the question.” Are we going to follow the path that our being is urging us to take or simply follow the easier path of selling out on our heart’s aspirations? The answer lies within us.

On the way out of Mandy’s subdivision Saturday I noticed their exit sign board which read: “Follow Your Dreams….They Will Lead You to Your Destination.”

Let me give a “shout-out” to my adorable niece, Carrie Simpson, who quietly, without fanfare, began preparing herself to make a change in her career… which she felt was her dream unfolding.

As a Pre-K teacher in Dorchester Two schools, she decided to begin the switch to speech therapy. This required completing an intensive three- year program plus summer internships. She just finished her last internship, graduated with honors, and is now starting a new vocation, at a new school, still within  her field and love of education.

She took classes and taught simultaneously and no one ever heard a complaint. Like the sign said: “Follow your dreams; they will lead you to your destination.” Change doesn’t have to happen overnight or be something revolutionary….in fact quiet change, accompanied by thoughtful reflection, is the best kind of change.

One very precious freedom given to us IS the freedom to re-invent ourselves as we are lead by our Creator. (I thought the following true story excerpt is a good example of this idea.)

Freedom to Re-Invent- the Man with the Violin (Huffington Post-Kathi Sharp-Ross)

(The author was on her way to a conference and met another attendee on the flight …he was carrying a case and when she asked, curiously, what was in it…he shared his story with her)

It is the first day of August. Say “Rabbit” and have good luck all month. Wasn’t that shower wonderful yesterday and hopefully some more rain is forecast for today. Maybe August will make up for the lack of the rain all summer for us. The garden and myself would love it!

Dear Reader:

What a busy last couple of days I have spent but all wonderful! I left Friday morning to go to Eva Cate’s dance camp performance and stayed on to keep Eva Cate and Jakie Friday night and to be there Saturday to help Mandy with a birthday party Eva Cate was attending and later her modeling debut for the Belk’s Back to School Fashion Show. Then home in time to keep Rutledge and Lachlan so Walsh and Mollie could go to Walsh’s high school reunion at Miler Country Club. Everyone spent the night….so I have been surrounded by lots of family….love it.

When I went with Mandy Friday to pick up Jakie one of the teachers said they were teaching the children not to hit, pinch, tackle, or bite by telling them to “Walk Away.” Somehow I didn’t see a group of almost two-year-olds doing that….but we all nodded back we would re-enforce this at home. (Later that night as Jakie threw himself on Eva Cate while back-walking….they both just laughed when I said “Walk Away” Jakie….they were enjoying the sibling tussling too much.

Camp Dance Show:

Good friend Lili’s sixth birthday party Saturday morning…..lots of bouncing going on….

You might have picked up from Friday to Saturday’s events Eva Cate’s hair ‘grew shorter.’ Actually she got a bad trim that left her two sides lop-sided so Mandy had to take her to another salon to get them evened up which meant cutting more off early Saturday morning….but Eva Cate liked it and the show must go on.

Belk Back to School Fashion Show

I hurried home and Walsh, Mollie and the boys were not far behind. We had a chance to talk a little and chase the boys around some before Walsh and Mollie left for the reunion. I was very proud of myself….got Lachlan asleep on the sofa and Rutledge asleep in his new bed. What a day…..one filled with memories for a lifetime.

The only time Jakie “walked away” was to hug Daddy before he and Mommy left to go out to eat….and that’s a pretty good “walk away.”

But it did remind me of one of Archibald Rutledge’s cutest stories told by sharecroppers on Hampton Plantation to explain why some people (like grandmother used to say) seem to be walking around with “one screw loose.”

“The Legend of the Walk Off People”

It appears that on one occasion Adam, deeply troubled, sought out God in the Garden of Eden.

“God,” he said, “you know how I love to catch fish in the river and to hunt rabbits. But Eve, she’s always complaining. She says that she gets lonesome because I fish and hunt so much. She’s talking of leaving me.”

“That’s easy,” said God, “come down to the creek with me, and we will make a few more people. They will keep Eve company while you are away from her hunting and fishing.”

Arriving at the water’s edge, God shaped some new people out of mud, and then leaned them against a rail fence to dry.

“Adam,” he said, “I will come back before sundown and put some brains in them.”

But God, forgetting that He had some other prior engagements that afternoon, did not return to finish His work until the next morning.

And it was then… to His surprise and dismay, that He discovered the people with no brains had walked off! And (do you know) they have been increasing and multiplying ever since! You might even have met one!

……………………………….

Doesn’t that story explain a lot or what??????????????????

So until tomorrow….Life moves pretty fast….let’s seize a few moments to just have fun with the ones we love….sharing tales along the way.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

I remember in summer Bible School one year (when I was around seven or eight) being asked to bring in a line of scripture….one for each of the five days of Bible School… that started with our first name. A girl next to me said, “Boy you sure are lucky….you’ve got the Beatitudes to get you through the whole week…even with some to spare.”

The “What” I thought? Obviously I had not been paying much attention in Sunday School but I ran home and asked mother to help me find where the Beatitudes were in the Bible. My fellow Bible School attendee was right….I had been “blessed.” I had hit the jackpot….So I  magnanimously gave Billy Jones the last three Beatitudes (of the eight) to help him out. 

And today I still feel blessed….more now than ever. For whatever reason God has bestowed on me the greatest blessing that life on Earth can offer….time. Time to see my children grow into the adults they are meant to be and my grandchildren to simply grow… taller and wiser, filled with curiosity and love for God’s Creation to us….our home here on Earth.

I saw a blessing to the Earth-healers awhile back and I thought how appropriate and befitting it is to recognize those  amazing human beings who want to help repair the damage done to God’s gift to us. Here is one paragraph from the blessing.

“We give thanks for all those who are moved, in their lives, to heal and protect the earth, in small ways and in large. Blessings on the composter, the gardeners, the breeders of worms and mushrooms, the soil-builders, those who cleanse the waters and purify the air, all those who clean up the messes others have made. Blessings on those who defend trees and who plant trees, who guard the forests and who renew the forests. Blessings on those who prevent erosion, who restore the salmon and the fisheries, who guard the healing herbs and who know the lore of the wild plants. Blessings on those who heal the cities and bring them alive again with excitement and creativity and love. Gratitude and blessings to all who stand against greed, who risk themselves, to those who have bled and been wounded, and to those who have given their lives in service of the earth.”

(Excerpted from The Earth Path by Starhawk.)

I am not one to lead crowds or give speeches but, like water and cookies, I can plant trees for my grandchildren’s future enjoyment (and shade) or a flower to give a friend. I can take seeds and watch them grow into something beautiful ….a gift back to God for my home.

Gardening has given me a new outlook on life. It has finally dawned on me that if life isn’t adding up for us….then we need to start subtracting! We need to simplify our lives, put our hands in the dirt, feel God’s Creation beneath our fingers and realize we have everything we need because we are all “blessed” as Children of God.

So until tomorrow….Like the beautiful card Honey just sent me says: Plant so your own heart will grow. (Hafiz)…Let’s all work on enlarging the capacity of our hearts to grow in love with our fellow Earth-dwellers and healers.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

If you have ever experienced car trouble on a major highway, especially this summer, and had either a highway patrolman or a good “Samaritan” stop to assist you… and then offer you a bottle of cold ice water while you wait….you know how significant this token of hospitality can be. Not just physically but spiritually.

This is the reason Anne and I go sit out in the 100 plus degree DSS parking lot each Wednesday afternoon…. with our tokens of bottles of ice water and cookies. I could write a blog each and every Thursday on the emotional moments shared while handing water bottles and cookies through a car window. God, indeed, is everywhere.

Some individuals and families are so downtrodden that simply the fact that somebody cares enough to flag them down and let them know that they care about them and  their situation brings tears to our and their eyes.

When we hand them the sheet that shows the location of where they can get a free supper seven days a week (for themselves and their families) and free staples at pantries….drivers and passengers look back at us in awe. Some break down emotionally…You mean there is an inter-ministry program that wants to help all God’s children”

It is so personal and so private that I just lock the memories away tightly.

Wednesday, however, was different. Anne ran to a car window with the bottled water while I was grabbing the cookies and the information sheets..I heard a squeal and Anne called me over….the driver was a former student at Alston Middle School who had participated in a SC Humanities Grant (We Be Gullah) which Anne, Lorraine White, and myself wrote one summer. Mandy (my daughter) helped us with the creation of the Story People art works. It was one of the most powerful experiences students and teachers ever shared together.

The project description read: The overwhelming goal is to instill an appreciation for Gullah culture and traditions of the South Carolina Lowcountry in our students. Gullah is a culture on the verge of being lost due to the emigration of its younger generations from the barrier sea islands.

There is an African proverb that says: “When an old person dies, a story goes up in flames.”  Thirty eighth-graders, from all races and socio-economic backgrounds, will learn this new culture together. Simultaneously they will explore and internalize connections to their present lives and those of the community.”

………………………………..

I asked our former student to let us get a picture of her….she got her nine-year-old daughter to take our picture together. She remembered every part of the Gullah experiences that year and told us how special they still were to her.  Like Anne, she even still had her Story Person and reads to her daughter the creative writing and poetry assignments she did…. abilities she discovered during the experience. She wants her daughter to know that one never forgets a learning experience if it is special.  It stays in your memory forever.

For our finale “show and tell” the grant students entertained their families on the beautiful lawn at Drayton Hall. They did skits, speaking only Gullah, danced to the Adande drummers, sang Gullah songs, read their poetry about the experience and then shared a picnic with their families.

Our former student vividly remembered her father joining in the Gullah final dance with her…..a family moment she has never forgotten. She just remembered the unity and pride of having gone the journey with strangers who turned into life-long friends.

The Story People Displays and potluck dinner under the oaks.

*Later that year our grant won first place at the State Social Studies Conference for new creative endeavors that promote unity and acceptance of others….including  personal and cultural beliefs. Diversity….the foundation of our nation’s strength. A lesson to last a lifetime!

So until tomorrow…“Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have.” Margaret Mead  (With ice water and cookies!)

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Yesterday there a telephone call from “Jakie” and I could hear him saying “Hi Boo Boo”  “Ov ou Boo Boo” “Bye Boo Boo” and then this cute picture was texted to me. I texted back….“A great way to start the day” !!!!!!!!! 

Dear Reader:

A few days ago when I had a picture of a box of crayons (for that day’s blog title photo) I heard back from so many of you that you could almost smell that yummy wax smell of new crayons again and wanted to start coloring. Smell is such a powerful memory aphrodisiac. (And isn’t coloring the best therapy in the world?)

It’s hard to believe that school starts back in a few short weeks. Parents are busy scrambling around looking for all the items on the teacher’s supply list while teachers are simply praying they have enough enthusiasm and patience, in supply, for another year.

My former student, Shelly Baker (love her!) read an article concerning crayons and a wonderful life lesson a kindergarten teacher produced from them. She said she thought of me after reading the article and sent it my way. Not only was Shelly in my eighth grade social studies class but was one of the secretaries at the district office assigned to several of us working in curriculum. A real God Wink! She was a lifesaver for me in more ways than I can count or color.

“The Crayon Bucket”

This inspiring, true story was a little long so let me summarize the onset of it. A young kindergarten teacher remembers her first day of teaching. One lesson she learned was never  let kindergartners open a whole box of crayons at one time. It was a disaster….there were crayons lying all over the classroom floor at random.

What disturbed the teacher more was that none of the children seemed concerned at all about losing them and even denied that any of them on the floor belonged to them (as they held nearly empty crayon boxes in their hands.)

The teacher found a large cup and dropped all the crayons in it. As the year ensued more crayons were added until finally the teacher dropped all the forgotten  and broken ones in a bin.

A strange thing began to happen in the spring when the different classes were responsible for producing a piece of art. When the teacher told everyone to get out their red crayon, several concerned voices called out, “I don’t have a red.” After all this time the students were now concerned about the loss of their former crayons and anxious about the retrieval of them.

The kindergarten teacher explained that the big bin in the corner of the room (that had been widely ignored) was full of different colored crayons. They could quietly get up without disturbing class and could spend no longer than 5 seconds at the bin….so it was important to know one’s colors. As a special treat the student got to keep the crayon.

Suddenly each child began keeping up with the basket colors selected and were more careful, understanding it belonged to them.

Another problem that had arisen, un-forseen to the teacher, was the plight of broken crayons. What to do about them? From one episode in her class from a special needs advisor….she learned an important life lesson herself.

“I remember the first time I had a student with a physical need that required more practice than what I was providing in the general setting…the wonderful occupational therapist for the county came in and looked over his work space to help me and give me pointers on supporting him with writing, coloring, and other fine motor skills. And guess what she did first?

She took his brand new crayons and BROKE them. I was horrified! One by one, as she was just talking to me and breaking away, I could only look on in horror! Finally, I found some words in my head and yelled “What are you doing?!?” And our awesome therapist said words that have stuck with me…she kept on breaking and she said, “Broken crayons make weak hands strong.”

Broken crayons make weak hands strong.”

Kids who can’t hold a pencil can grip a broken crayon. They have to bear down and hold it tightly with correct finger positioning when their crayon is broken.
And I have also learned that kids who need emotional and behavioral support love to use broken crayons. They can bear down and push and scribble and make really strong marks with broken crayons without fear of getting in trouble for tearing up something new.

So that is why the bin holds forgotten crayons and broken crayons and why it is labeled: Ready to Be Used

…………………………

So until tomorrow…Don’t we all feel forgotten or broken at some point(s) in our lives? Isn’t it a nice thought that we are recyclable and ready to be used over and over again? I remember as a child writing a homework assignment on the palms of my hands (with a dark crayon) if I was in too much of a hurry at the end of the day to bother finding a pencil and notebook.

The author, Paige Givens, ends her story with this piece of scripture:

Isaiah 49:15-16 (NIV):

“I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”

(Source: Blog: My Story, My Song)

I, personally, find that line of scripture comforting to know. (And that God, too, uses the old hand tricks to remember all of us)

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Speaking of coloring….how can one refuse an invitation personalized by coloring?….See you there Eva Cate Friday for your dancing debut! High Noon!

Congratulation Vikki and Lee on the success of Charleston’s independent radio station OHM….one year old and growing strong!

See this wonderful article on the perseverance of the founders of OHM.

Ohm 96.3 celebrates turning one and the road ahead with a varie

Dear Reader:

Yesterday I flunked my glare test quite miserably. I saw two sets of lights and apparently there were some letters in a box between the lights…all I saw was a black box. Not good. but my left eye was showing off…20/20 and doing its work plus “rightie’s.”

Glasses are no longer a practical option…cataract surgery is. So on the 18th of August…I will have the right eye done… since that cataract is the worst. “Leftie” will come later. As I looked through all the appointments/schedules involved and information… I got tickled at the brochure cover. (title photo)

It was like ‘we aspiring cataract remover patients’ were getting a party celebration send-off. The slogan read: Independence Day: Celebrate your freedom from cataracts!

Somehow I don’t think that is what the Founding Fathers had in mind with the original idea of Independence Day….but, then again, it was old Ben Franklin who gave us a cool-looking pair of reading glasses…they appear to be back in style now.

My deciding factor in going ahead with the cataract surgery was simply the desire to see as much of life, clearly, for as long as I can. Life is too short to go through it in a haze (or a daze.)

I have to admit that I kinda like being in the “freshman”  Medicare class when it comes to eye care. As I was filling out the quadruple forms I noticed that I was one of  very few patients walking alone. The majority of patients had a cane, walker, or were pushed in a wheel chair. One poor man was rolled in on a stretcher.

Remember how it felt to be a member of the freshman class at high school and college. The guys would be checking out the fresh young female faces of the newest class….we received a lot of initial attention.

As a  relatively new member of the freshman Medicare class….I feel like the new young chick on the block again. At this stage of the game it won’t last long so I might as well enjoy it while it lasts. The intern I was assigned to for the initial eye tests seemed visibly relieved that he didn’t have to physically help me back to the examining room.

Still…You know you’re getting old when the ophthalmologist assures you that cataract surgery is one of the safest routines and a normal procedural part of getting older. I did stop her there and thank her for adding the “er” to her last word in the sentence. She laughed …she’s young.

Susan Cadwell sent me some of the funniest “getting older” quips I have read in a long time….they make Maxine pale in comparison. Enjoy!

*My goal for 2016 was to lose just 10 pounds. I only have 15 more to go.

*Ate salad for dinner- mostly croutons and tomatoes. Actually it was just one big round crouton covered in tomato sauce and cheese. Fine! It was a pizza, happy now? “I ate a pizza!”

*How to prepare Tofu. 1) Throw it in the trash 2) Grill some meat

*I just did a week’s worth of cardio after walking into a spider web

*I don’t mean to brag but I finished my 4-day diet food supply in 3 hours and 20 minutes.

*A recent study has shown that women who carry a little extra weight live longer than the men who mention it.

*Kids today don’t know how easy they have it. When I was young I had to walk 9 feet through shag carpet to change the television channel.

*Senility has been a smooth transition for me

*I love being over 60. I can still learn something new every day and forget five others.

*A thief broke into my house last night. He started searching for money. So I got up and searched with him.

*My dentist said that I need a Crown. I said, “You bet…pour mine over rocks.”

*I think I will just put an “()ut of Order” sticker on my forehead and call it a day.

……………………..

So until tomorrow…Just remember…most of us will depart by losing parts. Like my old car that keeps breaking down….this part will quit working, we will get it fixed and then another part bites the dust and so on and so on and so on. Until one day we realize that  our “engine” is no longer working and we decide that it is more cost-effective to simply depart by finding a new, lighter mode of air transportation….hopefully headed upward.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

• I loved Frances Townsend’s additional ‘garden-learned personal trait’ gained through maintaining one. Perfect!

• “You mentioned all the personal qualities that are learned or reinforced by your garden; I will add humility, as sometimes my grandiose plans are replaced by weeds or nothing. And the humility of thinking that I created something beautiful when I was merely the instrument of God’s glory.”

*Please keep Ted and Brooke Parker in your prayers today as they head to Roper Hospital to have some diagnostic tests (and perhaps procedures) done by Ted’s cardiologist. Everything depends on what they find. Ambiguity, not knowing, is always the hardest part. Hot-line prayers coming at you Parkers!

Dear Reader:

The benefits and blessings I have gotten… grown from my garden… have more than compensated for the all the labor involved…and it is a labor of love. It is also a labor of intensity, passion, faith, perseverance and patience.

I have been privy seeing the first buds, on all my flowering plants, open and stretch towards the sun. I never tire of watching the beautiful blooms emerge from the buds….it is like watching a baby’s birth over and over.

The garden is everything I dreamed it would be…and more. It has evolved into the private sanctuary of peace I hoped for and desired. The garden is my “go-to” place when I need to mull and/or meditate about issues that involve a talk with God.

My dreams of a garden where the grandchildren can romp and play has reached full fruition, supported by the squeals of splashing in the fountain and jumping on the old oak tree swing. The two older grandchildren run to see how tall their trees are and how much they have grown. They have a personal stake now in the moon gate garden.

Magic. The grandchildren and I feel the magic when a new bud opens and little garden fairies appear on different plants at random.

Every Easter now lollipops grow from special seeds of kindness that the

children plant and then perform…lollipop seeds for kind deeds.  There should always be magic in a garden.

Besides all these blessings, I have discovered, however, that the “fruits” of my labor have produced some unanticipated benefits…involving my character.

The first “fruit” is patience: Nothing in a garden grows as fast as the gardener wishes because Mother Nature is calling the “shots” not us. Everything happens in  its “own good time.”

The second “fruit” is pride. I love to show people around the garden because I am so proud that this dream is a reality and I have, not only stuck with it, but am more in love with my garden today than when it first began.

The third “fruit” is friendship and relationships. I have made new garden friends and kept old friends and family who have helped me stay the course with suggestions, ideas, and free labor, to boot. We share a special bond now…watching our gardens grow.

So until tomorrow….Take a leap of faith…plant a flower, wait for it to bloom, care for it as you would a child, and then believe you will be there to see it grown and your garden a reality.

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

*Speaking of the “fruits of labor” I was crossing my front porch yesterday morning and saw someone way up a tall ladder cutting limbs off a dead tree. I thought a professional tree cutter was out there until I looked a second time and it was Vickie, my friend and neighbor.

She had an ax cutting away limbs off a dead tree… and then she went and got the chain saw for the final blow to the tree….promptly cutting it up in smaller branches and hauling it all to the street. In a blink there was nothing left of the tree but a clearing where it once was. “I am woman hear me roar.’ I don’t need security protection on my street…I have Vickie!

*Happy Official Birthday Vikki and Ben! Glad each one of you is a part of our growing family….Life wouldn’t be the same without you!

Dear Reader:

This quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson has always been one of my favorites. And then it came to me recently that it would make a beautiful epitaph. (He/she) scattered joy. I can think of no higher eulogy or compliment. What a great way to have spent one’s time on earth…scattering joy!

The catalyst for this quote came from a birthday card Ben got Vikki with this quote on the front.  Hallmark then added the following inside thought and message: “Goodness happens wherever you’ve been.”

Don’t we all know or have known people who fall into this category? Just talking to them seems to brighten the day. We feel “gooder” for knowing them personally and comforted, somehow, by simply reassuring ourselves that the world can’t be all bad….because this person lives in it.

Abraham Lincoln, a President plagued by melancholy (depression) most of his life, metaphorically scattered more joy in the worst possible situation during his two terms in office. Upon his election his beloved country divided itself against the other and he is left to “fix it.”

*If I took the time to list all of Lincoln’s accomplishments during his presidency, I would still be typing late into the night…scattering much joy at all the positive changes he made for unity and equality.

Instead let me tell you what I think was his greatest accomplishment. He turned a plural verb into a singular one and it changed the future of our nation.

Before the Civil War….the United States was referred to as: “The United States ARE..” After the Civil War the term- United States- was followed by the singular verb....is. “The United States IS…” This was the President who turned us into a singular country, a singular home to people living in all the states at that time and the others who came in the future. Double WOW!

What an amazing accomplishment! That should continue to be the goal of each President….to keep the “IS” after the United States. We are all One together and that is what makes our country great…diversity of talents and ideas! Alone we are weak…together we are strong.

So until tomorrow….Father…please keep reminding us that we are all your children and as such loved equally by You. Remind us to be open to face-to-face communication over second-hand innuendoes. As humans we share more similarities than differences.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Delight of the Day: Out of all the purple morning glories growing in Anne’s yard…Miss Red popped up to add some diversity to the establishment and what a delightful addition “she” has become.

• Sweet Colby sent me a picture of her by a wishing fountain and it reminded her of me and my fountain. She is in the mountains with her beloved grandmother, Jo. I wrote back that I couldn’t think of a better way to be remembered than a fountain filled with pennies of wishes. And I thought one of her wishes must have already been granted…to be on vacation in the mountains with Grandmother Jo! Have fun girls!

*Yesterday afternoon, as the clouds covered the skies and thunder rumbled in the distance, I was just finishing this blog when something caught my peripheral vision outside the window. A little baby bunny, scared of the thunder, ran to my Ginger Shell for refuge. *I know these pictures are a little blurry taking them through a screened window but I think you can see enough to get the idea. It made me so happy!

Dear Reader:

We know the world is changing when we sit in a waiting room…any waiting room….and watch the vast majority of the other “waiters” either reading or sending messages on their IPhone or (in a few cases) IPad. I find it harder and harder to make contact (visually or verbally) with anyone in the room.

I am the one usually flipping through magazines since I turn my Iphone off before entering medical buildings for appointments so I won’t forget. Other days I simply look around the room at the other people around me and wonder what their story is….particularly cancer patients. There should be a strong bond between us but the Iphones and Ipads set up a pretty formidable barrier to actual conversation.

Perhaps there ought to be a required course for graduation in our public high schools and colleges/universities called ” Take Time to Tune Out.” The course should teach PR skills, interpersonal skills (like conversation) and decision-making skills concerning time away from tech communication. This can involve trips, camping, sight-seeing, exploring, athletic challenges and events, movies, concerts, opera, plays, gardening, reading, or just plain conversing with others,  etc.

I feel a kind of sorrow for some of my fellow “waiters” …..like Dr. Seuss warned against…I feel that many are stuck in the “waiting place of life” and have stopped living life….just waiting on life to begin…hidden behind the security screen of tech gadgets.

Mobile users can’t leave their phone alone for six minutes and check it up to 150 times a day was the title of one magazine article I was reading while staring at my fellow waiting room comrades. After assessing the room…I think the title on the article was too generous with six minutes….maybe two. 

There was a little child-like prankster voice deep inside me wondering what would happen if I jumped up and screamed “BOO!” as loudly as I could. Then while everyone stared at me strangely I would introduce myself by saying my grandchildren call me “Boo”…now what’s your name?

My adult inner voice over-ruled “Little Becky” but I found myself smiling inwardly at the images playing out in my mind.

I used to turn on the morning shows before heading out to the garden, each day,  but not now….I really don’t want to start my day with terrorism and politics….strange bedfellows. Intolerance seems to have taken hold of too much of American life and it is too upsetting for me to watch. Bias, prejudice, arrogance and intolerance to others….when did these attributes become acceptable behavior? When did scowling replace smiling and pointing fingers replace shaking hands?

My way to “tune out” is to go to my garden. My morning glories are there to welcome me and introduce me to the newest members of the family….which grows larger every day…just like my ginger shell plant.

And now in the evenings, instead of ending my days with chaos and shouting matches on television, I can welcome a beautiful moon flower bloom  in my garden.

So until tomorrow….Let us all learn to tune out our world when it gets too loud to even think and instead, spend that time in God’s Wonderland of Beauty and Peace. Plant a flower, bush or tree to let the world know humanity can be quiet, soft-spoken and capable of being good stewards of this earth.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

I took Ben to Oscars for his birthday while he was in Summerville yesterday and today he is heading over to Lee and Vikki’s ….it is Vikki’s birthday on the 26th, along with Ben. Happy Birthday Ben….it’s nice to have a “Big Bro!”