Dear Reader:

Isn’t the discovery that you have left something behind fall into two “Oh No!” categories. Coming in at number 1: Your cell phone and/or Iphone. (2) Your charger to your cell phone or Iphone.

When I left Mandy’s Saturday afternoon I did leave with my Iphone because I usually check that three or four times before leaving…after all I usually have future blog post photos with me.

I thought the other day when I saw a commercial about the dangers of texting or talking on your Iphone while driving… that if I ever have an accident…it will because I am frantically driving with my left hand while with my right hand I am feeling all around (inside and out) my pocketbook.

I have even been known to perform a strange contortion with my body… as I drive with my left hand and scrounge the back seat floor with my right.

(Cause of death: Direct Cause: Contorting While Driving – Indirect Cause: Mis-placed Iphone)

As soon as I got home Saturday I went to charge my Iphone and the discovery that I had left my charger in John and Mandy’s den hit me full force. I could see myself charging it from the night before (Friday night) and then remembering to take the Iphone to Five Loaves for the birthday luncheon and also remembering that I didn’t take my charger out of the electric socket.

I emailed Mandy and asked if she could stick it in the mail Monday so I could hopefully get it Tuesday. The phone lasted longer than I thought it would…it was still “alive” Sunday morning and I was even able to squeeze out a few precious  shots of Mollie and the boys when they came to visit Boo Boo yesterday afternoon.

But then it died….I went ‘charger scrounging’ in the neighborhood (in the darkness late yesterday afternoon) and I must be living right…because Vickie, my lateral across-the- street-neighbor had a charger and it fit like a glove!! (What are the odds?) So I charged it up while I grabbed a bite of supper and then returned it. (Vickie…you were my guardian angel last night!)

Don’t we always have a feeling that if our Iphone has lost its “juice” then that is exactly when we will miss an important call? Perhaps it is a call about a promotion, or a  health report from a loved one, or an invitation to something we want to attend…any number of things. It is scary how our Iphones have almost become another “appendage” on our bodies.

I was able to use the time while waiting on the Iphone to charge last night to “delete”  “delete” “delete!” I had so many photos on my desktop that it was taking eons to locate a picture for the blog post. It felt so good to “clean house.”  

This next “discovery” was quite frustrating. It involved a (temporary) scare with my heating unit. For literally two months (since getting my renovations, and especially, my new windows installed I have not turned on my cooling/heating unit at all.) Great savings!

However, Saturday afternoon, when I returned I felt a chill in the house, I bit the bullet and turned on the heat…only nothing happened. I took it off auto and put it on “on” and still nothing. The house was getting down-right cold.

I had my first fire Saturday night….necessity is the mother of invention and then I placed my electric heating pad on my bed and hoped for the best. Sometime early in the morning I heard a familiar noise…and breathed a sigh of relief. All my thoughts that had kept me awake (on how to pay for a new heating unit) were “deleted.“.

Since I woke up early I made it to Sunday School and church…I owed God a proper “Thank You.”

Jump to Sunday Afternoon…When the Dingle Boys Came to Town…riding on a dolphin!

Rutledge always rides “Hope” the dolphin first, runs to the “magic” closet to pull Uncle Tommy’s Hess trucks out to play with, checks out the garden and snacks.

Yesterday…we got to add a visit to Uncle Harvey and Aunt Doodle’s house. Mollie took Lachlan to the store with her….so Rutledge and I hurried over to the coolest house on the block with the best toys and playhouse around. (My Iphone had gone “belly-up” by now…so no photos.)

But imagine listening to Uncle Harvey, with his beautiful tenor voice, sing Christmas songs and even perform (with a lot of help from the “peanut gallery”) “The Wheels on the Bus.” Too much fun! What an early, unexpected, Christmas gift!

*I just went to check my Iphone and it says it is 100% charged…all is right with the world. I will run it back across the street and give Vickie a hug for being the right person I needed at the right time.

So until tomorrow….don’t you bet God wishes we were as concerned about our communication with Him  as we are with our Iphones? After all…He is free and it was  His Son who took on the terrible cost for our on-going free access to His Father.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Happy Happy Birthday Jackson! I know it is somewhat bittersweet this year…but can’t we feel God’s Hand at work….and when His new painting is complete…it will be spectacular! Brooke and I can hardly wait to join you tomorrow in all the celebration!

*I “discovered” this picture Kaitlyn put on Facebook and I was quite relieved…As mothers we never stop worrying about our children (adult or not) when they are on the road. We always want to know that they arrived safely. It appears they did…have the most wonderful time of your lives!

Dear Reader:

We hear this old adage often…perhaps more often than some people want to hear it…along with the same defensive excuse …”When I finish this project” or “When I get promoted to…” this or that position…then I will have more time for my family.

I was pleased to see in the Sports Illustrated cover/article on Clemson this week that family time is one area that Dabo has not left for chance. When his son, Will, started playing football for one of the area high school teams he changed his regular routine with his college players  so he could attend Friday night football games.

If he can find a seat close enough to the concession stand…his “temptations” are “popcorn, a pickle, a Slim Jim and a Diet coke.” It makes him a happy man just being a dad watching his son play and eating his favorite “just desserts.”

Dabo’s first coach at Alabama, Billy Curry, bumped into Dabo after being named the new Clemson coach years later. He told Dabo “never  to sacrifice his family for the job;” that, Curry said, was his biggest regret.

As we all learn from hard-knock experiences…jobs will come and go,  some friends will do the same…it is family who will stick by you through the good times and bad.

Friday and Saturday I had the wonderful opportunity to be with my family. Mandy called me Friday afternoon and said she had good news and bad…Buist Academy (where she teaches art) had won an award for the annual Christmas Greeting Cards (created by public schools in the area) They were now displayed and some (including hers ) would be  recognized on opening night at the Charleston Festival of Lights and Friday night was opening night.

John was sick with a sinus infection and was going to stay home to keep Jakie…she would need to take Eva Cate and leave by 5:30 to get there (because of the traffic) in time for the ceremony at 7:00. I could tell how stressful this situation was and how tired she sounded…so I told her if it suited…I would be glad to accompany her and  Eva Cate to the festival…to have another pair of eyes looking for street signs in all the Friday (very heavily congested evening traffic.)

I would then just spend the night because it was Kaitlyn’s birthday this upcoming week and we were all meeting at Five Loaves in Mt. Pleasant, Saturday for lunch, to take her out to eat for her birthday.

So off we went ….the traffic to the festival was heinous (bumper to bumper) but once we got inside…it was hardly anybody there. For the first time…we could see the lights on either side…we didn’t have to wait on the carousel and, with the exception of one elderly couple in the far back…we three were the only passengers on the train. (running every five minutes) Unbelievable! Here are some Friday night photos….

The “Mod Squad” was alive and well with Eva Cate’s choice of fashion for the festival of lights. One of Mandy’s students, who worked on the Christmas Greeting Card, was also there, along with his father. Mandy let him keep the trophy to take back to school Monday to show everyone…their greeting card was made from bottle caps…really cool.

All ended well with hot cocoa, after a chilly train ride, and the magical appearance/disappearance of the red M&M man.

Saturday morning…Eva Cate had dancing lessons and then we would be off to Five Loaves for the birthday lunch. It was great to get to watch Eva Cate dance on the television monitors.

Lunch was delicious…I think we all got soup and a sandwich…it was a soup kind of day. Of course we all ended up sharing different desserts too. Yummy!

Tommy and Kaitlyn are off to Asheville for a few days for her birthday….Have fun you two!

Lachlan got passed around like a loaf of bread…everyone’s favorite loaf of bread.

*Jakie stayed behind with dad to faithfully cheer on their Auburn Tigers…lots of tigers in this family. Rutledge played at his other grandparents home and I am sure had a ball.

Eva Cate and Lachlan got to be good pals with the absence of Rutledge…they had fun!

So until tomorrow…family is everything to me.

” Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

*When Mandy, Eva Cate, and I got home the kids were so happy to see each other!

*Two more pieces of great news!

1. Rutledge wasn’t scared of Santa Claus this year…In fact…he went back twice to keep chatting with him and revising his list…a firetruck for him and a monster truck for Lachlan. (Rutledge really knows how to work the system with a baby brother who doesn’t talk) 
2. Carrie passed her test! We all knew she would but still, it is nice to get the official notice confirming our confidence in this remarkable young woman! Way to go Carrie…another step closer to your vocational goals…( Next step: dream goal…Africa!)

Dear Reader:

I discovered a poem that sounded vaguely familiar yesterday but it really spoke to me where I am at this stage of my life.

Apparently I am not alone. Soon after re-discovering the poem …I found an excerpt (“Let Your Life Speak“) by Parker J. Palmer who had the same reaction I did. (This is one of the nicest aspects of the internet…connecting to others/strangers with similar thoughts and ideas!)

Since his and my thoughts are so interconnected…instead of playing ‘Pete and Repeat‘ I will give you a few passages from his article that brought my thoughts into a deeper state of clarity.

………..

With twenty-one words, carefully chosen and artfully woven,

May Sarton evokes the quest for vocation–at least, my quest
for vocation–with candor and precision in her famous poem-“Now I Become Myself”:

Now I become myself.
It’s taken time, many years and places.
I have been dissolved and shaken,
Worn other people’s faces. …

What a long time it can take to become the person one
has always been! How often in the process we mask ourselves
in faces that are not our own. How much dissolving and
shaking of ego we must endure before we discover our deep
identity–the true self within every human being that is the
seed of authentic vocation.

Today I understand vocation quite differently–not as a
goal to be achieved but as a gift to be received. Discovering
vocation does not mean scrambling toward some prize just
beyond my reach but accepting the treasure of true self I
already possess. Vocation does not come from a voice “out
there” calling me to become something I am not. It comes
from a voice “in here” calling me to be the person I was born
to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given me at birth by God.

It is a strange gift, this birthright gift of self. Accepting it
turns out to be even more demanding than attempting to become someone else! I have sometimes responded to that
demand by ignoring the gift, or hiding it, or fleeing from it, or
squandering it–and I think I am not alone.

( I love Palmer’s final anecdote in this last excerpt. I hope I can remember it.)

There is a Hasidic tale that reveals, with amazing brevity, both the universal tendency to want to be someone else and the ultimate importance of becoming one’s self:

Rabbi Zusya, when he was an old man, said, “In the coming
world, they will not ask me:’Why were you not Moses?’ They will ask me:
‘Why were you not Zusya?”‘

In essence…the only person we are responsible for becoming is ourself.

So until tomorrow….Let’s get out there and start showing the world who we are…no masks allowed…We are responsible for only showering others with our  birth-right gifts of self.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Bekah and Ady shared dinner with Ben on Veterans Day…I am sure it made it even more special….

Dear Reader:

Wasn’t yesterday one of the most beautiful days of fall so far this season? I found myself sitting on the deck stretching out my legs and just being. It has got to be one of my most favorite new things to do. Be.

The skies were a Carolina blue….the kind that takes our breath away and reminds us why we live here. The forecast was for high seventies, maybe even an 80…and the most intoxicating breeze blew throughout the entire day…reminding us that change was  a’coming…but not today. Get out and live today to the fullest!

The sea glass chimes went crazy with the intermittent rounds of wind that blew and whistled through the garden. Sometimes the chimes were practically lateral , as if at the top of the arc when swinging.

I decided to take advantage of this nice warm day and “tuck in” my four new camellias for the winter. I had just enough pine bark in one bag to do it. Accomplished!

The only thing that would have made yesterday even “gooder” was if our new mail carrier had managed to deliver and pick up the mail Wednesday (which didn’t happen as you can see with the red flag) and as of mid-afternoon yesterday….same thing.

Lately it is past dark…anywhere from 5:30 to 6:30 before I see the mail truck….How I do miss Mary!!!!….She looked like Speedy Gonzales next to this guy…(while still managing to stop and speak to  people, deliver packages to the houses for the elderly and/or invalid occupants.) “All I want for Christmas is my Mary back.”

There was even a little mystery going on in the garden. I was checking hanging pots to see if there was any life left in any of them or if it was time to toss them. When I got to the old oak near the back corner of the yard…there was the strangest sight. Earlier in the summer I had gotten a hanging basket of Lazy Susan vines.

They were beautiful…but had to be watered constantly…by late summer I was ready to let them go…the stems coming out of the hanging basket were brown and brittle… I decided to clean it out and just let nature do its thing.

Guess what…even without the original root system…the climbing vines have continued climbing up the trunk of the oak tree out onto the branches. Isn’t life grand…it can always find a way to survive!

So until tomorrow…I will fondly recall this “being” day: “Still “being” astounded at the miracle of life, treating my new bushes like small children getting ready to go to bed, “being” present to hear the chimes announcing a change…a cooler front coming. and “being” aware, by sitting under the Carolina blue skies, that I am a lucky, lucky woman.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Pam Stewart sent me this beautiful video earlier in the week and I am just now getting around to putting it on the blog post. It touched me deeply and started my week off right. Take a couple of minutes and let it end your week the same way mine started…being in love with God all over again.  It’s called “Interview with God”

You won’t soon forget it. I wish I could keep each response locked away in a secret compartment in my brain…called “What is life?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?t=12&v=moBvLFbF

Dear Reader:

I wanted to share some updated news with you about “Big Red”…my red geranium of hope and perseverance. It never bloomed this summer. Leaves would appear and even sometimes a tiny bud….but the bud never made it to maturity…it never bloomed. Instead it turned brown and simply fell off.

Then, yesterday, as I swept the porch…something caught my attention ….on the tip end of one geranium stem….a cluster of buds are  forming. You just don’t know how that one glimpse of hope propelled me into a busy day of cleaning, throwing out items that had been left too long  here and there… in and out of the house. It was like I was starting over…with a fresh new beginning, my  windows were wide open letting in the beautiful day. I  was  ecstatic  …even down to kissing “Big Red.”

For those of you who don’t know about “Big Red”....let me quickly explain some of its history. I was given this geranium (as a gift) in June of 2008…a few days after my initial mastectomy.

For seven long years now it has managed to survive anything Mother Nature has thrown at it….from freezing to ouch hot temperatures on the front porch. It sits proudly on the same white bench (that got a fresh coat of paint during the renovation last summer) that it was first placed on seven years ago.

I can count the number of times (on my fingers) that I have physically picked it up and  moved it inside during an rigid cold night…Soon even this taxing endeavor was not an option because “Big Red” grew very large…it, simply, wouldn’t fit through the door. I had to just throw a sheet over it and hope for the best.

During one of those rigid cold snaps (with temps in the teens)…”Big Red” almost died last winter. I had to perform “emergency amputation” to most of its limbs…until there was just one central limb/stem left. I had little hope that “Big Red” would recover. It did and leaves reappeared but nothing would and/or could bloom on it last summer and this fall.

I have come to rely on “Big Red” as a health o’meter for my own progress while living with “little c”… so the plant’s struggle these past few months has saddened me in several ways.

But now hope looks like it might bloom again before winter sets in. I pray this to be true. If and when the buds open up into bright red blossoms…I will take a picture and y’all will be the first to know!

The idea of looking to a flower for direction during difficult times was the central theme in the story: Red Flower Goes West. It is about a red geranium that James’ mother takes with her when her husband decides to join the forty-niner’s looking for precious treasures in the Gold Rush.

The flower was originally given to her by her mother so it symbolized heritage and home back east. The mother, son, and daughter all sacrifice water and other necessities to keep the plant alive…because they, too, come to  believe that their own existence and success( in making it out west) depends upon it.

When they finally arrive and plant it…they know they are home.

“Big Red” has come to symbolize home for me…it would feel so strange not to see it on the porch welcoming me  upon each arrival. Like the picture on the cover of the book…I will be happy if I can get one red bloom this season. Hope will still be alive, as well as, “Big Red.”

So until tomorrow…Thank you Father for opportunities to connect with all forms of life in this beautiful world You have created. We are all here to help each other.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

……………………………

*A few days ago I showed you one poinsettia whose leaves were starting to turn a deep red….now the other (white poinsettia) plant’s leaves are turning a light pink. I am beyond excited…This is the first time that I have kept poinsettias alive all year for the next Christmas! (Just threw them in the “paw paw” patch and left them alone…who knew?)

Now here is the coolest God Wink …After all my cleaning yesterday…around 1:30 it dawned on me that I hadn’t eaten anything but a piece of toast all day and I was hungry….for something really good.

The one big “perk” about eating a lot of meals by myself is the fact that I can eat half of my order for lunch and the other half for supper. (Actually much more economical than cooking!)

I decided to call Continental Corner and order one of their omelets that come with Greek potatoes and fruit….yummy! I also got a tea to go…I was going to be set for lunch and supper.

Two girls were finishing up the “books” when I stopped in to pay the tab..when they found out my name and the specific order they both started grinning….(I thought everybody was just being especially friendly)

One girl asked if I would like to know the total cost of the lunch order and I replied “Yes” (distractedly) while fumbling through my pocketbook looking for that twenty-dollar bill in there.

In unison both girls exclaimed “$11. 11”!!!!  It took me a second to grasp the significance of the number and then I said “Are y’all playing with me…truly this was the total?” I was handed the receipt and there it was. Veterans day , 11/11 and a God Wink.

Dear Reader:

As I was going through some Veterans Day stories, on-line,  this little book popped up and I just had to smile. How many Veterans days did I spend traveling (with Carol Poole) around the state to perform the Veterans Day enactment based on this story? Too many to remember. .

For years I kept one large plastic bag filled with all the objects inside needed to set this significant table each year.

There was poignant symbolism for every object on “the little white table.”

• Remember: Thank a Veteran Today!

Dear Reader:

I must admit on this Monday morning while writing today’s post I am really, really tired of rain! It’s just not the rain…it seems like it has been weeks since I have awakened to sunshine. Even the precious few semi-sunny days, stuck in between the rainy ones, start off cloudy or foggy. Either way you cut it….it equates to drab, dreary, and dismal. 

Definitely the climate for a lunch with the ghost of Edgar Allen Poe. It’s his kind of weather…

Instead I went with friends and saw two movies last week just to literally get out of the house. I keep telling myself how fortunate we are (weather-wise) in comparison to other parts of the country and world…but after several days of this personal reprimand….even “lofty” attitudes (like chewing gum) lose their “flavor on the bedpost over night.”

I keep waiting to see my barrel (in the front yard) with the freshly transplanted pansies in it float down the road like a floral ark. Since taking the title photo (earlier this morning) my front yard looks like a swimming pool.

I, also, half-expect to see my lone Bradford Pear take a dive towards the house…this tree doesn’t like a lot of rain and I have seen what one storm can do to the roots (with the crash of my other Bradford Pear on the house several years ago) from this  fragile tree.

Enough of these “Poe-ish” thoughts….we need some funny writings… like the kind from Miss Effie (Wilder) about the little boy who told the visiting preacher that they were having buzzard for dinner. While the horrified pastor shook his head, the little fella calmly explained that he had overheard his mother telling his daddy that she reckoned it was their time to have “the old buzzard for dinner.” 

…Or Frank Gilbreth, Junior (author of Cheaper by the Dozen) who re-called memories of his daddy proudly taking all twelve of his children out for a Sunday afternoon ride….to  show off his large “brood.”

The older teenagers hated it…because of the way the people, on the streets, stared at them like they were from a freak show every time their father stopped at the end of a road. But this was Mr. Gilbreth’s favorite part of the ride.

He loved it when a crowd gathered to gawk at all fourteen of them packed inside the convertible Pierce Arrow. Each older child would be holding a younger sibling on his/her lap….while mother had a baby on each arm. The comments ranged from “Good grief man…is that an orphanage?” to “Have you got yourself a reform school there?” 

One day a particularly off-center comment was shouted at the family from a rather annoying spectator. He exclaimed, “My goodness, it must be about to start raining because it looks like brother…you are taking the animals into the ark….two by two?” 

Mr. Gilbreth, a master showman and shaman of verbal come-backs, smiled good-naturedly, while stopping and bowing to the crowd…He then glared at the verbal offender and said, “That’s right mister…all we are missing is a jack-ass….hop in!” 

And with that…he beeped all three horns simultaneously while the car jumped across the intersection to the roar of laughter behind them. The teenagers had slunk onto the floorboard in embarrassment and even mother’s face was as red as her hair. Mr. Gilbreth patted her hand, grinning, and said….”Children, remember, always leave’em laughing.”

So on this “Once upon a midnight dreary” day I hope you have gotten a chuckle or two from two wits of wisdom.

So until tomorrow….”Laughter is a sunbeam of the soul.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

…………………………

*Yesterday I decided just to hang up going out in the “foul” weather and instead grabbed “Big Pinkie,” my overstuffed robe, to ward off the temporary chill in the house. I  gave in to cat-napping and reading in mixed intervals throughout the day.

Around mid-afternoon…the doorbell rang and one of my all-time favorite people was at the door….Jo Dufford. She had brought me a book titled: The Gospel According to Dr. Seuss.  She assumed I had probably already seen it, if not read it….I had not done either…and can hardly wait to dig in. Thank you Jo!!!!!!!

*Now before I end today’s post…I have an important request for prayer from you for another favorite author of mine….who I have become friends with in the last five years. Gloria Houston.

You might remember Honey and I followed the trail of the fictitious search for the “Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree” (culminating on Grandfather Mountain) in 2009 following a snow storm.

I ended up leaving Gloria a note in her hometown of Spruce Pine and she miraculously got it the next time she and Ruthie, her mother, stopped by there. She wrote back and invited me to join her and Ruthie for her mother’s 95th birthday party.

Brooke drove me up the Waynesville (site of a book signing/party celebration) and we had a wonderful time with Gloria and Ruthie.

From that time on Gloria and I exchanged Christmas emails every year…with me sending photos of my Christmas tree with the “Ruthie” doll sitting on top…a Christmas tradition had been born.

Last year, the Christmas email, proved a sad one….Gloria told me Ruthie’s health was failing…she was to turn 100 in March and Spruce Pine was planning a big celebration but they didn’t know if Ruthie would make it or not..

A few months later I emailed to ask if Ruthie made it to 100 and Gloria apologized for not letting me know…she had died in January…a very peaceful death. She had been overwhelmed with the responses from family and close friends and just hadn’t gotten the news out yet.

She also mentioned that she, herself, was having some health issues but didn’t go into much detail. Gloria is a very private person.

The next email from Gloria was definitely a “shocker.” She had moved to Tampa to be near family and a clinic that specialized in patients who have a rare form of cancer called Leiomyosarcoma. (Pronounced Liomyo)- this cancer develops in the connective tissues of the body…the smooth muscles… and can appear just about anywhere and everywhere.

Her “voice” sounded determined and strong but she knew it was going to be her greatest challenge and an uphill fight since the prognosis for this type of cancer is not good.

Last week, out of the blue, Gloria kept popping up in my thoughts so I emailed her and she responded immediately:

“Been through a very rough patch. I’m home from the hospital. trying to make some tough decisions.”

Again, not wanting to intrude on her privacy, I asked her to spell this cancer out for me once again …because when I was praying for it to leave her body…I wanted to get its name right. She immediately sent it and I told her (back) that I would just start calling in “Lio.”

I had also sent her my favorite prayer that I have shared with you many times by Donna Fargo titled: “I Prayed for You Today.” Gloria loved it too and sent her thanks back.

I could see her smiling when I told her my plan to dis-own  “Lio.” I wrote: It is getting “un-invited” ….”unfriended” by everyone I know….”little c” doesn’t deserve respect or friendship!!!!!

In Gloria’s last response to this email she wrote: “AMEN!”

So please help me in your prayers for Gloria that she be provided the strength to keep fighting this formidable foe, this giant of a disease….We need a miracle here and that’s in God’s realm. For us we just need to keep praying and perhaps send her a sling-shot with  five smooth stones!

We, also, need to keep this saying of Madeleine I’ Engle’s in our prayers….”Nothing is hopeless; we must hope for everything.”

My Christmas wish for Gloria is to have a balsam tree for Christmas this year…because it is the perfect Christmas tree…. as Ruthie’s father told her in the Christmas story:

“We shall have a balsam Christmas tree my pretty young’un. The balsam grows up the rocky craigs where only a venturesome man (or woman)  may go. The balsam is the perfect tree. It grows up high, near to heaven.”

Dear Reader:

I certainly don’t want to bore anyone (reading this blog) by pulling out my family album and introducing you to second cousins twice removed on my Grandmother Seawright’s side….Believe me, I wouldn’t do that to you… mainly because it is unconstitutional… under the heading of “cruel and unusual punishment.” (Remember getting stuck watching your neighbors’ home movies from their latest vacation?)

But yesterday a big God Wink originated from two family pictures on the middle shelf over my kitchen sink….an initial inspection of the photos took me back in time to a special memory, a cherished recollection..

I was still relishing in the happy aftermath of the Clemson win over Florida State (while washing up some breakfast dishes) when I looked up and saw these two framed photos. They dated back to November of 2005.

Curiosity made me stop, dry off my hands, and pick the photos up…I smiled as I looked at the images (while I dusted them off) and then, as an afterthought, I turned the pictures over. A little piece of paper was tucked into one of the frames. I took it out, read the message and smiled even bigger.

It said: November 12, 2005-Tommy’s senior year….family joined him for the Clemson-Florida State game which Clemson won 35-14. (Tommy beat dad Bobby (Bowdens)….Go Clemson!)

I sat down on the sofa holding both photos and let my mind go back a decade to that day in  2005….ten years ago…how fast the years have gone. (All the children were still single in 2005, there were no grandchildren….a productive decade was still looming in the future)

Starting in 2005 I was “officially” retired from teaching and administration in the district… but was still doing some work for the state department. I finally had some time, however, to relax and take life easier for the first time in a long time.

As the 2005 Clemson football season was winding down , it dawned on me that the family had never gone to a Clemson game (together) since Tommy transferred there as a sophomore. In the spring he would graduate and there would be no more opportunities to do this.

Both Mandy and Walsh were out of college and working….which meant family gatherings were getting harder and harder to plan. I said a prayer and called both of them to check their calendars and give me a Saturday that would be free for them to go. November 12 was the only date available for both of them. Hallelujah, it was a home game.

I called Tommy and told him what we would like to do….we scrounged around and got some tickets, just in the nick of time. Walsh was just finishing up a 12 hour shift and I remember he slept crunched up in the back seat of Mandy’s jeep.

Mandy and I were in the front with her driving…we ran into problems with a room that had ‘disappeared’ since our reservations were made…but happily we found something else and then we were off to meet up with Tommy.

It was an amazing game….the buzz floating  around us on the bleachers, was that the senior quarterback, Charlie Whitehurst, had hurt his arm in the prior game and was getting a shot in it just before the game started. We all said a prayer that he could get through the game and our prayers were answered…not only did he get through the game but he threw three TD’s to win it.

 Tigers: 35   Seminoles: 14              

All I remember after the game were the jubilant fans jumping up and down… screaming all around us…we were all caught up in the moment. I think Tommy really appreciated the fact that we had come to the game-just not to support Clemson…but to support him also. It is still one of my fondest memories of his time there.

Fast-forward a decade back to present…After the Clemson-Florida State game finally ended…I sat on the sofa a few minutes checking to see if I still had a pulse or heartbeat. Then the pings started on my Iphone.

The first was Mandy texting her excitement over the win, then my response, then I texted Walsh and Tommy, and then they responded… ending with Tommy calling me to share our similar nervousness about the game prior to  kick-off.

For the first time since that football game ten years ago…with the same opponent…it felt like we were all together again as a family. All screaming and shouting for the same outcome against the same formidable adversary.

New devices, like Iphones and texting, were non-existent in 2005, but it didn’t matter that we weren’t in the same physical place this time…we were in the same emotional place bonded by heritage, sports culture and family memoirs.

Sports provide a compass back home-(Permanently set on N) for parents with grown children (and those children who now have children) through a special connection to recollections of yester-years.

I bet Mary would have loved it if Nazareth was competing in a national football title so Jesus might have been lured back home to the game…finding time to  ‘hang out’ with her. Mary had the same problem all mothers (throughout history) have with staying connected to  grown children who have moved away.

So until tomorrow….here’s to sports events that connect families through good times and bad…providing some of the best-kept memories.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

• Prayers welcomed and appreciated for my niece, Carrie Simpson, who is taking a very important test this Saturday as part of  her graduate speech pathology program she is closing in on…It has been a four-year program accomplished after teaching school all day. It takes quite a lot of fortitude, perseverance, and commitment to accomplish an endeavor of this magnitude…but if anyone can pull it off…it is our Carrie. We are so proud!

Dear Reader:

Early Saturday morning something woke me with a jerk…the first thing I heard was my heart pounding in my ears…it was so loud it felt like my heart was ready to jump out of my body and run away.

What had awakened me? As the fog of sleep began to wear off I started remembering a dream…a nightmare I was having…it was already fading and it seemed only nonsensical now as I turned the bedside lamp on and checked the time. It was 4:30 in the morning.

I decided to get on up and use the bathroom before trying to calm my metabolism down enough to fall asleep again. This endeavor proved futile in its attempt.

Suddenly every noise in the darkened room had me sitting back up and trying to figure out what part of the room the sound had come from  and then  an explanation for it. This kept me busy enough for the early morning light to begin filtering into the room.

No need to try to sleep any longer…I got up and went to the early bird Belk Charity sale to retrieve an item I had left there for pick up yesterday…with an additional discount. Since part of the sales went to various charities I consoled myself that I was doing a “good” thing for the community.

When I got back home I was already tired from the restless night and plopped on the sofa to read some more entries from Quinn Caldwell’s book “All I Really Want.” His book contains an entry of wonderful, homespun wisdom and humor (Christmas messages) for each day of Advent… often I find myself chuckling out-loud.

This year Advent begins on Sunday, November 29 and runs through Christmas Eve –  Thursday, December 24. When I began to read the following Advent entry…I just shook my head and pointed upward…a big God Wink was lying on the page. The topic….Scary Nights!

December 3

Why is everything scarier in the middle of the night? A noise you wouldn’t think twice about if you heard it at noon can paralyze you at 2 a.m.

A dream you’d totally just laugh off during your afternoon nap leaves you staring at the ceiling, blankets up to your chin, in the wee hours. A window that has never looked out on anything but the side yard becomes the potential frame for a vision of horror when you’re on your way for your midnight routine restroom stop.

And that’s just for those of us who live in relatively safe houses. Never mind those who spend their nights on subway grates or cardboard, in fear of attack or invasion, in danger of spouses or temptation.

So what is it? Is it that at night, we’re more vulnerable or just feel more vulnerable? Is it that the dangers are greater or just look bigger in the dark?

 Against the shadows, against the night, against that which stalks the good and the bad, for those who live their lives in night-times of fear and for those who just wake up alone once in a while, Jesus promises this:

The night will end. The morning star will rise, and then the sun. The night will not and cannot ever win.

If you find that easy to believe in the daytime, but a little harder at night, Hang A Star in Your Room this Advent, a light-up Christmas star from Target, a glow-in-the-dark star stuck on the ceiling, or a starry night-light.

You can call it a Christmas decoration so your friends don’t think you’re weird, if you want. But don’t forget what it really is: A PROMISE!  

……………………..

A solution to my problem..I quickly pulled down my box of Christmas tree ornaments and there it was …my big star that hangs on the back of the Christmas tree. I already had little white lights woven in and around my corner shelves…I added a tack and placed my star on the second rung.

It has a glittery, sparkling decor with the  clear lights behind it…I will be able to see it when I need it at night..

“Star light, Star Bright- Sweet dreams only…none of fright”

So until tomorrow…“Lord, I don’t know how long this night is going to be. But with you, I know it’s going to end. Come, Morning Star, come. Amen.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*December 3 (today’s advent entry story date) is my little brother, David’s, birthday. He is in a place now where there are only peaceful, happy dreams that have become reality, forever.

*Besides my nightmare early Saturday morning there was another ‘scare after Halloween’ in Death Valley yesterday afternoon…Believe me I had no trouble sleeping last night and the star kept the bad mojo away. (That game against FSU about put me under…)

I put the purple mums beside the Clemson flag (early Saturday morning) for some added good luck and there they will remain now until the end of the season. You can’t mess up by rearranging good mojo… once it arrives…leave it alone!

Dear Reader:

I never cease to be amazed how just one different thought can be a catalyst to so many other happenings.

Yesterday I stopped by Tuesday Morning to really just pass some time away before meeting a friend for lunch. I picked up a few more white wash cloths while I was there. (What is it with wash cloths…they are like socks…except instead of losing one in a pair…I just lose the whole wash cloth.)

It goes into the washer and I assume into the dryer… but by the time they are folded and put away…another one has disappeared. (I really must stop and write a short story titled:  “The Missing Wash Cloth.“)

But I digress….back to Tuesday Morning…after picking up the wash cloths… I strove over to the bed ensembles…and saw it…a light quilt with two shams marked for sale which put it in the forty-something range….I made a quick decision…I grabbed it and took it home. It inspired me to strip the bed clothing and  wash all the sheets and pillow cases.

While I was waiting on them to dry I threw the quilt on the bed and was instantly disappointed…it was fine by itself but too busy with my beautiful floral painting I got from Kaitlyn after her last move.

As I was (disappointedly) chastising myself for this impulsive purchase I happened to look on the back side and it was reversible. A golden yellow background with little red flowers….oh my goodness…perfect I thought.

I could hardly wait to go to bed last light with fresh, clean sheets and my new bed covers. See for yourself how it turned out.

It had been a fast purchase but now the line to check out had doubled since I entered the store. I turned on my Iphone to check the time and started doing my nervous shuffle dance….rocking back and forth…while waiting my turn to check out.

There was a pretty young woman right ahead of me who was nervously swaying too…but not because of any time factor (as I later learned) but indecision over her purchase of a new bed ensemble she had just chosen.

I told her how pretty it was (light blue/gold strands running through the material) and she thanked me profusely because she was having second thoughts. She explained to me that her husband was in real estate and someone (from up north) had recently purchased a beautiful old house for her winter retreat, only to discover that her grandchildren weren’t interested in visiting her in the lowcountry…they preferred staying in the cold and going to ski resorts.

So now the lady was trying to sell the house, without a loss. All the furniture had been taken and my new “friend” and her husband looked into the costs of “staging” the house but it was astronomical. She said that she agreed to  give it a shot (at decorating) with the budget her husband gave her to enhance the house and, hopefully, potential buyers.

She said they would only have basic pieces (minimalism at its best) but houses always looked better with some furniture in them….especially old houses.

I told her I thought this was wise…to give the prospective buyer a hint at the kind of home they could create while letting them add their own touches of imagination and creativity.

She immediately brightened and said that made her feel less stressful over this project. She went on to share with me other pieces she had bought and some ideas she had for the house…they all sounded spectacular.

I suppose I watch too much HGTV (this thought unexpectedly popped out…maybe through some kind of osmosis) but when she started talking about the time restrictions before the Open House…I said (from out of no where) …why don’t you call it an Open Home showing. After all aren’t you and your husband in the business of selling homes…not just houses? Aren’t you really in the business of selling dreams?

She loved the idea and wanted to get home to share it with her husband…

It is true, though, isn’t it….that when we buy a house…it should be a home for the “now” and “here-after”….no matter where we are along our own time-line in life.

As the afternoon wore on yesterday…my home started getting warmer and warmer so I went around opening up my new windows. In my happy room I  raised all the windows but kept my plantation shutters in place and just opened the slants.

Suddenly I decided to literally throw back the shutters and leave the windows wide open….it was so liberating….the sun shone through and the breezes billowed in ….why had it taken me so long to do this? We are creatures of habit.

When we bring the outside in…there is an added degree of harmony…a balance that can be felt within the walls of our homes.

It reminds me of the “balance” bracelet Libby gave me for my birthday.

The black bead symbolizes hopefulness. It holds mud from The Dead Sea…the lowest point on earth-signifying the difficult moments we experience throughout life and how we should all remain hopeful through them.

The white bead reminds us to stay humble. It carries water from Mt. Everest, the highest point on earth….so the white bead represents life’s highest moments. It is important to remember when we are feeling on top of the world … to remain humble.

So until tomorrow…Let our open homes and windows symbolize our own open-ness to all we meet as we go through life…understanding there is a reason for everyone who comes into our lives.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*I finally was able to get out in the garden yesterday for the first time in about a week and not bog down in the mud. Despite all the excess rain…my garden continues to bloom in all its beauty. Two gorgeous moon flower blooms awaited me, another fresh gerber daisy was emerging from the ground, a flourishing rose bush, and even a dainty little striped morning glory smiled up at me!