Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

The miraculous human body God created for each of us never ceases to amaze and astound me.

Never was this more apparent than in time spent with mother at the Presbyterian Village. Those days were sometimes poignant, sometimes funny, and sometimes downright heart-wrenching.

It was like looking at life through a kaleidoscope. You never knew from day-to-day what colors and patterns would emerge from your time together.

Dementia turns a loved one’s life into a lilliputian replica of a shadow of who… he/she once was… It wasn’t until after mother’s passing that I came to realize just how precious that time spent together was. It was like watching a butterfly emerge from the cocoon in reverse order.

Every day mother would shed more pieces of her outer “shell” as she seemed to shrink right in front of me physically. Yet…with each loss from the physical world her inner light began to shine brighter.

Her eyes lit up when she saw me…not always remembering my name but knowing that I was the one she was waiting for…

I always prayed that the weather would permit us to go outside because mother loved feeling special by being able to leave her restricted space, tucked away in the corner in a wheelchair, and instead…enjoy the beauty and freedom of  watching the ducks on the pond.

I would update her about what was going on in the family and on good days we would stop and go through her memory book…I would try to tell a story about each person in it.

Sunday evenings I would usually eat supper with mother in a room at the end of the hall that had tables in it for meals…it was my favorite time to go because a volunteer piano player would usually get the supper crowd singing old songs and melodies.

Sometimes I would notice mother’s index finger tapping the edge of the table to an old familiar tune.

So when I came across this poignant story (Guidepost) of a bridge discovered between a daughter and her elderly grandmother (with dyslexia)… many personal memories came flooding back to me.

Source: Mysterious Ways: (Guidepost: “One Last Song“)

My husband Ron hit the cheerful opening notes on the piano, and I started to sing—an original song we were performing for the 35 nursing home residents and staff gathered in the activities room. A gray-haired woman in a wheelchair stared past us, her eyes glassy and distracted. Grandma, can’t you see it’s me up here? I thought.

I’d hoped our concert would lift everyone’s spirits—mine included. Alzheimer’s had slowly erased the outgoing, energetic woman I’d known and loved. She didn’t recognize me anymore as Grandma’s little “B,” short for “bookworm,” the nickname she’d given me due to my love of reading. When I was a child, I used to curl up in her lap as she rocked back and forth in her wooden rocker and read me stories.

My favorite one had been about a young boy, determined to save his friend, Nellie, who was dying from a serious illness. After learning Nellie wouldn’t survive past the summer, the boy hatched an imaginative plan—to tie the leaves to the branches of every tree with tiny pieces of string, so that fall would never come. While he worked, he sang a song, which Grandma had reproduced in a soft, hopeful hum. In this way, she’d sparked my lifelong love of music.

( The Lyrics:)

I’M TYING THE LEAVES (SO THEY WON’T COME DOWN) (E.S.S. Huntingdon / J. Fred Helf) Byron Harlan – 1907 Also recorded by: Grandpa Jones

Playmates were they, girl and lad. She’s home today, lad feels sad. Doctor, he called, whispered low: “When the first autumn leaves fall, then she must go.”

Lad, with a tear, climbs a tree. “I’ll keep her here.” murmurs he. Big man in blue sternly cries: “What are you doing there?” Lad replies:

CHORUS “I’m tying the leaves so they won’t come down, So the wind won’t blow them away, For the best little girl in the whole wide world, Is lying so ill today. Her young life must go when the first leaves fall. I’m fixing them tight so they’ll stay. I’m tying the leaves so they won’t come down, So Nellie won’t go away.”

Sad mother grieves, day by day, Watching the leaves, hears boy say:”You mustn’t cry, for, you see, I’ve tied all the leaves fast up on the tree.”

Doctor brings joy one sad day. Mother tells boy: “Nell will stay.” Lad at girl’s side, cries with glee: “That’s what I said one day in the tree.”

……………………….

(Story Continued)

Now not even my singing could get through to her. Grandma didn’t so much as nod to the melody. After Ron and I sang our last number, I walked over to her. “Did you like that?” I asked. Her face stayed blank. Not a flicker of recognition. What else could I say?

Suddenly, the words came to me, lyrics to a song I hadn’t heard in over 40 years. I sang them in a gentle falsetto, “I’m tying the leaves so they won’t come down…”

Grandma flashed a smile. “So Nellie won’t go away!” she sang, finishing the lyric from the children’s story. I was too stunned to say another word. She looked into my eyes and studied my face.

“Why, it’s you—my little B!”

It was the last time my grandmother and I shared such a moment. Thanks to a song I hadn’t planned to sing.

……………………….

So until tomorrow…Help us all Father learn to shed all the unnecessary accessories in our lives and follow Your light singing… “This Little Light of Mine…I’m going to make it Shine.”

* This little light of mine – YouTube

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Our “Holy City” has had its faith shaken in the past several hours but our city’s beautiful land of steeples will rise above this senseless tragedy. Let us keep everyone in our hearts and prayers as more  information becomes more available.

Mollie passed on this photo of Charleston this morning…. from Brittney Gibbs …very touching.

Betsy found out the cause of her recent health problems…hyper parathyroidism which is rather unusual…but the biopsy showed no cancer which is such a relief. She is being referred to the Norman Parathyroid Center in Tampa for treatment and surgery.

Thank you for your support of Betsy ….just knowing and have a plan of recovery is hugh, as we all know…once again your prayers came through for a much deserving young lady!

*Look at Sis’s day lilies/photos she shared will us/Sis said it was in the mid to high eighties there in the mountains…I told her it sounded like Fall to us!…Day lilies always make us shine!

* Yesterday was Lachlan’s 3rd month old birthday (17th) and today is Rutledge’s “official” 2nd birthday (18th)….Happy Birthday Boys! See you Saturday! I’m bringing a cool surcie Rutledge!

This is one of my favorite sayings (thanks Linda…got the sign at Simple to Sublime with a special gift card!)…and the little angel/fairy was one Anne gave me for the garden…but thought I would give this fairy a reprieve until (if ever) this heat wave diminishes.

Dear Reader:

I decided to keep the angel planter on the porch after the Christmas holidays came to a close last year. It just made me feel good seeing the ivy wrapped around the angel holding her candle (with even a little bird thrown in for good luck)

I have to say that today, however, even the ivy is struggling on the hot porch…might have to find a shady area to place the planter until we, hopefully, get a break from this heat wave that doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to depart our low country.

Every year it seems that less ornaments return to the big box marked “Christmas”… instead they find a home year round in the house or garden. Lots of my Christmas tree angels are now hanging from door knobs, wall hangings, mantles, or placed in house planters. The angels, also, watch over my garden…especially now as it struggles in these three digit heat indexes. They can use all the help they can get.

Surrounding myself year round with angels makes me feel secure and safe….and since reading Marianne Williamson’s definition of an angel (“For angels are God’s thoughts”) it feels good to know that God is thinking about me all the time…and it, also, helps remind me to reciprocate this loving gesture.

Yesterday a book arrived I ordered called All I Really Want by Quinn G. Caldwell.  (Readings for a Modern Christmas) I thought I would plan ahead for the holidays this year and have some great stories to share.

I started reading it last night and it wasn’t exactly what I expected…it was better. Once again…an “A-Ha” moment revealed itself.

The book is broken down into morning and evening readings for each day in December. Each reading consists of a Bible passage, a short reflection, and a prayer. Because action precedes belief, not the other way around, the reading will more often that not include a task for you to do  or at least a question for you to think about. 

Caldwell, also, includes a calendar with ideas to give yourself a little “holy breathing space.” After glancing at the calendar…I got the idea for the title of the blog…”Day by Day.”

The author suggested putting on the song “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord” from the 1972 musical Godspell (it will really speed up the Christmas tree decorating task) and then, also, to listen to the repetitive stanza from the popular hit from this same musical … “Day by Day.“  Play it each day of the month of December.

(I don’t know if you realize that the lyrics to this song….repeated over and over for emphasis in the number) actually derived from a prayer ascribed to the 13th-century English bishop Saint Richard of Chichester.)

May I know Thee more clearly,
Love Thee more dearly,
Follow Thee more nearly.

You can pull either of these songs off itunes or u-tube from the musical (Godspell) but I, also, discovered a flash  mob recording that the actors, themselves, conducted one day in Times Square during its latest revision on Broadway in 2011 that I , also, love.

Godspell Flash Mob in Times Square – YouTube

My “A-Ha” moment came in the introduction to this little book by the author…who made no apologies for this not being a book on how to ‘simplify the season’…because as he says:

I’m not here to simplify anything for you. *Neither is God. If you have too many cookie exchanges or whatever, you’re just going to have to find a way to deal with that yourself.

This book is actually designed to complicate the season. It’s here to invite you to think and pray a little more deeply about it…not organize it all until it fits into your schedule.

The Christmas season is a time when churchgoers and non-churchgoers alike tend to experience strong spiritual longings. Whatever this longing looks like on the outside, for most of us, deep down it’s a longing for an experience of something holy, something beautiful. Something like God.

So although this book is here to add things for you to do, not take them away…I hope that the doing of them will create room-maybe just enough room- for God to show up. 

I don’t know about you, but this year, that’s all I really want.

…………………..

As you can already tell, the author has a wonderful sense of humor mixed with a strong sense of spirituality, wonder, and devotion to God.

So here I am…having Christmas in June on the blog…not even July. (though it certainly feels like it.) Why? Because I want to…(nothing too complicated about that)…I decided today I wanted Christmas and if I am lucky I will want it again tomorrow and the next day and the rest of my life.

So until tomorrow…Let us remember that the only “simplifying” in our lives that we actually need to do..is to simply make more room for God in our life.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Kaitlyn has a wonderful sense of humor and I did get some chuckles out of this photo, along with the Dr. Seuss saying:

We all are a little weird and life’s a little weird and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours we join up…
And then we fall in mutual weirdness and call it love. -Dr. Seuss 😘 — with Tommy Dingle.

* Don’t you love honesty when it comes out of complete exhaustion…the best kind!

* Look at these adorable fairies Honey sculpted and put in her breathtaking garden beside the waterfall….I love that beautiful spot in the mountains!

Dear Reader:

As sometimes happens…I started this post with one idea mulling around in my mind…but the “idea”  decided to take a detour and go in a different direction. Don’t you just love it when that happens?

Yesterday I went to Hallmark to get some greeting cards… I found this one (title photo) among others. When you open this note card….inside it says: (Live Out Loud)

“And have a day that makes you want to hit replay”

I smiled and began wondering if I were given the opportunity to choose one single day from my life to date…to be able to “replay“…which one would I choose?

The nice problem lies in the sheer number of days I have been given, thus far, that are definitely “replay” days….the more obvious ones like births, birthdays, graduations, promotions, awards, christenings, weddings,etc.

After going through those lists…the memories, slowly, start returning concerning deeper “replay” days like: the telegram letting us know Ben was no longer MIA; he was recuperating from non-life threatening wounds. Or pushing mother around the duck pond (at the Presbyterian Village) in her wheelchair while she held my hand with her one good one.

Or David telling me that he no longer tried to hide his disfigured body (we were at the swimming pool at  Georgetown Apartments where Brooke and I lived our first two teaching years)…that there were people far worse off than him. If someone had a problem with his appearance…that was their problem; not his. (He had found peace with his Marfan’s Syndrome disease… this was told to me less than a year before his death.)

There are about an equal number of happy and poignant “replay” days in my life upon reflection. The moments that touched me were definitely “larger-than-life.”

It was while I was researching the term “larger-than-life” that one word (in a list of dictionary synonyms) caught my attention. The word was: Brobdingnagian

Anybody want to guess the origin of this word? This following book cover should give it away…

During one of the adventures in Jonathan Swift’s satirical novel, Gulliver’s Travels, Gulliver arrives in the land of Brobdingnan…the land of giants. There everyone and everything is “larger-than-life.”

Normally we associate Gulliver with being the giant….tied up on the ground by the little people…the Lilliputians.

The author (Swift)  is reminding us that on any given day…we can feel –larger-than-life (brobdingnagian) or timid and small (lilliputian). Like my brother David discovered…mis-perceptions from others can’t hurt you if you know deep inside that you are perfect just the way you are…and a much loved child of God.

* Now if you want to really show off your “extended” vocabulary …you can say something like…

” Santa Claus is known for his Brobdingnagian ideas on Christmas Eve… while working with lilliputian time resources to get all the gifts delivered to every good boy and girl.”

or  (on a more personal level)

“Though lilliputian in size, St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope provided a Brobdingnagian effect on my relationship with God.

So until tomorrow…Let us all strive to make every day a “larger-than-life” day because each minute of it is the first and last time we can live it.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Walsh sent these pictures of Rutledge playing with his best buddies on a summer day….With classmate Brawley on the tractor and with Poogan on the blanket… it was definitely a Brogdingnagian day all around!

* Thanks Marcia for the sweet “Lucy” card….it said it all…so kind of you to remember her passing. Hope your weather is better than ours….ouch! hot!

Betsy Clarkson Crick receives the results  of all her tests taken last week….Libby and Betsy are both anxious to hear the results and even more ready to get a plan (back to good health) up and going. Please keep Betsy in your thoughts and prayers  tomorrow – Wednesday (around noon.)

Dear Reader:

Saturday evening I was reading a couple of chapters from Marianne Williamson’s best-seller: Everyday Grace.

Our Sunday school class has been reading it this year and we are closing in on the  final chapters.

When I first came across this line: “For Angels are the Thoughts of God” I stopped reading, put down the book, and realized that I was experiencing an “Aha” moment.

We tend to think of angels as messengers with big white wings… bringing us all kinds of advice and direction…which, of course, stems directly from God…so yes…metaphorically… “Angels are the thoughts of God” (personified).

It is God’s thoughts being manifested into our thoughts…blended until we are no longer sure where the idea  originated…at least…until later.(Like Ben’s experience in Vietnam when he heard a voice urging him to leave one crater for another…only to look back and see the old crater blown to smithereens by explosives…seconds after leaving.)

I chose the beautiful purple/blue hydrangea photo to represent the thoughts of God because when I first saw it I was simply stunned by its beauty. It belongs to a friend and member of Dorchester Presbyterian Church- Ann Savage. Doesn’t it take your breath away…it sure did mine!

While seeking God…if I could fall into this “succulent” hydrangea bloom (like Alice in Wonderland) I feel sure it is where God would be found. Can you imagine being surrounded (360 degrees) by these colors of purple and blue. I can see an exquisite sea filled with these colors as I  float on my back until plucked from the sea into the Hand of God.

In one particular chapter that I was reading, Williamson was discussing the importance of setting time aside for God. The connection to the angel quote correlated with the idea that God wants to share His thoughts with us and then give us time to respond and share our thoughts.

Isn’t this what every parent wants from their children? Time set aside at some point, in regular intervals, to be able to sit down with their children and ask about their lives, their activities, their dreams and hopes.

After everything God has done for us…don’t we think we owe him time…if nothing else? How can we have a loving relationship with someone if we rarely talk to each other about our lives and goals?

Jesus Calling (devotional) reaffirms this goal saying: “Our goals should be to become aware of unseen things even as we live  out lives in the visible world.”

There are numerous ways to talk to God….in solitude…perhaps on a long walk or even a  slow jog…or we can talk to him at sunrise or sunset each day on our porch or deck… or in a church setting each week. With whom, where, and the number of times can be flexible to each individual’s aptitudes and personalities…the important thing is to simply make time for God in our lives.

Especially take time to thank God each day for the universe, we call home, that He created for us.

I saw a church sign on the way to Moncks Corner the other day that said: “If the only time you pray is when you are in trouble; then you are in trouble.”

Don’t you remember resenting phone calls from loved ones who only called when they were in a “fix” and usually needed money? They never called to share the happy times, proud times, or even to show appreciation for one’s continuous support…only when their back was pushed up against the wall?

Don’t you think God tires of us when we only make time for Him when we are in a “fix” …that we can’t fix?

So until tomorrow…Let’s wake up with a smile on our faces and a heart full of gratitude for the One who should be Number One in our life. Don’t think it…tell God…He might can read minds but He still wants to hear it from us.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Yesterday I went to John and Mandy’s where Mollie dropped Lachlan off for me to babysit while she took Rutledge to a birthday party. It was fun to watch all the cousins interacting and watching each other with interest…trying to figure out this
“family connection” thing.

When Mollie and Rutledge returned John grilled hot dogs out and the children played some more…they danced, ate, and laughed…slowly they are learning an important lesson…that everyone needs family…and how it grows more important with time. ( Jake was an appreciative audience for the song and dance numbers)

Even Lachlan picked up his toes to the beat!

It was also Tigger’s 7th birthday…he got a “hot dog” for supper and lots of shouts of congratulations!

Lachlan rarely takes any kind of pacifier but ‘while in Rome’…it became his best friend.

Boys and their bottles…as long as they have a bottle in their mouths…life is good!

Cousins sharing a moment watching sea creatures float by…

One of Carrie and Mandy’s former roommates (Suzanne) came and brought her little boy Jimmy who was born a couple of weeks before Jakie. My “thoughts” were on my little angels!

Dear Reader:

It only took the first summer in my fledgling garden to realize that when the nineties begin to settle in…it is time to take the straggly petunias, the “see you next year” pansies, and “get me some water and shade right now” impatiens…and put them either out of their misery (like the pansies) or move them to a new shadier location… like the petunias and impatiens. Then get ready to water, water, water!

Remember the nice lady at the Summerville Market who made the cement planter with the impatiens in it…who told me to put the plant under a tree, in the shade, on a patch of moss, in a quiet place?  She was right on every account…because despite the temperatures…the impatiens are doing great!

I realize, now, that the reason for placing the cement planter on moss is that the moss grows into the cracks in the cement and help keep the impatiens cool and retain water. Look.

With the “P” plants fading under the intense sun….other flowers start coming into their prime…like the zinnias, lilies, and begonias…

But the best-kept secret I discovered that first summer…was to buy succulents….lots and lots of succulents! They are the only baskets who can laugh back at the hot nineties sun and still stay beautiful.

The word SUCCULENT has always enticed me….I think of luxurious and delicious when I hear this word….and in a way the succulent plants are similar.

Full Definition of SUCCULENT

And just like a “succulent” (tasty) meal…they are full of flavor and juice … as shown in all their beauty.

I slowly began replacing each flower basket by the fence with moss rose earlier this month…it has many names around the world including:

moss-rose purslane, eleven o’clock, Mexican rose moss, moss rose, sun rose, and rock rose

It is also known as the “time flower” because it blooms at different times around the world….In India, it is called the “nine o’clock flower” because it blooms at 9:00 in the morning, in Vietnam it is called the “ten o’clock flower” for the same reason, and it blooms around 11:00 a.m. in the southern United States.

I took these pictures of the moss-rose between 10:00 and 1:00 yesterday… down here in the low country….they start blooming early and continue for the bulk of the day…however, most of them do tend to take a little siesta during the hottest part of the day and then return to bloom as the sun’s rays  appear the next morning! I imagine this is how they conserve their water.

This plant, I have discovered, is the only hanging basket plant (at least for me) that can survive low country summers…remaining bright and beautiful!

I am already dreading my water bill this month…but I can’t stand by and watch my “flower children” suffer from thirst, especially after all the time and toil I put in planting them.

Every morning I check the garden, front porch, and fence area for signs of “dry droop” and then begin to water. I have to laugh as the flowers really do resemble little children playing in a fountain or puddle…they delight in the hose spray.

As I was sitting on the bench watching the water spray the thirsty garden….I captured a sweet photo…a stream of light fell right on Jakie’s tree with its orange lantern…I do believe it must have been a little God’s Wink.

So until tomorrow may we see God and Son as the “Succulent Savior” of our universe …always there to supply the “Living Waters” needed for us  to bloom under His care.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Today is Flag Day...June 14th. It was actually designated this title under President Truman about a month before my arrival into the world.

Earlier (1917) President Woodrow Wilson had petitioned Congress to pass the same resolution designating this date in June for Flag Day.

But it was “hit and miss” as to which states did and didn’t observe it.

It actually took two teachers, one from Wisconsin and one from New York, to recognize this day in their classes with patriotic music, recitations of famous American poems, and the raising of the American flag to (embarrass) and push Congress into declaring the 14th of June as official Flag Day. Go Teachers!!! Go Truman!

*Remember…I told you I left my little decorative flags in the planters from Memorial Day where they will stay through Independence Day…so I am all ready for Flag Day! Happy Flag Day!

* It’s hard to believe it has been a week since Lucy’s passing…the doorbell rang yesterday and I was handed a heavy box containing a brick with Lucy’s name and a phrase. I had ordered something with a different foundation… but the brick was much nicer than what I had picked out…along with a sweet note offering condolences from the maker…so nice!

I decided to place the memorial brick in the old wicker chair with the fern where Lucy would scoot under on hot summer days and yesterday was definitely one of those….

As I placed the brick in the chair beside the fern…I half-expected to see Lucy stretch and open her eyes….but that’s okay…she was there for me when I needed her….hopefully I was there for her too when she needed someone. We shared a “moment” of life together and are better for the experience!

*** Now let’s end on some happy news…my wonderful friend, Brooke, let us know yesterday that there is going to be a new addition to her family…her son Riley and his wife Veronica are expecting in January!

Brooke is over the moon and so are we!…The circle of life continues just like it has since the beginning of time.

Congratulations my friend….life won’t ever be the same…isn’t that wonderful? This fantastic news affects us all so “succulently.”  ♥  Good “juicy” news!

Dear Reader:

Maybe that southern statement (above) explains why only the “crazies” braved the thunderstorms, the poking umbrellas, the long lines, and thick crowds to drink some sweet tea Wednesday. So call me crazy…but we did have an awful lot of fun squeezed in between raindrops.

After getting our historic mugs (for witnessing our little town of Summerville ‘get on the map’ for the largest tea container of sweet tea in the world) Mollie and I started pushing the strollers (one for each of us) around looking for the t-shirt sales. We didn’t find it but we found a lovely vendor under a tent (which made it very popular) blocking out the rain temporarily.

We ended up each selecting one kitchen towel with the cutest southern expressions on it…like:

I am sure I heard (growing up & used it myself as a mother) at least 90% of these sayings. Tommy reminded me, after reading the blog story on the tree house the other day, that I was always screaming out the back door: “Y’all quit it and get down outta there…you’re gonna fall and break your fool neck!”  (Actually it turned out to be a broken arm … instead of Walsh’s neck!) Thank goodness…or I wouldn’t have my adorable Rutledge and Lachlan or my precious daughter-in-law Mollie…Oh, and obviously, of course,Walsh!

Speaking of Mollie…for a northern Yankee (hailing from New Hampshire) she is more southern than all the rest of us put together.  She always keeps a wonderful sense of humor about being a Yankee transplant. Case in point…this is the kitchen towel she selected:

“Mom says they act that way because they’re not southern-Bless their hearts.”♥

I told Mollie if Rutledge or Lachlan ever have a “melt-down” with me in public, like at the Piggly Wiggly, I will simply address the gathering crowd by shaking my head in “sorrow” and whispering loudly “I’m so sorry for these little ones’ behavior….but y’all  know….(whisper) they’re only half-southern.…(another whisper)…it’s my daughter-in-law’s side of the family, of course, where the “problem” (pointing north) lies!

All will be understood with a tsking sound and a sympathetic nod. I can use this to my advantage.

* And Marcia, two can play that game…Please feel free to use the same tactic for the same situation….You just whisper (loudly) to everyone that you apologize for your grandsons’ behavior but…“You all should know that they are only half-northern…the problem lies with my southern son-in-law’s side of the family, of course.” 

I feel sure you will receive the same amount of empathy. No need for us to worry about that anyway… this was just a hypothetical example…since none of our grandchildren misbehave…they are all perfect angels…that’s my story and I will always ‘stick to it.’ (They also are perfect “posers” …all smiles aimed directly at the camera!)

This last “real, true” story I actually came across was discovered on a knitting website (Knitting Sequence)… a place where a knitter could email questions concerning problems arising from different knitting projects.

I laughed so hard at one woman’s question and the subsequent response from the two website ladies who called themselves:”Ask the Problem Ladies.” 

Question: Getting the Stank Out

Dear Problem Ladies:

I have a problem. A friend just adopted a baby boy, and I knit him a blanket. I washed it with a wool soap, and I noticed that my hands smelled a bit sheepish as I was squeezing out the excess water. The blocking worked . . . but the blanket still smells like sheep.

In fact, the whole room in which the blanket is lying smells like a barn. A nice barn, but a barn. Actually, it probably smells like alpaca since that’s the fiber, but I’ve never been close enough to an actual alpaca to differentiate it from a sheep.

Anyhow. I hate to embark on the process again as I’m not fond of blocking, but I will if it will get the smell out. Plan B: Taking it to Dillard’s and spraying it with each and every free sample scent out there. What would you two do?

Sara

Response: Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne  (Excerpt)

…”It sounds like you don’t want this baby to feel like he’s living in a barn. (Though there are some super-famous stories about babies who started out in mangers, so it might not be all that bad, actually.)

We suggest trying another wash. It’ll take a while, but it’s for a baby for Pete’s sake! Get busy! With a blanket that’s headed for a baby, you need to keep things sweet and gentle.

Use Dawn dishwashing liquid—the original blue one—making sure it doesn’t contain the enzymes that tend to weaken protein fibers. Using room-temperature water, let the blanket sit a good half hour or more. Rinse it with the same temperature water, without agitation, and let it dry.

Then do a soak in a white vinegar bath—a couple of tablespoons of vinegar into a sink full of room-temperature water, followed by an agitation-free rinse. Many knitters swear by the redemptive power of a little vinegar to erase smells and to restore sheen to silk yarns.

* We will point out that if you use a flavored vinegar, you’re going to end up with a baby blanket that smells like a salad. Of course, a tarragon-scented baby blanket might be an upgrade. Hope these ideas help!

…………………….

I am undecided as to the location of the women involved in the before-mentioned story….But then after all…if it had been a southern knitting problem…”Sara” would have been named Sara Lou and she would have said “I don’t want people sniffing the baby and then asking the family “Were Y’all raised in a barn?”

So until tomorrow…laugh out loud at least three times a day and then grow silent so you can hear God laugh back!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* If today I heard “Yer face is gonna freeze like that“…I would be eternally grateful- I’d take frozen over more wrinkles!

Dear Reader:

I had an early morning ophthalmologist appointment yesterday so it was around 7:30 when I walked out into the garden… before leaving.

As the sun was coming up…the steam from the rains the afternoon before… started rising and presented me with one of the most beautiful, breath-taking scenes in my life.

I immediately sensed what it felt like to be Adam and Eve walking in the morning light with God in the Garden of Eden.

The light filtering through the trees seemed to glisten like a Christmas Tree on Christmas Eve. I felt God’s presence hovering above and around me through the transcendent sparkles of light. I felt truly humbled to witness this beautiful gift from Him. A perfect way to start the day!

It is out of the original story of man and woman in the Garden of Eden that the proverbial question of who we are first comes to light.

Source: “What Does it Mean to Be a Person?”- Doug Erickson

…”All persons have intrinsic dignity, simply because they are persons- not as a result of anything they have done, could do, or achieve.

The Biblical story starts somewhere, and ends somewhere, and in between, tells the story of this image of man- made perfectly, deeply marred, and then restored. It is the story of us.

We were made for relationship- for knowing and being known. We were made to do something- it’s in our nature to create, build, make our mark, change the world, have an impact.

The problem arises when our brokenness, pain, and wrong turns in life stem from trying to meet these basics needs- (relationship and impact) on our own terms.

If we leave God out of the equation in defining man and ourselves as “persons”  we discover our identity, it would seem, is merely a moment-in-time snapshot of our desires, preferences, and behaviors, and thus, as these change, so may our identity.

It is only through listening and allowing God to take charge of our lives that we discover the essence of what it means to be human, and more importantly, a child of God.

It is only when we lose sight of our Creator that  detours suddenly appear… leading us down the lost path of misunderstanding our own identities. It is a dark path because we can no longer the light…God’s light.

……………………….

*If you have never seen the movie “Prairie Home Companion” with Garrison Keillor and Meryl Streep ….go get it…you are in for a treat…they do this beautiful duet (In the Garden) for the famous old radio show that touches everyone. Here is a clip:

Meryl Streep & Garrison Keillor ~ In The Garden~ ( A Love …

So until tomorrow….God …Open our ears and hearts to Your design planned for us…Help us realize that total reliance on ourselves will not accomplish the goal of self-discovery and true identity. Only You know who we are…Only You can light the divine spark hidden inside each of us.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* I should have known that with such a beautiful, perfect start to my day…good things would continue to happen. “Dolphin Lady,” a.k.a Linda Karges Bone sent me a photo…a “rainbow” of friendship… she discovered on line. This is a quadruple WOW!

Pass it on to a friend or someone who could use a smile…the rainbow of friendship!

*A quadruple rainbow was spotted in Glen Cove, New York.

* Sis Kinney said that story of the “BIG Tea Party” in Summerville made the Tennessee news….she was so proud of her former home town!

Good morning, Becky!

I’ve been watching Facebook posts about the Big Tea and found it interesting that the “local” channel we watch for news (out of Johnson City, TN) had a segment on the Biggest Tea Pitcher yesterday afternoon! Good ol’ Summerville made the TN news!! Evidently a reporter passed it along – including live shots of the mixing and stirring! Quite a big to-do for the sleepy ol’ ‘ville, eh? Just thought I’d tell you.

Dear Reader:

Dr. Seuss was certainly right yesterday when he said “Life is a balancing act.” Between sunshine and rain, long lines and anticipation, trolleys and fire trucks, waiting and playing, umbrellas and crowds…there were still plenty of smiles at the Guinness Book of Records Largest Tea Pitcher Award for Summerville!

The tea was really sweet…thus the smile on Rutledge’s face…Mollie and I decided beer went well inside the mason jars too. But we did taste the tea…becoming part of history.

It was very crowded, hot and sticky, rainy and sunny…a typical summer party….and we did have fun….just wish we had found someone selling the t-shirts…we asked and asked but no one seemed to know where the t-shirts were located.

Maybe they will have some left over….maybe.

Lachlan slept through the whole thing…even with the band music blaring… we did find Jo and Colby in the trolley…we managed to get a quick photo before heading out again…Colby had made me the sweetest pink ribbon pin. Love those gals!

We bumped into the Pattersons….the boys were playing on the firetruck…the highlight of the celebration for Rutledge…he did not want to leave!

We finally managed to get home with our historical mason jars…all intact…but not all of us quite intact…poor Mollie cut her hand trying to get one of the baby strollers back in car…Eventually we got home…got a little food in us…got in some dryer clothes…and we were happy that we participated and now had the memories forever…locked away.

When I came across a poem by our favorite Irish poet, John O’Donohue, on balance and equilibrium in our lives…I found it fitting for celebration day…because I think God was smiling down on the town’s big victory…watching His children having fun!

A BLESSING FOR EQUILIBRIUM.
BY JOHN O’DONOHUE, from ‘Benedictus – A Book of Blessings’

Like the joy of the sea coming home to shore,
May the music of laughter break through your soul.

As the wind wants to make everything dance,
May your gravity be lightened by grace.

Like the freedom of the monastery bell,
May clarity of mind make your eyes smile.

As water takes whatever shape it is in,
So free may you be about who you become.

As silence smiles on the other side of what’s said,
May a sense of irony give you perspective.

As time remains free of all that it frames,
May fear or worry never put you in chains.

May your prayer of listening deepen enough
To hear in the distance the laughter of God.

………………………………..

So until tomorrow…We love it when you smile God because it makes us just as happy as You.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* I told Mollie that my goal yesterday was to get Lachlan to smile….and he did!!!!!!!!!!!!!  My sweet boy!

Rutledge loves his baby brother and is very protective of him at pre-school.

Rutledge’s legs are now long enough to ride Hope the dolphin and he had a hard time tearing himself away from her to go home.

So glad I got to get my picture in front of the award-winning sweet tea container early yesterday morning (by accident) after using the ATM at First Citizens…. because I got to witness history.

There is no way we would have waited in that line yesterday (that we opted out of for a photo snap) by the tea container….too long a line for a toddler and little baby.

Dear Summerville:  “Loved you yesterday, love you still…always have…always will.”

* God is also laughing in delight at the latest “Lucy” (a.k.a. moon flower bloom) that opened last evening…they just keep getting bigger and more beautiful.

Dear Reader:

Mollie and the boys are heading to Summerville today so we can all be a part of history as our proud town goes for the Guinness Book of Records.…making the largest mason jar of sweet tea! A record smashing good time awaits!

Right now the “pitcher” looks like a big blue Solo cup…but with a little help from some volunteer organizations….the largest tea pitcher (jar) will emerge with a spout and some siding.

*** Trina Brown Linning just took this photo this morning…looks like a few changes have been made…I see a big straw…..

You have seen and read the invitations to all citizens of Summerville and friends of the town!

You’re invited to be a part of history. On Wednesday, June 10, 2015 The Town of Summerville will celebrate ‘National Tea Day’ by attempting to break a World Record!!!

Join us as we make from scratch a single 1,400 gallon glass of sweet tea, brewed with local tea leaves from the Charleston Tea Plantation, Dixie Crystals – the sugar of the south and a lot of local support from our friends at Scout Boats.

An Adjudicator from the Guinness Book of World Records will be on hand to oversee, verify and present the record for the ‘World’s Largest Iced Tea’. We’re in the south so you know by ‘Iced Tea’ we really mean ‘Sweet Tea’.The event will be held outside of the Summerville Town Hall located at 200 South Main Street.

Mollie, the boys and I, want to get our souvenir mason jars, perhaps some t-shirts, and certainly lots of goodies from the local vendors….Rutledge and I just might have to “cut the rug” this afternoon in the square…I can feel it coming on!

And of course, we must be ready, on a moment’s notice, to go into our routine!

I’m a Little Teapot

I’m a little teapot short and stout.

Here is my handle.

Here is my spout.

When I get all steamed up,

Hear me shout!

Just tip me over

And pour me out

And what better way to make history in the town who created sweet tea….Summerville….than on National Tea Day! It looks like all the parts are coming together…we just hope Mother Nature goes along with the plans…but either way…here we come!

Great combo idea….Mollie… we must check out the vendors and find the deviled eggs after we get our mason jars filled!

Ken Burger’s novel Baptized in Sweet Tea should definitely be available for purchase today because it is one of the most entertaining books I ever read. I laughed and cried through it…always a good sign of a good book!

Mike Burrell loaned me his copy and told me it was a “must read” and it was: it brought back so many memories. Here is a quick synopsis one reporter wrote:

Here you’ll read about seersucker suits, screen porches, country doctors, fathers who never cussed (and sons who do), mothers who raised whole villages of children, funeral processions, showing honor, and “being sweet.” There are words of wisdom here, but also prayers of confession. There is humor and pathos, but never too much of either, always just enough. Burger writes with a light touch, and as a result, he’s fine company. This sweet tea goes down easy.

I will have to tell Rutledge (before we leave the house) to “Be Sweet” to everyone we meet, say “Yes Sir or Yes Madame” to adults and give everyone that “killer smile” of his…it’s the southern way, y’all know!

So until tomorrow ( when we will have pictures of our historic event) hopefully with Mother Nature’s cooperation…we should be home-free from worries….after all:

Amen!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*** I really lucked up this morning….around 9:00 I left to go to my bank, First Citizens, to pull some money for the Sweet Tea celebration, since I figured it would be really crowded later on today. After getting my money…I decided to just walk over to the front of Town Hall and see what was going on.

I stepped right into history…cameras, officials, volunteers were already busy filling the giant sweet tea container…. hot water, along with hugh packets of tea from the Charleston Tea Plantation were being poured into the giant container by very strong men, followed by large packets of Dixie Crystals.

Thank goodness I had my iphone/camera and started clicking away as Mayor Bill Collins arrived to check on the progress. I met Jan Knight, who works with the Charleston Tea Plantation company. I asked her to model her cute t-shirt which will be sold at the party this afternoon.

Then we took turns taking pictures of each other in front of the giant container. Timing is everything…and lady luck was with me this morning…or was it a God’s Wink?

Everyone come join in the fun! Community is a powerful part of life…let’s all support it with laughter and love!

*I got these adorable little flowers, called Balloons, at Bombadil’s Nursery yesterday and got them planted just in the nick of time…before the rains came…timing is everything!

Dear Reader:

Oh…if the tree house behind the moon gate garden could talk…it would regale us with all its tales of children and their antics growing up within it. It was a club house, a play house, a pirate’s den…but most importantly it was a place to go to when one needed to be alone and think through life’s problems, choices, and decisions.

I actually climbed up the rickety ladder to the top yesterday to take some photos for the blog…I had forgotten how beautiful it was from high up…. I couldn’t see any of the mold on the side boards of the house or trim or bumps in the roof or cracks in the bricks…the old house looked quite stately from this perspective.

The trees were swaying in the early morning breezes, the birds were singing, squirrels scampered along the old oak tree’s long branches…the fountain gurgled…distant sounds of cars could be heard going by on 17-A and children’s laughter echoed with the freedom of summer.

Memories came flooding back of incidences occurring in the tree house and the surrounding oak tree when it was my own children’s voices shouting in excitement from its interior.

One story involved a broken arm when Walsh tried to jump from the tree house to the large old oak branch in front of it (see photo) and unfortunately missed.

It also became a haven from poor report cards, trouble at school, losses on the football field or baseball diamond or golf course.

If I couldn’t find any one of the children…I always knew where to look first…the tree house. This was also true of their friends…when they got in trouble…the tree house became the secret refuge to go to….

Just like the deck gave me the perspective I needed to “see” the garden unveiling…a tree house provides a whole new look at the world….from high up our problems suddenly don’t seem to loom as largely as they did on the ground.

Everyone needs to experience that perspective…especially children. This brings me to a true story about a tree house and a special little boy that experienced that same elation through the revelation of seeing the world differently.

Source: “A Tree House for Everyone” (Chicken Soup for the Gardener’s Soul-Maureen Heffernan)

At the Cleveland Botanical Gardens the decision was made to build a half-acre garden for children. The project organizers decided to involve the children in the planning and design… so on February 4, 1996…more than a 100 parents, grandparents, and children arrived.

Butcher paper was spread out on the floor and crayons were distributed to each child. They were told to draw their fantasy garden.

A beautiful colorful mural began to take form….filled with “apple trees, streams, grape arbors, pumpkin patches, boulders, scarecrows, corn, crazy quilts of flowers, black bears, deer, raccoons, rabbits, watermelons, rainbows, ponds, forts, sunflowers, acorns, tomatoes, etc.” 

The children were still hard at work when a small eight-year old boy, named Alan, arrived. He had cerebral palsy and was strapped to his wheelchair. His mother apologized for the tardiness but said that Alan really wanted to share his idea for the garden.

He was wheeled over to a table and given a piece of the butcher paper and crayons. When it came time for each child to share his picture/idea Alan’s mother held up his drawing while he told about it. He had drawn a very tall tree with a tree house sitting at the tip top. Sitting proudly and smiling, inside the tree house, was a boy in a wheelchair looking down over the garden.

The title of his drawing was “A Tree House for Everyone.”

Everyone applauded, as well as the project builders…but after everyone left…concern set in…how to get a little boy in a wheelchair up to the top of a tree house. They were working on a very tight budget.

Three years passed…and the day finally arrived…the grand opening of the children’s garden. No one seemed to notice a boy in a wheelchair fidgeting in excitement as the ribbon was cut and the dignitaries all spoke.

When the doors finally opened…the vast majority of children raced to the large water fountain…designed for the children to play in and get wet.

Alan, in his own motorized wheelchair, began climbing a special ramp that had been built…his smile growing bigger the higher he went.

One of the designers, Deborah, who had fought hard for the added expense of the ramp to the tree house, was there when he arrived. He looked over the railing and shouted loudly and proudly downward at the crowd…”This was my idea!”

One child’s dream had come true because someone cared enough to include everyone in a tree house for everyone.

………………………..

So until tomorrow…Let us never exclude anyone from experiencing the sheer joy of special moments in life.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Yesterday we talked about the important “A Q” (Adversity Quotient) level in our lives. Anne sent me this picture of the “Boo’s Garden” mason jar of flowers I gave her over a week ago…she said these flowers must have a high level of “A Q” too because they are all still blooming brightly!

* Here are some other “pretties” blooming in the garden…and I also had two more “Lucies” bloom (as I am now calling my moon flower blooms) on the front porch last evening.

First day home (summer vacation) for Mandy and the children….Mandy had some time to take photos of Jakie before his afternoon nap….so cute!

* Betsy, Libby’s daughter, is back for more tests today…this time checking  her liver/parathyroid/thyroid trying to find an origin or catalyst for Betsy’s recent health problems.

Another Erskine gal….Libby’s sister-in-law Scotty’s son, Douglas, is having major surgery today also to improve his quality of life.

All thoughts and prayers would be appreciated as the family prays for the improved health of both of these precious young people.