Dear Reader:

“In every job that must be done – there is an element of fun!” – Mary Poppins. Can’t you just see Julie Andrews belting out this song as she gets the children to clean up their rooms?

I discovered this same thing while working in the garden yesterday morning…using a little spade that I bought for Eva Cate to use while visiting. I was trying to achieve the effect you see in the title photo…but with little success. Creating a “line of demarcation” (if you will) …an outline of the garden path.

Then Ernie, my next-door-neighbor’s lawn maintenance landscaper started laughing at me across the fence….We have become good buddies ever since he came over one time after doing the other side of the fence and just (on his own initiative) started weed-eating my side.

“That could take a while…if you are trying to make a boundary line to profile the garden path” he said amiably.

“I know,” I said wiping my brow…this little spade works well but it takes a long time to work all the way down the path.”

“I’m almost through” he said…”I’ll be over in a jiffy and I just happen to have an edger…I have a sneaky suspicion it just might work a ‘tad’ better than that children’s toy spade you have there.”

“Stop, sit down, and drink some water....(Ernie is a fireman when he isn’t landscaping.)

So I left the little spade in the ground and plopped down on the deck with a big glass of water…I looked up and silently whispered, “I owe you one God!”

Ernie’s wife was off from work yesterday and had come with him since they were going to be gone this weekend to see their girls play softball…they are on a traveling team. They had several yards to cut and clean but here they were all smiles and laughter helping me.

Both of them came over and Ernie’s wife and I had the most fun talking about fairies…she loved all the fairy hideaways in the garden and decided to run by the tea room, herself, and pick her up a lamp/light like mine to shine on some fairies she has at home.

Ernie praised me for my efforts with the “little spade that could” (kinda)and then  went right behind me with the edger and weed eater…just going to town.

He then mentioned if “we” edged the front sidewalks and driveway it would give the yard a “polished look” that showed neighbors driving by…this was a house someone was proud to call home.

Don’t we learn some of out most important lessons from others?

The nicest thing about having a garden is that you always have fresh flowers. So while Ernie was finishing up edging….I picked some and made these three flower arrangements.

I had an appointment to get a bone density test later in the afternoon and when I walked in I was the only person in the waiting room…I filled out the paperwork and was called back immediately… I was in and out of there in twenty minutes.

It made me feel special…just like the flowers I chose to put in the vases around the house and B&B. If was like I had been chosen to get the VIP treatment.

Before I left for my appointment…

I told Ernie if he had time to weed-eat the sides by the fence I would give him a bonus… he went right to it. I showed him the morning glories growing up on the fence and warned him to be careful weed-eating there so as not to cut down the vines.

But I had no reason for concern…his wife held up all the morning glory vines and told him to leave the grass that was intertwined around some vines…rather than accidentally cut down the flowers. She told me it gave the grass and morning glories a “high-low mohawk hair-do.”

Around 4:30 I had a wonderful surprise…my friend, Roz Van Alstyne and her husband Ed (now living in Illinois/we taught together) were in town and wanted me to meet them at Oscars…also their friend and care-giver for the boys when they were little, Susie, was there and we had such a good time being together.

A lot of their family is coming to SC…and they are spending the week at Isle of Palms.

Linda Carson and Ann Graves came by bringing dessert for a garden party and tour. It was so beautiful last night and the garden put on a show with all the lights coming on. And look at that delicious dessert Linda brought…it was gigantic!

Remember when we decided that a hosta could be a “big ass” hosta…then certainly (we decided) we could eat this scrumptious “big ass” dessert. (We gave it the old college try!)

Isn’t life fun even while working? All it takes is a little camaraderie and lots of laughter!

So until tomorrow…Thank you Father for laughter, friends, unexpected surprises, scrumptious food and dessert. Life is so good when we work together.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Haven’t you visited a place where you could almost feel the portal between the present and past…where memories lingered so heavily…you actually felt the weight of the past living on in an historical period around you?

You might remember that Karen White’s latest book (The Sound of Glass) has become my first spring/summer read this year. Actually I am still reading it…purposely limiting myself to only a couple of chapters a night because I don’t want to finish it.

Beaufort is the setting in this novel. One particular day some of the key characters travel 17 miles north of the town to visit the Church of Prince Williams’ Parish (better known today as the Old Sheldon Church Ruins.)

I, personally, have visited it several times and always walk away from the old ruins feeling a sense of history but also a sense of sadness. Today all that remains is the outer walls and brick pillars.

The church burned twice: First by the British Army in 1799 (American Revolution) and then by Sherman’s union soldiers in 1865-the last months of the Civil War.

It is a place where one would expect ghost stories to linger…and there are a few. The most famous ghost being that of Ann Bull Heyward…who supposedly returns attired in a plain, brown dress to watch over her baby’s grave.

In the novel…Loralee, when asked by her ten year old son if the ruins are haunted…shakes her head but thinks to herself:

“It’s not only ghosts who haunt us. Our memories follow us through life, surprising us now and again when we are forced to turn around and look behind us.”

Over the years…the branches of the surrounding oak trees have moved closer and closer to the ruins. Merritt (another character in the novel) observes:

 ” The branches of the encroaching oak trees resemble sweeping shawls of moss.”

Loralee’s observation:

“It is as if the oaks have grown closer to the church over time to protect it with their long arms, like a mother shielding a child.”

Loralee wonders as she looks up at the open sky whether “prayers might get to heaven faster without interference from a roof.”

I remember sharing that same thought as I wandered within the ruins in all its open-ness the last time I was there. I couldn’t help but be impressed by the fortitude of the old church…burned twice and still standing proudly with all its scars intact. Scars do let us know the story of where we have been and what we have endured…doesn’t it?

The fictional character, Loralee, has left me with one memorable thought that I underlined in the book and *** starred several times. An important observation on life….

“Every time we remember something, we aren’t remembering the event, itself, but recalling the last time we remembered it. It is our way of creating filters between our past and present, creating what we choose to recall and what we would rather forget.”

How true. No matter how devastating a memory…over time we slowly begin to remember it differently… than the actual event as it happened.

Perhaps God purposely puts filters in our memories to keep the portal closed between past and present so we can let the past go and live in the moments of the present. The weight of the past would be too heavy for us to carry on our life’s journey so God takes it from us and gives us a little nudge to continue down our pre-ordained paths.

If you get a chance, take a little history jog to the Old Sheldon Church Ruins… embrace the beauty and nostalgia of this proud church’s story… because it is our story too.

So until tomorrow…Take the burdens of the past from us Father so we can wake up each day to a clean slate and the possibility of a new life…through a better relationship with You.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Harriett Edwards had a brunch yesterday morning on her deck/porch overlooking her garden filled with beauty and serenity. There were four of us, a delicious buffet-Harriett is quite the cook…. It looked like a scene from Southern Living.

It was Harriett who gave me the iris and lily bulbs that have produced the most exquisite beauty this year for me…it was the gift that keeps on giving. Thank you, thank you, thank you Harriett.

* I took two of my favorite lily blooms to her to thank her again for the bulbs.

Besides being a great cook…look at this rug Harriett made for the latest addition in the family.

Susan Gaston (in the rocking chair) Harriett, me, and Nelita Dubose.

Beautiful table setting…actually just beautiful setting all together. We had so much fun catching up…because even though Summerville has changed from a sleepy little town (when we all started teaching back in the early 70’s) to a bustling Big Town…(trying to avoid the word city) the educational family remains a close and small-knit community.

Perhaps the cute hand towel in Harriett’s restroom sums it up best:

* “Sweet Sis” Kinney emailed me last week to let me know she was sending me something that she knew would catch my interest. Yesterday it arrived….a copy of Our State Magazine (North Carolina) with an article in it about St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope.

It certainly did…because the author (Jimmy Tomlin) experienced the exact same feelings of elation, peace, and curiosity as I did.

“The peace begins to envelop me as soon as I get out of my car. Leaves wave gently in the breeze, and a creek running behind the chapel offers the soothing sound of rushing water.

Inside the chapel, sunlight filters through several stained-glass windows and illuminates the room. Four wooden pews, each bearing a cross in the seat back, provide seating for eight visitors. A kneeling bench sits at the foot of the altar, where visitors can find a Bible, a hymnal, or prayer book.

What really grabs my attention is …the altar, if you will…that’s overflowing with all sorts of trinkets and mementos…”

*(If you remember…it was the altar/table filled with personal mementos that actually started the blog. I wanted to know WHO left them and WHY…that mystery remains a mystery, instead the blog began to embrace all of God’s mysteries in our daily lives.)

Dear Reader:

Isn’t it amazing how we can get up in the morning and stare at one object that sends our minds reeling off into the world of memory and wonder?

In yesterday’s daily devotion (Jesus Calling) the first three lines immediately caught my attention…

SEEK MY FACE…at the beginning of your day. This practice enables you to “put Me On” and “wear Me” throughout the day…By communicating with me first each day…you are better prepared for whatever comes your way.

The first thing that I saw when I got up yesterday and plopped on the sofa eating my breakfast yogurt…was this adorable hummingbird sitting in a planter on the center table in my Happy Room. (After reading the devotional I mused to myself if this is the Face of God…it sure is a cute one!)

The adorable cloth hummingbird (Jackson gave each of us at Edisto) made me remember a fascinating tidbit I read from Steven Johnson’s  amazing book (I just finished): How We Got to Now. 

The book is a series of anecdotes about the evolution of events that took place through the invention of everyday objects & instruments we use today.

It also demonstrates how God’s creatures have changed over time to adapt to their needs…their survival. The hummingbird story just blew me away.

Here is an excerpt from this book: “The Hummingbird Effect”

THIS IS HOW CHANGE happens in the natural world: sometime during the Cretaceous age, flowers began to evolve colors and scents that signaled the presence of pollen to insects, who simultaneously evolved complex equipment to extract the pollen and, inadvertently, fertilize other flowers with pollen.

Over time, the flowers supplemented the pollen with even more energy-rich nectar to lure the insects into the rituals of pollination. Bees and other insects evolved the sensory tools to see and be drawn to flowers, just as the flowers evolved the properties that attract bees.

The symbiosis between flowering plants and insects that led to the production of nectar ultimately created an opportunity for much larger organisms — the hummingbirds — to extract nectar from plants, though to do that they evolved a extremely unusual form of flight mechanics that enable them to hover alongside the flower in a way that few birds can even come close to doing. In other words, they had to learn an entirely new way to fly.

Insects can stabilize themselves mid-flight because they have fundamental flexibility to their anatomy that vertebrates lack. Yet despite the restrictions placed on them by their skeletal structure, hummingbirds evolved a novel way of rotating their wings, giving power to the upstroke as well as the downstroke, enabling them to float mid-air while extracting nectar from a flower.

……………………….

Doesn’t the story of the metamorphosis of the hummingbird blow your mind?

How can anyone not believe in a Creator who gives such minute detail to every single living organism in the universe? It is like He is playing connect the dots….flowering plants to insects to nectar to wing adaptation to hummingbirds…we are all connected. And not just connected but dependent on each other for life.

I think that was God’s intention…that no one has to ‘go it alone’ in this world…the laws of nature and the universe only  work when we all work together.

This story also re-enforces the conviction that God doesn’t just create us and leave us to wander aimlessly through this life…but He is constantly changing us to help us adapt to our spiritual journey and purpose in life…He makes sure we have our “wings” to fly towards our individualized destiny.

So until tomorrow…Let us wake up each morning to see the Face of God in every living organism.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* The Famous Dynamic Dingle Duo.…Lachlan and Rutledge!

Go Rutledge…Boo Boo is so proud…not even two yet and he knows all his colors!

* I worked in the garden on and off all day yesterday…it makes me so happy…then last evening I blew the debris off the deck and then turned on the lights and fountain. It was a cool breeze blowing-a little slice of heaven…and all I could think of was that I was feeling the “breath of God“.. His Spirit in mine!

I watched Eva Cate and Rutledge’s lanterns flick on…have ordered two more for Jakie and Lachlan’s trees..and Lachlan’s stepping stone is due to arrive next week. Then all the trees will be “official.”

Dear Reader:

I was in a state of surprise and delight yesterday morning during my daily stroll through the garden. Right after entering the Moon Gate…there were two Easter Lilies smiling back at me.

I decided to name them “Faith and Hope” because one article (on origins of flower names) stated that white lilies represent these two attributes or traits.

William Blake

………………….

Our beautiful white lilies, that we love to display around Easter, are grown purposefully for that time…if left alone they bloom in the summer (or for me…late spring.)

Since my two lilies just popped up when they were good and ready…they appear even more special to me…“love delight and beauty bright.”

I came across an interesting story on how the Bermuda lily (we call the Easter Lily) became popular throughout the United States…two clues: a World War I soldier and a suitcase!

Sources: “The History of Easter Lilies” -Fun Flower Facts and “The History of Easter Lilies” – Kenn Pary

We can thank Louis Houghton, a World War I soldier, for the popularity of the Bermuda lily better known as the Easter lily. In 1919 he brought (some say smuggled) a suitcase full of hybrid lily bulbs to the southern coast of Oregon and gave them to family and friends to plant.

(Originally Japan had sent the lilies to grow in Bermuda but sadly a virus wiped them all out…leaving Japan the sole distributor of these lilies around the world. In the United States they became such a rare commodity they were nicknamed: “White Gold” and were very expensive.) 

The climate in Oregon and California was ideal for growing this lily, a native of the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, and by 1945, over one thousand west coast growers were producing bulbs for the commercial market. Despite a sales window of only approximately two weeks each year, Easter Lilies are the fourth largest potted plant crop in the U.S., ranking among poinsettias, mums, and azaleas as America’s favorite blooming plants.

Today these special Oregon/California lily fields are called the “Easter Lily Capital of the World.”  They grow 95% of the world’s Easter lilies.

Lilies are typically summer blooming flowers, but flower growers decided to forced them into spring bloom to celebrate Easter. Pure and white, the flower symbolizes purity, virtue, hope and faith—the essence of Easter.

Christians believe that the beautiful white lilies emerged where Christ’s sweat fell to the ground in his final hours of sorrow and deep distress in the Garden of Gethsemane. The flower bulbs, which should be buried, were said to represent the tomb of Jesus and the showy trumpet-shaped flowers symbolize the resurrection.

History, mythology, and art are filled with stories and images that speak of the beauty and majesty of the elegant white flowers. One of the most famous Biblical references is in the Sermon on the Mount, when Christ said, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin and yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”

Often called the “White-Robed Apostles Of Hope,” lilies are said to have been found growing in the Garden of Gethsemane after Christ’s agony.

…………………………

So until tomorrow …consider Harriett’s lilies in my garden….I do…because they bring me such pleasure! After planting the bulbs there is no more toiling…just oohing and aah-ing. (And the nicest thing about lilies is that they don’t compare themselves to each other…they are all beautiful in their own unique way. Don’t we wish we could behave like lilies?)

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

I had my regular oncology appointment yesterday… but in a new location…Charleston Cancer Center….lots of paperwork to fill out but everyone was very nice and thank goodness I still have my favorite oncology doctor…Dr. Silgals!

Afterwards I met Anne at Oscars for our “Burger Bray Day”….we eat burgers and “hee-haw” all through lunch.

It was Anne who discovered the sweet-smelling gardenia bloom…first one of the season. Loving it…and a second gardenia bush is covered in buds…soon there will be a breath-taking lovely scent floating throughout the garden.

While we were in the garden a dragonfly flew down and perched right on Honey’s dragonfly ornamental stake she gave me and just sat there posing for Anne and me. A good luck gesture I am sure!

* Lucy gave Suzanne and me a bad scare yesterday…she has started perching on another neighbor’s fence which is really high…a fence that surrounds a pool. When I went to show Suzanne…she was no longer on the top post but lying in the tall grass below…like she had fallen. We called her name but she didn’t come or respond in anyway.

We both thought she was dead…Suzanne leaped over the fence and right before she got to Lucy….the cat stretched and yawned.

What a relief…. However…Lucy is having several health problems now…Suzanne took her home to try to clean her up some…she is getting to be an old cat…but a much beloved one.

Anne and I exchanged “surcies” yesterday…I gave her some lavender honey (made in France) and she gave me this adorable lotion bar (to use after gardening) with a special, personalized label!

*Look at this beautiful painting Joan Turner did for her daughter Michele’s birthday….lucky girl!

Dear Reader:

The children gave me this journal soon after I was diagnosed with “little c.” I wish I could say that I have been hard at it…researching ancestry, describing past personal experiences…but when my blog came along…it became my personal journal…containing memories and experiences from childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

I have found myself “stuffing” this journal full of family genealogy notes and letters… given to me by aunts, uncles, and cousins…yet I have done little more than that….again using my time and the blog for my “voice” now.

It is still my intention to organize and add additional thoughts to this beautiful gift/ memory book…but while I am alive…I want to be going...living...experiencing life to the fullest…perhaps that is my legacy to leave behind…Mom lived…she didn’t just exist.

The only three sentences I have written in it deal with my own “truths” that I would like to pass down through the generations to my family. Simply Put:

1) Don’t Settle! (Life is too precious to be anyone but who God destines you to be…don’t sell yourself short!)

2) We are All Connected! ( Don’t forget that we are never alone. We are connected to everything living…down to the smallest single cell organism in our universe.

One day we will discover that our Creator is right in the center of the web of life that He created…patiently waiting to hear our “Story of a Lifetime.” So relish life to the fullest and make it a good one!

3) YOU ARE LOVED!  More than you will ever know….by me, (“Moo Moo, then Boo Boo“) and God… with a love so strong it is incomprehensible to us mere mortals.

An “Aha” moment for me came when I realized that there is no such thing as a “single parent” as long as we share our lives with “the” Father… whose love and devotion never falter while He provides for us.

…………………………

A little over a year ago…my favorite mentor/student/ teacher/”Dolphin Lady” (Dr. Linda Karges-Bone) asked me if I would write a short synopsis about the blog and my “little c” journey for her to submit to the National  ADK Journal… along with a picture of my latest grandchild (at that time.)

* Update:(While waiting for publication…life didn’t stop…and of course, two more beautiful grandchildren arrived this past year…life is funny that way.)

I put some thoughts together and turned them into Linda. Last week (while at Edisto) Linda emailed me that the article had come out on the electronic version of the journal and sent the website to me.

As usual…Linda, the talented writer extraordinaire, captured the essence of the blog much better than I could ever explain in my own words…I would like to share it with you at this time and thank Linda (from the core of my heart/soul)  for always being my supporter through the good and difficult times…with cards, letters, and her wonderful homemade bread! I love you Linda! I love you “Dolphin Lady!”

* Kaitlyn’s “Bachelorette Yoga Class” on Saturdays! Looks fun!

* Hope Travels Well…..Marcia sent me a picture of her beautiful hanging basket of flowers and HOPE letters (she received while in Summerville) on her deck back home….HOPE is alive and well everywhere….even in N.H!!!

Dear Reader:

Each year I try to educate myself a little bit more about each of our national holidays and this year I discovered some new historical information about the creation of Memorial Day.

Here are five things I didn’t know: (Resource: Time Magazine)

1) To honor the deceased, soldiers would decorate graves of their fallen comrades with flowers, flags and wreaths. Hence the original name- Decoration Day. Although Memorial Day became its official title in the 1880s, the holiday wouldn’t legally become Memorial Day until 1967.

2) After the Civil War, General John A. Logan, commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, called for a holiday commemorating fallen soldiers to be observed every May 30. But due to the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which took effect in 1971, Memorial Day was moved to the last Monday of May to ensure long weekends.

Some groups, like the veterans’ organization American Legion, have been working to restore the original date to set the day apart and pay proper tribute to the servicemen and women who sacrificed their lives defending the nation.

3) Under law we are still required to stop and remember the sacrifices of those who can’t speak for themselves at a certain time on Memorial Day.

In December 2000, Congress passed a law requiring Americans to pause at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day to remember and honor the fallen. But this doesn’t appear to be common knowledge, or if it is, by 3 p.m. most people seem to be too deep into a hot dog-induced food coma to officially observe the moment.

4) Nine southern states set aside an official day to recognize the dead from the Confederacy…. (Confederate Memorial Day) the states vary on this holidays with the exception of Virginia. 

Virginia observes Confederate Memorial Day on the last Monday of May, in accordance with the federal observance of Memorial Day.

5) Before James Garfield became President…while still serving as a Republican Congressman… he gave a speech (before thousands) at Arlington Cemetery on Memorial Day…May 30, 1868. His words were quite eloquent and excerpts of his rather long speech have appeared in many other Memorial Day speeches….the following line being one repeated for posterity. 

“If silence is ever golden,” Garfield said, “it must be beside the graves of 15,000 men, whose lives were more significant than speech, and whose death was a poem the music of which can never be sung.”

…”Whose lives were more significant than speech.” What a beautiful eulogy for all of us…don’t you think? We are remembered for what we did with our lives…not just what we said.

On a personal note…the most memorable Memorial Day in our family fell on Memorial Day 1968. Only a few weeks earlier Ben’s unit was almost completely wiped out and mother had just received notification that he was missing in action.

She received the notification around Mother’s Day because, I remember, that being the saddest Mother’s Day in our family. David and I didn’t know what to do to brighten the day up or cheer mom up.

When I found this card the other day…I remember wishing I had it that long, sad Mother’s Day of 1968, as we waited for further news. It would have explained David’s and my dilemma to mother in a way we couldn’t. We just didn’t know what else to do or say and “Silence was not golden” that day…it was strained.

However, by Memorial Day the situation had turned around…with a second notification that Ben was located on a medical boat. He was receiving treatments for wounds that were deemed non-life-threatening. (There would have been more celebrated relief except for the fact that  Ben still had twelve more months (of his 13 month tour) to go until the tour was over…and there would be more wounds to come….physical, mental, and emotional.)

Still….Memorial Day of 1968 was one filled with prayers of relief and thankfulness. Mother had even found a tablecloth that said “Blessings” on it and that is where the family gathered that long ago day to eat, laugh, and rejoice in life.

The only somber moments that day were reflections of all the young boys and men from that unit and everywhere else in Vietnam whose family got a different telegram than ours.

To this day…Memorial Day fills me with mixed feelings of patriotism and sadness….another example of the many paradoxes of life that will have to be answered in another place at another time…God’s time.

Before I bring closure to this special blog… a quick update! Ben’s last VA pension appointment was cancelled at the last minute Friday…he goes in tomorrow morning at 9:30. Prayers are welcome and appreciated.

This is too too cute and just blows your mind. Brooke was telling Jackson and me (at Edisto) that little Hamp (Ted and Brooke’s grandson (Kacee’s five year old son) could recite the Gettysburg Address.  “No way” Jackson and I exclaimed…Well…see for yourself. Unbelievable and too precious!!! The best way to end the blog today!

So until tomorrow…Let us remember our veterans, living and dead, who sacrificed and continue to sacrifice for the freedom we enjoy today.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Well Sherlock Holmes must turn in her hat concerning the garden fairy mystery….it wasn’t Tim…it was Anne!!!!  And she says she still has ‘work to do.’

One funny thing….after seeing the two fairy additions to the garden…I went and got one fairy off the tree (with the new fairy door)…and put it at the top of the ladder on the rose container…to look like she is waiting for someone to climb up.

Anne saw the fairy at the top of the rope ladder she made (with no fairy) and cried out “I believe…I believe in fairies!” (So do I)

The family’s Memorial Day Celebration was last evening at John and Mandy’s ….Great food, fellowship, and friendship! Everyone had a great time…only Rutledge was feeling under the weather.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY

Dear Reader:

Saturday morning I woke up early… refreshed and ready to join the rest of the people on our little planet…at least in my small corner of it.

I went to the Farmer’s Market…got there early (around 8) and actually found a parking place right across the street. It was fun to simply (leisurely) stroll through the avenues of vendors… while smelling wonderful bakery products, watching colorful snow cones being created, and talking to the vendors.

One container of impatiens (title photo) caught my eye…I couldn’t figure out at first what the container was made of…so I started talking to the vendor. She was actually selling home-made soaps…the kind that are supposed to soothe, calm, and relax us. If the vendor was an example for these types of soap baths…she was a good one.

She was soft-spoken and a woman of few words. It was as if she chose her words carefully and gave much thought to them before releasing them…not simply letting words pour out without a stopper. (like someone I know quite well…me!)

The vendor said that she decided to bring those flowers at the last minute…more as a decoration than anything else… she  just placed the 8 dollar tag on them minutes before I arrived. She had made the container…a type of rough cement peppered with cracks where moss broke through.

I told her how creative and pretty it was….I knew it would need to stay in the shade with the impatiens in it …but I asked her opinion about placement and care.

Once again…she quietly looked at me for a few moments and asked, “Do you have moss in your yard?”

Excitedly…I exclaimed that I did…in my front yard around my Bradford Pear tree.

“Do you have low lying branches on the tree?” she now asked.

“I do, I said…because I have a couple of bird feeders and sun dials hanging from the branches too.”

“Is there a clearing under the tree where the moss is growing?” she responded.

I nodded “yes” and she asked one last question.

“Do you live on a calm street in your neighborhood….not too many cars rushing by or constant loud noises?”

I assured her that I lived on a very quiet street with basically just the cars of neighbors (who lived on the street)… driving by.

She didn’t say anything but wrapped the container of impatiens up and said that the plant should do well there…the moss underneath the container, for whatever reason, seemed to provide a stable environment for the success of the flowers’ growth.

“Remember…create a clearing de-cluttered from too much commotion…a calm place filled with stillness…we all need that…including our green friends.” She gave me a handshake and wished me well.

Saturday afternoon I was catching up with my mail and reading when I came across a section on achieving calmness and stillness within us. (Source: The Gifts of Imperfection-Brene Brown, Ph.D)

Under the subtitles (calm and stillness) in her wonderful book she gave this analogy and I just smiled. It was another “God’s Wink” and an arrow pointing to today’s blog’s message.

The author said that the words “calm” and “still” used to make her nervous and one day she remembered why. Didn’t we all grow up hearing our frustrated parents yelling at us in the backseat….”Calm down!” and “Be still!”?  So by adulthood negative images still persist with these terms.

We also connect these words to varying types of meditations which we might have tried and come up short…instead of using the time to think of nothing… making out our “to do” list for the grocery store and then feeling like a pretender in the group.

 Brene Brown says that she understands more fully what the definition of these two terms should be at this stage in her life:

“Stillness is not about focusing on nothingness; it’s about creating a clearing. It’s opening up an emotionally clutter-free space and allowing ourselves to feel and think and dream and question.”

What we need to be seeking is the “emotional outlet” that inspires us to separate ourselves from the world long enough to pause and reflect on our own journey…the portal that gives us glimpses of a different existence all together.

So until tomorrow… Let us  seek our own personal method, process, and place to talk to our Creator within the stillness of His world.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* New beauties continue to appear in the garden to make me smile….here are some of the latest to do so…

Using my deductive reasoning…I am thinking the mysterious “fairy” additions to the garden must be the handiwork of Tim. When I arrived home Friday afternoon… the yard was cut and the next morning there was the fairy ladder and the mini-moon gate. He’s out of town this weekend for Memorial Day…but think my yard man decided to have a “little” fun!

Earlier in the week Lachlan turned two months and today is Jakie’s eighth month birthday anniversary. What a difference six months make now…but in a few years…not so much. They will both start school the same year and be in the same grade.

Fair warning teachers…in a blink of the eye…the Dingle/Turner gang will come riding into town!

“Tickle me Jakie”

https://youtu.be/G_6OdL6tgf8

Dear Reader:

I’m back home! Got in yesterday afternoon….rested, relaxed, a touch of tan, and filled with happy memories. I will start going back through emails and comments made by you while I was gone. Can hardly wait to read your thoughts…might take a few days but I will get back with each and every one of you!

Remember as I was packing last Sunday, for the beach, I took a picture of my lantana around the front yard pine tree and wondered if the rest of it would all pop out while I was at Edisto….as you can see it did!

That’s life isn’t it? Nothing in nature stays dormant or still for any length of time. Life is an action movie and to live life to the fullest we must jump into it and hang on for the ride, for as long as we can.

As we reminisced this past week over difficult times in our past…such as: raising children as single parents, health problems of loved ones, teenage years with all its ups and downs with our children…financial worries during the college years…aging parents and difficult decisions…we all just grinned at each other and said, “By golly… by God’s grace, we survived that out-of-control merry-go-round and we can finally climb off the horse (or giraffe) and step back down on solid ground.“

We, now, have the luxury of solitude when we need it, friendship when we need it, hugs when we need it, adventures when we need it, shoulders to cry on when we need it, and laughter/teasing when we need it.

Most of all…we finally have time to re-introduce ourselves to ourselves. Making friends with ourselves is probably the most important relationship that exists…because if we don’t like ourselves…it is hard to engage in a relationship with anyone else.

Jackson summed it up….”This is the age of contentment.” No truer words were spoken. Life still has its challenges but it also has it on-going opportunities for all of us…no matter the age.

These days…crises that would have taken us over the edge…are just ant hills…(like Beverly Barutio said of “little c”) simple “annoyances.” We have been there, done that, and can now distinguish between a skirmish, a battle, and a war.

Most of the time…life is a series of skirmishes. And even then…most of them can be avoided with a few “side-stepping” moves.

J. Peters restaurant chain has moved into the old Grovers Restaurant…we were thrilled to be back and the food delicious!

Thursday morning Brooke and I returned to Botany Bay with windows down and fresh air in…to refresh our eyes in one of God’s most beautiful playgrounds.

The entrance into Botany Bay is lined with oak trees…like in a setting for an historical movie or documentary.

Not sure what is stranger…our Edisto hats or the famous “Edisto Mystery Tree.” The common denominator…fun!

People are like wide-eyed tourists going through life…we don’t want to get bogged down with too much detail…we just want to see the sights. And that is what we did! (Aren’t we thankful that God takes care of all the details for us… so we just get to enjoy it all?)

 Good morning sunshine!

“A doe, a deer, a female deer”…

More decorating ideas…

We have decided that our summer retreat will be moved permanently to a late spring retreat. The weather was the best we have ever had consistently…cool, beautiful blue skies, and low humidity. We literally lived on the front porch in the rocking chairs…talking, laughing, eating, drinking, and blessing the universe, God’s Home, for allowing us a “place” in it!

So until tomorrow…Stop the merry-go-round occasionally and get off…we have already lost too much time going around in circles…it’s time to wave at the dizzying world and walk away sometimes…where life is slower, quieter, and more peaceful….a place where we can be “content.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* While I was gone last week Lachlan turned two months old…it can’t be…my goodness….slow down my adorable “head banger” grandson! Can hardly wait to see you again Sunday!

* …And talking about life and surprises popping out….look what was inside my door when I got home yesterday! This perfect saying… on the clay plaque Honey made. *Honey…I am putting it where I can see it each day….a great reminder that kindness should never falter…no matter what the circumstance!

 * Oops…I just discovered an add-on “pop out”! While I was gone the fairies have obviously been busy…with some help from someone. I strolled through my garden to see how everything had fared and look what I discovered! (From the “Edisto Mystery Tree” to the “Fairy Mystery Garden!”)

Dear Reader:

We are having so much fun…we’ve decided to extend our summer retreat another day and return home Friday afternoon.

So I will make this blog pretty short…the sun and surf are calling!  Jackson made a ‘stop and pause’ comment while we were all sitting in our favorite rocking chairs on the porch ….upon her arrival.

In essence she said that she had figured out why this retreat (with four friends who can complete each other sentences) is so special…besides our history.

We have finally reached the place in our lives when we can stop “re-inventing” ourselves and show our “true colors” to the world…who we really are.

She continued…”When you think about it…we play roles throughout our lives…re-inventing ourselves for each: we start out as a child, sibling, a parent, grandparent, career person….none of which we are prepared for….there is no scripted role to follow…we simply adapt and adjust to each role as we grow.” 

Just like there is no comparison between a newborn and a five year old in their abilities….we continue developing into that person inside of us who is screaming to get out…our real selves…the person God intends us to be.

Once we get to the place where we can let go of other people’s expectations for our role in life and forge ahead with our own personal goals…we no longer have to dress up or play pretend or be anything else but who we are.

Like an onion…the layers of deceit have been pulled and peeled until all that is left is us…special us. Then if we are fortunate enough to have friends who accept and love that person under all the layers…we finally have the opportunity to allow ourselves to be seen for who we were and are all the time.

And that my friends…if why we decided to stay another day….we all love  our special friends…surrounding us…who have come in and out of our lives…losing their layers of pretense along with us… now exposed and loved for who we are.

As I walked the beach yesterday I remembered a line from the book I am reading where the character is writing in her ‘journal of truths’ and observes:

“God is teaching us about life with the waves coming in and going out…removing the footprints of man on the beach each day…At first I thought of this as a loss…but now I see that God is cleaning the slate for us …so we can  be surprised and filled with joy for the arrival of each magical day ahead… with new opportunities awaiting us…and a heart whose vessel has been emptied to allow more love to flow in.

So until tomorrow…Thank you God for helping us reveal our inner selves and find the people who are willing to accept us for who we really are…a child of God.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* We are sad that Libby couldn’t make the retreat…not feeling well…I told her that the empty rocking chair on the porch says it all….but soon she will be rocking again…no doubt.

* We’ve decided the longer you live…the longer the birthdays should last…we continued with Brooke…Libby will have to wait until she is back up and going.

Dear Reader:

The sense of smell…isn’t it a wonderful gift from God? And when it comes to memories and feelings of love this special sense plays such a big role in producing long-lasting memories of the comforts of home.

I remember returning home on weekends from college…and being greeted with the smell of love…mother would have cooked a pot roast or a baked chicken with all the fixings ….and it just made you feel so special.

In a little story I read a few weeks ago (true story) a (rather large) family had to make a difficult choice to move to a new place and a smaller home. The older children would have to share rooms and the overall house was not anywhere close to being as nice as the home, they all loved, left behind.

The transition period, going from the familiar to the unknown, wasn’t going well, especially for the children. They wanted their old friends and schools back.

On the first day of school…after fixing breakfast and getting all the children off to school…the mother sat down and held her aching head. She had worn a forced smile on her face for the children for so long…her head actually hurt. She sighed…” Life is tough.”

She knew everyone would eventually adjust…but she wished she could think of something that would help that transition along…without adding any expense to a very tight budget.

Suddenly she had an idea…she would make the kids chocolate chip cookies…their favorite. Then when they all arrived back home…the house would have a familiar smell to it.

Her energy renewed…she got out all the ingredients and started to mix it all together…when her fairly new stand mixer suddenly stopped and a burnt smell filled the kitchen. She quickly unplugged the appliance…the cord was severed.

Her spirits immediately dropped…”Come on God…Give me a break…I am just trying my hardest to help my children.”

She had no money to buy any kind of mixer…the one she was using had been a gift from all the children and her siblings one Christmas. Now what?

Immediately a thought popped into her head. What did your mother use? She laughed to herself…an old white hand-mixer that brought more happiness than any other appliance…her mother was a great cook.

Wait a minute. Didn’t she keep that old hand-mixer when her mother passed away last year…could it possibly be? She ran into the attic and finally found the box with her mother’s name on it.

At the very bottom was the old hand-mixer. It looked pretty bad…in fact when she first turned it on…there was only silence…and acute disappointment. Surely God didn’t plant that idea for this to happen.

Then she remembered her mother jiggling the cord sometimes when it would stop working….nothing to lose. She jiggled and the old white hand-mixer came to life…she squealed with excitement.

When the children arrived home that afternoon to the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies…the smiles on their faces said it all. “It smells just like home” the youngest cried out with joy in his eyes.

And then the children ate cookies, drank milk, and shared all the excitement about the new friends they had met with their mother. Everything was going to be just fine. God and grandmother would see to that…with a “wink.”

…………………………

As you can tell from the title photo… the only mixer I have, also, is my mother’s little white hand-mixer. She made every cake and cookie I ate from that mixer….even Ben’s most memorable chocolate cake… that made it him on his birthday in the jungles of Vietnam.

It was mother who first told me about the easy, delicious cake called the “Famous Chocolate Wafer” cake…or as we came to call it…just the refrigerator cake. Since I was in charge of the sweets for the beach…I decided to make it once again….using Lucille’s little white hand-mixer. Thanks Mom!

So until tomorrow…Let us pause and remember our favorite smells and the location of them…this sense probably has the most direct link back to our childhoods.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Tomorrow Ben (Friday the 22) goes for his very last medical session to determine if the 80% pension (he miraculously received last summer…remember Ireland and the sign-“Stop and Pray”) will be bumped to a 100% …the family would appreciate it if you could find time to “stop and pray” that Ben finally finds closure to a six year fight on the homefront…VA. Thank you!

* I don’t think that it is a coincidence that Memorial Day falls on Monday May 25…perhaps a God’s Wink?