Dear Reader:
Upon reflection, the past few days have made my heart skip a beat… in more ways than one.
You might remember that I started having car trouble while keeping Eva Cate for VBS last week. Unfortunately the hopping and skipping continues at intervals…badly timed intervals. It really is like the car’s heart starts missing a beat.
For example….on my way home Wednesday afternoon from Mt. Pleasant, in bumper to bumper 526 traffic, my transmission light came back on and my car started skipping and jumping. I turned off the air conditioner to lessen any strain on the car and then started praying that somehow I would make it home.
Every time the traffic stopped on 526 my heart sank and my mouth went dry while my body got wetter and wetter from the heat and humidity. Even though it felt like the car was going to stall or cut off all the way home…with God’s help I pulled into my driveway safe and sound.
At 8:00 a.m. yesterday morning I took the car back to be re-checked and explained what happened. To make a long story short it could be several things…some more serious than others…but I am hoping it is debris or water in the gas tank and dry gas and the new fuel pump filter will take care of it. (I am certainly praying for that…)
When I remember that nightmare drive home Wednesday afternoon from Mt. Pleasant….(which was anything but “pleasant”…) my heart seemed to skip every time the car did…it was as if we were one and the same…the car and I both praying we made it.
When it started acting up once again on the way to take Anne to the airport yesterday morning…we both said a prayer as we chugged along. Once again…the ‘little car that thinks it can’ did!
Anne had picked some of her beautiful daisies for me and put back in my “Boo’s Garden” mason jar as a thank you token for taking her to the airport….(just glad neither one of us lost a filling to the skipping, jumping car.)
As I was thanking Anne for the happy daisies that made my heart skip a beat in their beauty and joy…I told her that this was the second happy “surcie” of the day.
After checking on my car yesterday morning…I stopped by McDonalds to pick up a breakfast biscuit to eat before picking up Anne at her home. Suddenly I noticed this “cadillac” of all trucks… a beautiful shade of gray in a tall truck of much elegance…with hands waving out the window at me.
It was none other than one of my all-time favorite people in the world …
Rene Harris-Principal at Beech Hill Elementary.
I started frantically waving back too and ended up behind her in the drive-by window pick-up line. When I went to pay for my breakfast the young girl at the window told me that the nice lady is the pretty gray truck had already paid for it!
I started beeping and waving my hands again…as Rene beeped back and was gone in a flash. She had just turned my morning around with a token of kindness, a smile, a wave, and a beep!
She, too, had my made my heart skip a beat…to have friends such as these.
Later, when I got home, I looked up Beech Hill to find a photo of my friend and instead…also found her school’s mantra for the upcoming year. So very Rene!…She practices what she preaches… if what she did for me is any indication and it is!!!! I know!!!
2015 Beech Hill’s Theme
“Leading by example…Full STEAM Ahead.”
Consider this: “At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. And with boiling water, comes steam. And with steam, you can power a train. Just one extra degree makes all the difference.” Sam Parker
So until tomorrow Let’s all do things that make our fellowman skip along life more happily… while our hearts skip a beat in sync with the joys of life… through giving.
“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh
Mandy’s hairdresser took a photo of her as publicity for her salon yesterday….Jennifer Funderburk, the stylist, is good!
Charleston is more than blondes;) how natural????? Gorgeous!!!!
— with Mandy Turner at Salon Vantaggio.
*I would be remiss, as a South Carolina history teacher for three decades, not to recognize what an historical and momentous day this is in our state history!
What a day to remember when the Confederate flag finally comes down! I never thought I would see it in my lifetime…but I am so glad God permitted me to live long enough to see this happen….way way overdue!
I could give you a history lesson on why this flag (that never even flew in SC during the Civil War) was never an appropriate state symbol to begin with… however.. I will spare you the lesson today. Just let this old history teacher say loudly...this is my favorite day!
I decided to paraphrase Woody Guthrie’s song “This Land is My Land” for this unbelievable but miraculous turn of events in SC history! ( I personally can’t tolerate any symbol directed at anyone that is hurtful and demeaning to our fellow man.)
” This state is your state, this state is my state
From Campobello to Sullivan’s Island
From the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean
This state was made for you and me. “
” The Flag is gone now…that hurt so many
A sign of hatred, a sign of slavery
We can rejoice now…with one voice singing
This state was made for you and me.”
* A special thank you to all our representatives from the governor down who laid politics aside to do the right thing…to vote from the heart.
Dorchester can be especially proud of Jenny Horne for her impassioned speech asking for a hurtful symbol to be removed for the sake of all South Carolina’s people! It made my “heart skip a beat.”
Tommy sent me this link….very powerful. Jenny said what so many of us wanted to say….and that is what a representative of the people should do!
http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/09/us/south-carolina-jenny-horne-speech/index.html
My hibiscus plant is blooming all over itself…the giant red blooms on the green chair look so pretty and “Happy Returns”…my yellow lily finally did return after several weeks. Welcome back!
ichaseferalcats
John Turner
Legally Ohm
Becky Dingle
One thing I dreaded as a teacher was taking recertification courses. Rarely were they relevant to my classroom, they were often expensive, and they always took time out of an already busy schedule. One of the few exceptions was a class at CSU led by you and Rene Harris. I looked forward to every meeting. You and Rene made sure that the topics were relevant, got everyone involved (not easy with educators!), and were often hilarious! And the class was free!! I know I thanked you both then, but I want you to know that the memory is still fresh for being such a special activity.
Oh wow…we are going back in history…Rene and I always had fun teaching classes together…I would get so tickled by Rene that I could hardly keep it together…I looked forward to the classes because we always had such cool participants…like you!
Rene is an educator who leads by example. Apparently, she is an example of “what kindness looks like” from her drive-through actions. I would bet you aren’t the only person she has done that for. Jenny Horne is another leader who leads by example. “People may not remember what we say, but they will remember what we do.” I believe in Jenny’s case, we will remember what she said, as well as what she did. Please get that car fixed…too much traffic these days for a “skipping car”. I remember back in the dark ages when some people’s cars skipped and jumped down the road every day. You could identify the car by sound not sight.
The car light actually went off today…so hoping the the new fuel projector and dry gas might be doing the trick…only time will tell….I don’t want to be that car that you hear before you see. What a glorious day for SC!
I agree that it was certainly a momentous day for our state & a great example for the rest of our country. The ceremony was very respectful of the flag’s part in our history. I love the version you wrote of “This Land is My Land”. Bravo!!
Thanks Pam…have you started the book yet!
Mrs. Dingle if your car is an older model before the hybrids and before ethanol was mixed into gasoline, buy a bottle of Star Brute ethanol treatment and put it in your gas tank every 3rd tank fill up. The bottle has instructions on it and it doesn’t take much per take full of gasoline to counteract the ethanol. The ethanol can cause moisture in the gas tank and that moisture will cause your fuel filter to clog and can cause some problems in the fuel injectors and that will cause the type problems you described. I put the ethanol treatment in my boat and truck when I get gas because I had a similar problem with both boat motor and my truck that you are having with your car. I haven’t had that problem since I started using the treatment. Its not much gun being out on the lake with a storm coming and having a problem keeping the motor going so you can escape a thunderstorm! Even if that isn’t the problem it doesn’t hurt a thing to use the treatment, it just keeps the effects of the ethanol from happening. But if you have a newer vehicle most of them are made Flex fuel or ethanol ready and you don’t need the treatment. I am glad it didn’t leave you stranded in the heat!
iT IS A 2007 ….SO OLDER WITH LOTS OF MILES GOING UP AND DOWN I-26 AND 526 TO BABYSIT….I BELIEVE THAT IS WHAT THE MAN AT AUTO ZONE GAVE ME….AND THEN TOLD ME TO PUT SOME GASOLINE ON TOP OF IT..TO FORCE ANY WATER/DEBRIS OUT….TODAY THE TRANSMISSION LIGHT WENT OFF FOR THE FIRST TIME ON ITS OWN….SO PRAYING THIS IS A GOOD SIGN….THANKS FOR THE TIP….WILL GO BUY SOME MORE.