Halloween- Beauty Full

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Dear Reader:

I received this adorable old-fashioned Halloween card from Honey who said she saw it and immediately thought the card was saying:” Please send me to Becky Boo!”

She was right…the card did want to come home to my house. I love vintage holiday cards…it makes me happy to see how prior generations decorated and enjoyed the holidays that our immigrant ancestors brought with them.

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The other night I started turning channels and I caught the end of a make-over home. The decorator had added as a last piece of decorating…a wooden block on the mantle which read:

Life is Beauty Full

Every day I see so much beauty around me that it is almost overwhelming. I thought, however, last Wednesday when I was keeping Jakie…that while he took his morning nap….I would take my Iphone and select five pictures from John and Mandy’s yard  to show how much beauty lies before us.

IMG_8043This was my top favorite…a low-lying limb off Mandy and John’s pecan tree covered by the “resurrection fern.”

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This same tree has the most beautiful Spanish Moss drooping down (hauntingly) from its branches like little ghosts. In the South we have our own tree ghosts that nature provides…no decorating necessary.

IMG_8061I love the pink tips on this tropical marsh plant that blooms in October as if planned for Pink Breast Cancer Month.

It actually forms the border, along with the wooden fence, to John and Mandy’s back yard.

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These wild flowers between the Turners’ property line and the water… bloom beautifully in summer and fall….creating a peaceful, natural barrier to mull things over in life.

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 Preserving as much indigenous plant life in our yards is very important. I love this section of the front yard with the palmetto fronds making giant fans to provide cool shade in the hot summer months.

Of course….who’s sleeping inside is the most “beauty full” of all…..

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Jakie takes after his dad with his interest in the culinary department.

*Yesterday it was Master Rutledge’s time for the tummy bug to hit….so Boo Boo headed over….in spite of his digestive issues….Rutledge played hard with his trucks( of course.) We read a Spooky Tire story I had found for him and he got to drink out of his “spooky” cup. These things always help tummy “bugs.”

We are all praying that Rutledge and Jakie are over the worst of their tummy “bugs” by tomorrow afternoon and praying nobody else gets it…. enough tricks….the children are ready for treats! BOO!

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By early afternoon Rutledge’s little “bug” had drained him of all his energy….he crawled up on the sofa beside me (with all his trucks in tow) and fell fast asleep. I didn’t budge until Mollie got home…the cardinal rule works for grandmothers too….never wake a sleeping child.

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Mollie sent me these photos she and Walsh took of Rutledge earlier in the week before the bug attack…that is the little Rutledge that we want to see Halloween Night!!!

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  • IMG_4504
  • IMG_8085I had the sweetest gift from Georgia hanging on my door when I returned….she said she was sorry it got here late for this year’s October Pink Race for the Cure….but I am thinking that a beautiful pink bow should have a place on my Christmas tree-
  • Check out the website called Rally: Pink Bow Campaign. Wonderful organization!

When I opened my mail…Joan Turner had sent me two miniature paintings she had done….a fox pup she literally ran across in the park and later saw run back into his den (nestled in the fall leaves) and a beautiful “setting” using decorations from home. Life is Beauty Full!  What a “beauty full” talent you have Joan!  Happy Halloween!

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About Becky Dingle

I was born a Tarheel but ended up a Sandlapper. My grandparents were cotton farmers in Laurens, South Carolina and it was in my grandmother’s house that my love of storytelling began beside an old Franklin stove. When I graduated from Laurens High School, I attended Erskine College (Due West of what?) and would later get my Masters Degree in Education/Social Studies from Charleston Southern. I am presently an adjunct professor/clinical supervisor at CSU and have also taught at the College of Charleston. For 28 years I taught Social Studies through storytelling. My philosophy matched Rudyard Kipling’s quote: “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Today I still spread this message through workshops and presentations throughout the state. The secret of success in teaching social studies is always in the story. I want to keep learning and being surprised by life…it is the greatest teacher. Like Kermit said, “When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot.”
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4 Responses to Halloween- Beauty Full

  1. Johnny Johnson says:

    I think we are lucky to live in this area with all it’s beauty! We live in a Beauty full place, filled with Beauty Full trees and flowering plants of all kinds as well Beauty Full people!
    HAPPY HALLOWEEN MRS. BOO BECKY DINGLE!

  2. Becky Dingle says:

    HAPPY HALLOWEEN MR. JOHNNY “BOO” JOHNSON!

  3. Joan turner says:

    Thank you Becky..Have a bootiful spooky Happy Halloween with everyone!

  4. Becky Dingle says:

    I sure did have a wonderful one….hope you did too!

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