Dear Reader:

I do remember telling you that this is the first joke I ever recall being told and (for at least three times at bat) I struck out and didn’t ‘get’ the joke. When I finally did I thought I was so smart and told it to everyone who wanted to hear it… or not.

Isn’t it strange the things we remember from our childhood and youth? It is never “big” events (graduations, birthdays, etc.) but every day conversations or discoveries. I think there is a lesson about life in that observation…it, truly, is the little things in life that are the most important.

However, the reason I “repeated” the ‘Pete and Repeat’ joke was that I had started this blog off looking for a title with the word “green” in it and then remembered that every spring I do the same thing… another blog on green. There must be a neuron button, stuck on that color in my mind… that springs brings back up each year at the same time.

*When I looked it up…sure enough…the blog post dated back to March 26, 2015…almost two years ago. I was even dressed in green because little Lachlan had arrived less than two weeks earlier on St. Patrick’s Day.

My post, two years ago, was “50 Shades of Green” and I had gone around taking photos of all the different shades of green in my yard. So let’s try it again…three weeks ahead of nature…but thanks to global warming…probably at the same “spring has sprung” time array of colors!

March 26, 2015 (excerpt)

Dear Reader:

Within a two foot radius in my garden…there are three different shades of green growing stronger every day…stemming from dark to light to yellow-green…all strikingly beautiful.

I remember a couple of years ago when I toured Linwood’s Bed & Breakfast gardens…(Linda Shelbourne’s beautiful home and gardens)…she told our group that she didn’t try to keep blooming flowers alive in the hot summer months in the lowcountry…she simply diversified the shades of green in shrubs, bushes, and trees through-out her exquisite gardens.

It was a lesson that stuck with me. If I were running an “official” B&B I wouldn’t have time for all the pruning and watering necessary to keep flowers alive in the hot, humid months of the lowcountry  either. (So I pay the price for my love of flowers with high water bills  through-out the summer and early fall months.)

But I did take to heart the lesson of planting varying shades of green… and now I purposefully look for flowers or plants that diversify this color- the color that dominates nature.

The word “green” has a Germanic origin and consists of two root words “grass” and“grow.” Perfect combination, isn’t it? The color green symbolizes the hope of life and continual renewal of it.

Because the color green is so familiar to us (through its dominance in nature) it is a peaceful color to use and hospitals have traditionally gone with it to help patients heal in calming harmony with nature.

And speaking of hospitals…our latest arrival, Lachlan, arrived on the “greenest” of days 9 days ago. The journey looked a little bumpy for him when he first popped out…but his coloring is already rosy and healthy…our latest little “greenhorn.”

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It is hard to believe (almost) two years have passed since Lachlan arrived and soon he will celebrate his second birthday! *(sample of birthday announcement for family/friends)

….And now some man-made green and nature green surprises!

So until tomorrow: This green/growing period is the best time of life…after all, like Kermit the Frog always contended: “When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot.” We are never intended to reach perfection or a finished product…until the day we die…we should be continuing to grow in faith and love.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Remembering:

Kaitlyn’s sister, Amanda, passed away one year ago today. A memorial service to remember her on this first anniversary will be given, in her honor, by Kaitlyn’s parents (Sunday)- Butch and Susan Swicegood in Chattanooga.  *It is a tough one, as many of you readers know from first-hand experience. Please keep Kaitlyn’s family in your thoughts and prayers this weekend.

***I don’t think I made this connection last year…but my younger brother David (who died at 21) died on March 4, 1973 also…44 years ago and yet, sometimes, it still seems like yesterday. Chronological time on earth can play tricks on our memories over time. Like Amanda, David is and will always be forever young. I love you David.