Dear Reader:

Isn’t it funny how we relate certain objects to certain people because we know the items are a favorite of theirs?

For example….with Honey…it is pigs and dragonflies. She once had two potbelly pigs…she loved as pets…and when Harley died she actually dreamed she saw him running through the fields…stopping to turn around and look at her as if to reassure her that he was happy. A dragonfly followed Honey home after getting her first kiln and hearing the story from the seller…. a husband who had recently lost his wife. He told Honey that his deceased wife loved dragonflies. They would light on her while she was making pottery.

Another friend of mine…Rene Harris loves elephants and every time I hear her name a vision of a happy, smiling elephant pops up. It goes on and on. Sometimes the items are temporarily symbolic like in the case of mother’s death when the bee (symbol of resurrection) landed on my head under the funeral tent and remained until the service was over. A nod to me from mom that she was just fine

I know I got several “bee” items in the form of jewelry…pins and bracelets, penchants from many of you and I have given friends tokens of their favorite life symbols too for birthdays and holidays.

When I came across this story on hedgehogs…I immediately thought of Carol Poole…my Social Studies co-hort from the Berkeley County school district. We traveled many years together doing workshops and when I would go to her house or office it was filled with hedgehog trinkets friends had given her.

So Carol…this story is for you…a hedgehog story to remember…

The Hedgehogs

It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold.

The hedgehogs, realizing the situation, decided to group together to keep warm. This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions.

After awhile, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth.

Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. They learned to live with the little wounds caused by the close relationship with their companions in order to receive the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive.

The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person’s good qualities.

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I love this little anecdote because of the core truth running through it. No relationship is perfect and taking chances on relationships can be hurtful sometimes…but we soon learn that the warmth from a relationship can outdistance small hurts if the shared glow warms both participants.

So until tomorrow…

“Today is my favorite day’

Winnie the Pooh

I was shaking my head at the bamboo growing over the fence again from my rental neighbor’s house…but suddenly I stopped because wisps of wisteria were growing off the vine too. It was so pretty.  Like all of life…the pretty and not-so-pretty live in harmony…I reckon there’s another life’s lesson there too.

*Susan Swicegood, this is the best year ever for the rose plant you gave me a few Easters back…the Amanda roses are gorgeous and the bush is filling up with new growth to bloom! Hope you all have a wonderful Easter with the kids and dogs!