Dear Reader:

The courage and true spirit of humanity is never greater than in the worse, deplorable conditions.

I just finished reading several articles on ‘The Blitz’ period of World War II. Germany decided to bring England ‘to her knees” by conducting a continuous bombardment of its capital, London. From September 7, 1940 to May 11, 1941 London was bombed day and night. During the worse stretch bombs rained down for 56 out of 57 days.

Hitler’s reasoning: If Germany could drive 8 million Londoners ‘mad’ with the constant bombing, England would surrender.

Many British children were sent to the countryside to live with relatives or even strangers during this trying and terrifying period of history. But neither London nor England surrendered.

These were the times,”Winston Churchill wrote in his war memoirs,  “when the English, and particularly the Londoners, who had the place of honor, were seen at their best. Grim and dirty, dogged and serviceable, with the confidence of an unconquered people in their bones, they adapted themselves to this strange new life of the Blitz, with all its terrors, with all its jolts and jars.” 

After a few months life did adapt as seen by these two post-war pictures of life in London during the Blitz.

I loved one true story (I read)  from survivors of this period and that was…stores, opening after each bombing daily (if not hit) began putting up these signs on their places of business:

MORE OPEN THAN USUAL

Don’t you just love this kind of John Wayne “True Grit” attitude towards life?

It started me thinking that this would be a great daily mantra to start each day with….“I will be more open than usual…”

When we stay open to the possibilities that await us around all the curves and bends in life…don’t we live life more fully than we we shy away from the curves and try to only follow the straight and narrow.

Life isn’t straight and it certainly isn’t narrow. Life is to be lived at full speed ahead, the throttle wide open…taking in all the curves, detours, and back roads of new possibilities.

So until tomorrow…The day we stop limiting our possibilities, worrying about tomorrow…will be the first day of a new life. In order for this to happen…we must open our hearts to change.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

We aren’t having a “blitz” thank goodness… except in the simile of rain pouring down, not bombs. Over and over again the skies open up with torrential downpours. (Right after I took this picture the bottom fell out again.) The poor little birds are having a tough time finding food during these flooding days…everything you put out gets drenched and soggy.

This is the first time, I can ever remember, thinking that I  need some knee high rubber (rain) boots. The garden has deep, deep puddles, as well as, the front, back, and side yards…so much so that it is hard to even walk outside without ruining one’s shoes…drenched in water.

The grass can’t get cut for the continuous rains…it is going to take a few days to dry all this out…and to date it just doesn’t look too promising to get that many days back to back…with the exception of today, Sunday. For the first time the predictions are only for a 20% chance…lowest in a long time.

Hopefully I will be able to show you a sun shine picture from today… tomorrow…everyone is ready for it! 🙂

*But wait! The sun came out yesterday (Saturday) for about 15 minutes in my neighborhood around lunch time and I did get these two fabulous pictures. Mr. Lincoln is loving the rain, as well as, my morning glories.