Dear Reader:

Yesterday was such a lovely day. Tommy and his friend, Haynes, participated in a fundraiser golf game for one of Tommy’s golf mentors when he was learning the game back in high school…Tommy Cuthbert. Cuthbert was a Summerville “Treasure” to so many people throughout his life and helped so many others along their personal paths. The tournament was held at Miler…just a street away from where I live…very convenient.

Kaitlyn and the dogs joined the crowd too….but unlike Tommy and Haynes who were playing… my daughter-in-law worked…HARD… cleaned the floors, put up dishes, washed clothes, watered the garden, picked fresh flowers…you name …she did it.

Kaitlyn, thank you so much for going way overboard in your generosity…the house, as well as myself, thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Tommy brought me back a Breast Cancer Golf Towel from the tournament….thanks Tommy…I always need another towel.

Kaitlyn also asked if I would like to take a ride and cut through some neighborhoods to look at Halloween decorations and what fall foliage there is-on the way to the Post Office to mail some letters. I was thrilled…finally I was outside….my foot propped up on a pillow on the middle console from the back seat and off we went. The theme music from “Driving Miss Daisy” ran through my mind. 

Looking out my front window from my chair….this scene looks like there are some spirits floating around my front yard….just the light…making the sun sparkle and the glass reflect back inside.

A Glance of Summerville from the Tea Farm to a Minion family Halloween celebration

Impatiens growing out of logs….and who needs a guard dog when you have a gigantic spider in your front yard?

You lowcountry readers were right the other day…Fall is very late in coming…perhaps Thanksgiving?

And now here are a few pictures you sent depicting Fall this year…it means something different for everyone.

Thanks Janet Bender of “Home Sweet Home”…the Autumn Spirit is in you! Adorable!

Cindy Ashley and her husband, Dennis, traveled to Paris a few short weeks ago to celebrate a benchmark anniversary…and this is one photograph Cindy took of Paris in Fall. What a trip for the memories!

Libby told me that Saturday night in Columbia was football night and her family are enthusiastic Gamecocks….so fall jackets (for the first time this year) were needed…a perfect fall-feeling football night with family and friends must have worked.  USC won!

Betsy and her daughter Rebecca!

Family Dog Gallery…they all fit right in…they napped while I did and poor Kaitlyn was ‘going to town’ cleaning….my floors thank you sweet Kaitlyn!

If you haven’t sent in a fall photo of a special picture or a pretty scene around your house or neighborhood or country…please do and keep sending them on in….if you sent one later in the day (yesterday) I may not have gotten to it….but I will and it should be in tomorrow’s blog post. Loving them!

We can learn a lot from Fall…it is a wonderful metaphorical season for change and self- knowledge. I love the following paragraphs I read by Nicolas Cole. It is so true.

Self-Knowledge Is Worth More Than Personal Achievement

Such a difficult lesson, and one that must be practiced diligently throughout the entirety of one’s life: the difference between contentment and achievement.

You can immediately tell when you meet someone which category they fall into. They either emit a genuine confidence to pursue their goals for self-exploration, or they emit an ego-based confidence rooted in personal achievement. I’m not telling you to not set goals and achieve them. I’m asking you to be aware of where your sense of self-worth comes from.

If you pursue things in the name of personal achievement, you will never be fulfilled —and I say this from experience. True fulfillment is calm, and motivated only by creative freedom — a desire to further understand yourself and your craft. Personal achievement is fleeting. And so, in order to both “achieve” externally and find a sense of fulfillment and happiness, you have to keep a close eye on which is which.

Otherwise, do you know what’s going to happen?

You’re going to climb that big mountain in front of you, grind your face off to reach the top, and before you’ve even taken in one single deep breath and enjoyed the view, you’ll notice the next mountain and think, “Oh, actually I haven’t achieved anything — I must need to climb that mountain, too!”

……………………………………………………………………………………………

So until tomorrow…Like the children’s story “Abigail, the Reluctant Leaf” we all have to know when to let go of personal ambition…and find the sense of contentment (over achievement) we have so wanted.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Anne has blooms from her Confederate roses and made a sketch of their beauty…and they are beautiful!