Dear Reader:

(*Thank you Cindy Ashley for the perfect quote/drawing above-It sparked the idea for the blog post today!)

After Ben left early Friday morning to head back to Conway…suddenly the house became very quiet again. All the neighbors, friends, and family were suddenly back in their homes or on a shopping frenzy and everything began slowly returning to “normal.”

The only problem is that “normal” isn’t really “normal” any more. I still don’t have any “wheels” to come and go as I please or even need and I still have to keep my foot elevated continuously which keeps me situated in one spot. Just like my daily chemo medicine regime advertises…I am now living the “new normal.” *And yet it  doesn’t seem quite “normal” enough for me.

Still…it does have its perks. I have read more interesting stories since my “imprisonment” in the recliner…I have taken time to read news stories of daily heroes, amazing feats of kindness and generosity, along with novels of love and adventure. And I do have something to look forward to…on the 27th Anne and I receive our individually pre-ordered novels…the next in the series of the Louise Penny detective stories…it has been a long wait…almost a year.

My problem is going to be reading it too fast…I have got to try to pace myself through it and then re-read the lines I want to remember…because Armand Gamache delivers some of the best thoughts about humanity and life I have ever heard.

Since I now know that rest/sleep do pay off when it comes to healing this foot…I think my days are going to look like… read, nap, read, nap, read, sleep! 🙂 It’s a tough life but someone has to do it!

When I saw the following quote it made me smile…reading is better than sleep but I will have to pace myself on both ends.

I am sure I will look back on these days (one day in the future) and wonder why I didn’t relish in the medical excuse to stay put…just eat, drink, read, and sleep. Since God has His own time-line I have no doubt He knows when the foot is ready to take me back to my path…yet, there can be no doubt, this “detour” was planned for a specific reason too…to make me pause, reflect, and give thanks for all I have.

So until tomorrow…When reality becomes a little too real, travel through life in your imagination…it’s a great place to visit!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Most of the children will be driving or flying back today from the holidays….they want to be back and situated before the big rivalry game between USC and Clemson this evening. I am sure it will be a hard -fought game with lots of emotion. My prayers are always for every player on both side to emerge un-injured from the game.

*(Tommy got to feeling better so they left Thanksgiving Day to go to Chattanooga for Kaitlyn’s birthday weekend and time to spend with mom and dad…glad they got to go…(even though a little later than planned)… so they will probably wait and come home Sunday.)

Today is the one day of the year when the state of South Carolina is divided…but by tomorrow…life resumes as usual…together again!

November 24

November 25

Vickie’s beautiful Japanese Maple turned color just at the right time in her front yard (a bright yellow…while my Bradford Pear is just now beginning to pop out bits of colors here and there on the tree.

In the lowcountry Thanksgiving seems to be the catalyst that finally brings on the fall colors. They are most welcome!

Tommy and Kaitlyn found fall in Chattanooga. They climbed Signal Mountain Friday (a mountain Kaitlyn grew up climbing in her childhood.) Apparently during the Civil War Confederate soldiers sent signals to each other during the skirmishes but it sounds like Union soldiers saw and interpreted these sometimes to the decrement of the southern troops.

 If you look to the far right in the next picture you will see Julia Falls and they ended up at Apple Orchard.…Kaitlyn says it serves the best apple cider ever!