Dear Reader:

I love my little reading angel…when I first got her she was supposed to be outside because she had a  solar panel and batteries….but neither seemed to work and I didn’t want her getting weathered- looking so I brought her back in and put her on my bedroom dresser.

Saturday morning as I headed to the garden…the early morning sun’s rays were coming through the french doors and she was lit up…as if excited about something she had just read. She looked beautiful in the contrast of light and shadows.

It is hard to believe that the summer reading lists are out…the low country authors, with all their beach houses and new adventures, have their latest books ready to be gobbled up….and new books and authors are calling me from all kinds of magazine and television “summer must read” lists.

I always end up (by the end of the summer) with the age old problem of too many books and not enough room again….until I gather them and distribute them out to different charity fund-raisers or whatever in the fall.

The other day I returned to the Main Street book store and saw this saying on the wall…it made me feel so much better.

 Tommy and Kaitlyn flew back into the Charleston Airport about 6:00 last evening. Kaitlyn was particularly sad…she texted me she actually shed a few tears when they arrived at the JFK airport in NYC.

She did not want to leave. Dingle, Ireland has come to be that special place for both of them where they can leave all their cares behind. Since this is their third trip there (anniversary get-away)…they know many of the store and pub owners and have made such close friendships with several of the townspeople that they are welcomed back each year with open arms.

Life completely slows down for them and they feel free to try new experiences and adventures that they would probably not consider back home. For Kaitlyn…she has found her imaginary place where she feels at home ….like a place out of a story…and it is hard to re-enter reality again upon leaving it.

She wrote this passage to try and explain her feelings about Dingle, Ireland and the magic hold it has…over both of them….she expressed it beautifully. Dingle is their real-life fairy tale!

“When people ask why Ireland and specifically Dingle, its such a hard answer to explain. It’s like asking someone to describe what their favorite flower smells like and why they love it, or why your favorite band makes you jump to your feet, or why the taste of your mothers cooking provides comfort like no one else can: it’s a feeling.

This place makes me feel like my best self and I’m thankful @ichaseferalcats and I found it on our honeymoon and have had the chance to come back for both our anniversaries. I’m thankful for all the lessons Ireland teaches me, all the friends we’ve made, and it’s continuing beauty. It’s not goodbye, it’s see ya next year Dingle.” 
Love, The Dingles

*They literally felt this time like they were “On top of the world!”

So until tomorrow….”The way to read a fairy tale is to throw yourself in.”
― W.H. Auden

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

My fairy tale takes place every morning in my garden….a new love is born and blossoms… and the fight for survival begins.

*Tommy and Kaitlyn will be leaving cool temps with a fire hearth blazing to return to 90 plus temps with blazing heat!

*Your St. Patrick’s Day nephew, Lachlan, welcomes y’all back quite enthusiastically…he’s been a little blue since you left.