Dear Reader:

I always automatically thank God for another day upon rising…usually in the form of a nod or smile upward but God knows our little ritual and meaning by now. Tuesday night Hallmark had a new movie on…Rome in Love (*I know…perhaps these type shows are a little or a lot too “saccharine” for you…but quite honestly…these days I find myself drawn to lighter comedies, fun summer reads, and romance shows…because they provide a calming respite during these times of  unrest. *Plus the movie was filmed in Rome and I have never been there…so I can tour vicariously in my air-conditioned Happy Room in my recliner…a quite comfortable way to tour.

In this particular plot a young American writer is suffering from a bad case of “writer’s block” and confesses to his Italian landlord that perhaps he should just go back home to the states. She gives him this motherly advice:

“Why don’t you try waking up each morning and asking the universe….“I wonder what this day will bring?” and then simply follow its guide in anticipation of marvelous things coming your way. Don’t force it…wait for it.

Yesterday morning I thought about this… so after giving God my nod for another day of life… I began remembering some unexpected surprises daily life has brought me recently.

*I was eating breakfast at Alexis’ restaurant with friends last week and began talking to a couple seated next to us. The wife was originally from Texas and her husband had just taken her to Fort Sumter the previous day.

I told her I wanted to take  Eva Cate before she starts third grade and inquired about the trip…we had a great conversation before they left. It wasn’t until I started looking around for our bill that the waitress informed me that my new friends had paid for our whole table.

* Sunday, on a whim to “lay my eyes” on my old college roomie (Brookie) to make sure she and Ted were progressing along since returning home…I grabbed some barbecue I had gotten for them from the night before eating out with friends and drove to Walterboro. Perfect timing…we had a chance to catch up and just be together again…it had been a long time coming.

*Monday was ‘one of those days’ you don’t want repeated….a ‘domino effect’ day where simple routines get mysteriously complicated. Case in point…I went to drop off my cable bill with my check included inside the envelope through a slot in the door for weekend and after hour payments….only to discover later in the day that another blank check of mine had stuck to the original one I had placed in the envelope.

Myrtle, the teller, called to let me know what happened and she assured me she would secure my blank check until I returned to pick it up. How terribly kind and also embarrassing at the same time…really Becky? One more trip to the cable center on top of several other payment location frustrations that day…still…thank goodness for the honest Myrtles in the world. A wonderful act of kindness.

Each day does represent unexpected opportunities and challenges but that is what makes life interesting…if every day were the same…think how boring life would be?

I was out in the garden yesterday in time to see the sun’s rays hitting different points of light among the garden plants…so pretty. It was when the sun hit my gazing garden ball Joan gave me…that a quote jogged my memory.

“You are not a drop in the ocean…You are the ocean in a drop.” Rumi

Isn’t that a powerful thought? It was this ancient Persian poet/philosopher who also reminded us ….”Stop acting so small…You are the universe in ecstatic motion.”

It appears to me through readings by poets, theologians, philosophers from ancient times until now…that God delivers us to Earth in the complete package…the universe tightly tucked away inside each of us…connected to everything and everyone else.

C.S. Lewis follows this pattern of reflection when he reminds us “We meet no ordinary people in life.”  How right he is….instead we meet “Honest Myrtles” “Philanthropist Strangers” and roommates who become support sisters with appendages to draw us together again and again throughout life.

So until tomorrow….

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*I stopped by Anne’s home yesterday to deliver another book to her in the Irish Connor O’Shea series and looked up to see her periwinkle moon flowers…so beautiful. Anne and I only had time to beep and wave as she was coming back into her subdivision from having her dog, Nala, groomed as I was heading out.

*****Don’t forget! It is the first day of the new month so remember to say “Rabbit”!  I thought I would use the left over stuffed “rabbit dog” from Easter for today’s photo entry since August is our “Dog Days” month.

Eva Cate is taking a drama camp this summer. It is putting on a very small production of the Lion King…she tried out for Simba and got one of the parts..(since Simba grows up in the production several different-sized children need to play the role of the lion at different stages)…she is Little Simba 2 and has a duet with Nala...Simba’s girl friend lioness. I can hardly wait to see and hear the performance Friday. Eva Cate is practicing her lines and song long and hard. She is so excited!! 🙂

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