( Autumn Daydreams- Michelle Dunaway)

Dear Reader:

“What a day for a day dream….what a day for a day dreaming gal.” The Lovin’ Spoonful clarified what my yesterday was all about…memories.

When we look back on our past…it is easier, usually, to recall memories from “big” occasions… holidays and special events like graduations or marriages or that first-born child who created a family unit.

My memories…yesterday, however, went in a different direction. I remembered two “secret anniversaries of the heart.”

They both took place in the fall, my favorite season, many years ago and several years apart…but both gave rise to such elevated feelings of pure happiness and euphoria that they have outlasted thousands of other memories… destined to turn to dust.

The first glimpse of euphoria took place about a year after my family left North Carolina to move back to Laurens, South Carolina. From earlier posts, you might remember,  I wasn’t thrilled about this move… (that being a huge understatement.) I had left family (two close cousins my age) friends, and the darling little boy I had practically raised while babysitting.

Time does heal all wounds…By the start of my second year of high school in Laurens…I had made a group of friends and felt accepted in my new niche. One of these was a friend named Jimmy who turned out to be one of my best pals in high school. We literally grew up together during those difficult teen years.

We both had birthdays in September… One fall Jimmy surprised me with a birthday excursion. He told me about a ‘little mountain’  not too far out of town where there was a fire lookout tower that one could climb and look out over a huge section of this hilly Piedmont area …now called home.

We had to hurry and leave (immediately after school) since the sun was now setting earlier…We arrived just as the sun was beginning its descent in the west.

Quickly we  climbed to the top platform and there before us was the most beautiful display of nature’s beauty…( a forest of trees  turning every shade imaginable…reds, oranges, yellows, and purplish hues against the bright red back drop of the setting sun.)

As I stood there looking out…I felt so euphoric I was afraid I might explode…every molecule in my body was tingling with God’s beauty showing off just for me…I felt. This adventure took place in the late sixties…but I can still feel a “whisper” of that same sensation sometimes today…always in the fall.

I remember reading, one time,  that when we are One with God…then that is Heaven. It is the only way to explain that unforgettable sensation of happiness and contentment.

Ironically the second incident where, for a magical moment, I felt filled with joy, was another boy named Tommy and another ‘mountain trip.’ He, too, was a history major, he was very dynamic, involved in lots of leadership roles, and was a hunk…no other way to put it.

When I got singled out by Tommy…it was like something out of a fairy tale…though I suspected the universe was playing some kind on joke on me. (I still carried a sense of loss and inadequacy with me from my childhood.) But I was caught up in the moment…and upon reflection…so glad I was…because it is the moments that are the most precious specks of time!

Tommy had this volkswagon with all kinds of crazy idiosyncrasies…I soon suspected that the car would never go anywhere for anyone but Tommy… and even then… it still gave us a ‘run for the money’ on trips we took together.

Tommy decided, one day, we should go see the Battle of King’s Mountain. It is located just inside South Carolina before the border into North Carolina…so it was quite a distance for an one-day journey. But I remember when Tommy dropped me off… back in front of my dorm…I knew I would never forget that day.

We had gone on the anniversary (Oct 7) date of the battle Jefferson called ‘the turning point in the south‘ for some special role playing and storytelling the park was offering..but this time it wasn’t the beautiful grounds we walked or the love of history we shared…but the moments spent together laughing and for the first time I felt special. How important it is in our lives... to feel special. 

I kept pinching myself thinking I surely was daydreaming the whole experience. And that night I couldn’t sleep for re-living every moment of that day. And I still fondly remember it all these many years later!

Some people come into our lives for only short periods of time but that doesn’t detract from the important role they played in our life. Jimmy and Tommy both gave me the greatest gift of all…friendship, love, and acceptance. I thank you both from the bottom of my heart.

So until tomorrow…

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

LAST DAY TO VOTE! LAST DAY TO VOTE! LAST DAY TO VOTE!

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Find Pip’s photo as seen (above) and click on the heart next to him. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! We so love this rescue dog … with no teeth (due to malnutrition in the puppy mill) but lots of tongue and heart !

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“I will jump this h-i-g-h if you vote for me….last chance today…Please! 

“I will also do my karate moves for you” Please vote!

Yesterday was Tigger’s 12th birthday and what a sweetie he is!

Happy Birthday dear Tigger!

In spite of it being his birthday he took time out to vote for his little cousin Pip!

Poogie set his alarm to wake up and go vote for cousin Pip today!

Eloise says she will do the “Pip Tongue” move for you…if you just vote for Pip!

*Walsh, Mollie and family made unbelievably good time on the way back from the Outer Banks back to Charleston.

Here are some last photos from the trip…apparently it was a good thing that the rental had a hot tub in it…as it got cool on the beaches with the intermittent clouds and rain… everyone loved the hot tub…especially  Eloise.

I believe the boys’ favorite treat was ice cream and I think we all have their favorite flavor figured out…the color gives it away. Eloise just appears to like anything with lots of sprinkles. Welcome back Dingle family…glad you had fun and a break from the same-old’s!