Dear Reader:

Don’t we all love an excuse to ‘ lay low’ occasionally, stay in our sweats and pj’s with minimum cleansing-teeth and face, no make-up … just alternate napping, watching television and reading. A quiet Listening day! A break from conversations or plannings… just a ‘ R & R ‘ home retreat?

Most of the churches, in the area, had cancelled physical services in favor of Zooming, yesterday, due to the wintry predictions and accelerated Covid cases -I counted only 8 cars going down our street all day. Obviously my neighbors must have been enjoying the same gifted respite.

It was so nice to wake up to a dark day with the sound of rain pattering on the roof. I have decided that these gifts of time are metaphors for returning to the cocoon-a time to snuggle down securely without any guilt pangs! A gift from Mother Nature.

In fact when streaks of sunlight started trying to filter through the clouds in the afternoon I was saddened and cheering on the clouds to win the weather battle. I wasn’t ready to return to the ” norm” so soon.

Honey sent me beautiful pictures of their enormous snowfall… and I was content to live vicariously through her pictures! But it was gorgeous!

I have always considered myself primarily a visual learner yet as I grow older my auditory learning style increases exponentially. For example: While reading a novel… if I fall on a phrase or idiom or even a lyrical expression that I like… I now stop and re-read it aloud to myself before writing it down in my notebook I keep on the table next to the recliner.

In one book recently a character was teasing a little southern girl about her habit of adding prepositions to verbs. Suddenly a personal incident flickered in my memory.

Grandmother Wilson was always reprimanding us grandchildren for not listening enough. Her favorite phrase was ” Now listen up…” One day I got sassy and mimicked her in front of the cousins ( trying to show off) Unfortunately Grandmother overheard me and gathered us all together and gave us the best lesson ever.

” One day children you will learn the importance of listening… but listening alone is not enough! You must be able to trust the person in whom you are listening. So remember this little ditty: Listen Up… Listen Down… Then Look Around.

She must have sensed by our puzzled looks -we didn’t get it. She continued: ” Don’t believe everything you hear… check the source… is this a reliable person you can trust to give you good advice. Look around… who are his/ her friends, Are these the kind of people you were brought up to respect? Do they have your best interests in mind or theirs. Look at their actions -they always speak louder than words.

Grandmother’s advice that day still rings true today. In these days when news shows seem to be multiplying faster than new banks… don’t we all need to look at the actions of our people in the news… look for the kind of people who still put principle over self-interest and country before politics?

So until tomorrow… ” Listen up, listen down, then look all around “

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

When the first sun rays,yesterday afternoon, burst through the clouds… they caught all the rain drops dangling on the pear tree branches making the tips look like shiny diamonds were on them!