Fenced In, Fenced Out, or Stuck On the Fence

Dear Reader:

I am one happy camper! My neighbor next door has started securing and replacing every part of the ancient fence that separates the empty lot that his family owns… all the way to the back of my property going into the woods!

Not only has rotten planks been replaced but meshed wire stapled into the empty spaces that the ” X” design leaves open. He is about halfway through the project… and doing it all on his own! I have thanked him profusely… that rotting fence has been deteriorating for decades!

After whining about my old house and all its problems… this project is nothing short of a miracle… the fence looks so good… secured again and not half/falling down!

During the height of the corona virus… didn’t we all start feeling ” fenced in” at times? Wondering if we would ever return to a sense of ” normalcy”… being able to come and go as we please and do whatever we wanted with whomever we wanted?

I remember my mind and my heart started becoming antagonists… one trying to ” fence” the other in… this internal battle was being waged while I sat ” on the fence” pulled in two directions at the same time. Understanding and Frustration.

Fences, as a whole, get a pretty bad rap in poetry, literature and social interactions… I remember Granddaddy Charlie always lamented over a neighbor cotton farmer… proclaiming he ” would argue with a fence post.”

But then Babe Ruth came along and turned fences into something positive as the baseball spectators yelled at him to “Swing for the fences!”

During my junior high school years… I felt ” fenced out” at school watching the popular girls with their pretty straight teeth, long straight hair, Weejun loafers, round circle pins, Village skirts, blouses, and sweaters. Not a good feeling…

One of life’s lessons that we all must learn is how to ” mend fences” because no one gets through life without causing pain to others… we mere mortals will make mistakes and hurt others … the price of being human.

So until tomorrow…” A fence to wisdom is silence.”

Today is my favorite day/Winnie the Pooh

Just got a text from Walsh declaring happily that he and Mollie had left the kids with Mollie’s parents for a few days ( after a family gathering in Vermont) …and were now at the Cliff House-Maine -kids-less and so appreciative!

**Maine-At Last-No Kids and three days to enjoy the solitude and beautiful surroundings-The Cliff House**

Enjoy Walsh and Mollie… you deserve the vacation time together!

About Becky Dingle

I was born a Tarheel but ended up a Sandlapper. My grandparents were cotton farmers in Laurens, South Carolina and it was in my grandmother’s house that my love of storytelling began beside an old Franklin stove. When I graduated from Laurens High School, I attended Erskine College (Due West of what?) and would later get my Masters Degree in Education/Social Studies from Charleston Southern. I am presently an adjunct professor/clinical supervisor at CSU and have also taught at the College of Charleston. For 28 years I taught Social Studies through storytelling. My philosophy matched Rudyard Kipling’s quote: “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Today I still spread this message through workshops and presentations throughout the state. The secret of success in teaching social studies is always in the story. I want to keep learning and being surprised by life…it is the greatest teacher. Like Kermit said, “When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot.”

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