Dear Reader:

Yesterday I mentioned we finally got a long overdue thundershower …and as Goldilocks discovered , repeatedly, ” It was just right.”

It wasn’t violently windy, or tumultuously overpowering in its intensity… but a nice steady downfall that immediately soaked into the ground …quenching the thirst of all the plants, bushes, flowers, and trees so desperate for natural rain over limited garden hose waterings.

Yesterday morning blooms were popping that I haven’t seen in weeks due to the dry conditions. We also have a chance for more thundershowers this week so hope runs high the garden will revive and more colors return.

Isn’t life the same… when it comes to slowing ourselves down, not to just smell the roses, but to take a moment and look around. By ” looking around” … I mean using all the senses… when I went out in the garden early yesterday morning the smell of rain pervaded the gardens with raindrops still glistening on the bushes and plants as the sun rose and its rays made nature sparkle.

It was the freshness of the morning, however, that sent my sensory organs into overdrive-somehow I just felt completely renewed … like I had a whole new clean slate in front of me and could pick any direction to pursue… such a sense of freedom!

I feel such gratitude for having lived long enough to be able to enjoy a slower life style. To be able to pick and choose how my time is spent… this gift of time certainly isn’t found in teaching or single-parenting …while running and rushing to more events than the daytime allows -that was the norm then.

The first half of my life was spent ” reacting” to daily situations rather than planning for them. It was like I was in a wound-up swing and everyday it was let go… and I just went round and round until the day finally ” wound down.

So until tomorrow… Slowing down is more of a mindset than a physical action

******************************************And speaking of ” slowing down ” … guess who came home today… our little Rhea… with all systems on GO! The family is thankful to so many people for prayers, notes, cards, texts, emails, calls… along with the amazing staff at the MUSC NICU unit! It takes, not just a village, but a lot of love and compassion, and generosity to raise a child!

Walsh and Mollie left Wednesday to head to Asheville and be there this morning to pick up the boys from camp today… didn’t the week fly by!!! They toured the Biltmore Estate and let Eloise have a little vacation too!!

Since we are on the subject of time… I got a Walmart application emailed to me yesterday… wanting me to ” join their team” -no doubt as a greeter! In other words… You know you are getting old when Walmart comes ‘ a’ calling.

Will end with this picture Walsh sent last night-great photo of and ” For the Beauty of the Earth.”

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh