Author Archives: Becky Dingle

Dear Reader: Lately on the local weather reports…I have heard the term “unsettled” ad nauseum. I feel like yelling back at the television “Enough of this unsettled weather….Get settled… and bring the sun back while you are at it!” When … Continue reading →

Dear Reader: I enjoyed the rainy Monday to catch up on some reading…and once I did I started skimming through the Chicken Soup for the Gardener’s Soul book. I enjoy the short stories about so many different flowers, plants, and … Continue reading →

Dear Reader: One rarely hears “winter” used outside of a noun…especially as a verb. When we do…it usually has to do with wealthy “migratory” families and migratory animals…as in these samples: Henry Flager (Standard Oil) and his family began to … Continue reading →

Dear Reader: The third amaryllis bloomed yesterday on a cloudy Sunday morning. It brought sunshine into an  (otherwise) rather gloomy, shadowy surrounding…it “restored my soul”…”my cup runneth over.” What makes it even more special is that there are three more … Continue reading →

Dear Reader: Buddha said, “If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.”   Do you remember this flower basket from last Easter when I bought it?…It stayed on the deck all summer … Continue reading →

Dear Reader: What is it about traveling to a new environment that keeps us in a state of anticipation and excitement? The whole time I was in Ireland I felt like a child on Christmas morning. I couldn’t sleep late … Continue reading →

The first week in October last year…I took three really big baskets of mums around to all my girls…Mandy, Mollie, and Kaitlyn. The baskets of flowers were gargantuan ….and filled with too many blooms to count…just waiting to burst open … Continue reading →

Dear Reader: I decided on the coldest day this year, in the “dead” of winter- we needed some warm “live” laughter! And who better to bring this to us than the late “Miss” Effie Wilder (Fran Townsend’s mother) with her … Continue reading →

  Dear Reader: Haven’t Monday and Tuesday been ‘picture-perfect’ examples of southern winter days? The sun has been out with a bone-marrow warmth to it…a great day for sitting on the deck and/or front porch…depending on the direction of the … Continue reading →

  Dear Reader: I came across this quote from Henry James and was so happy to “find” it again. I needed to be reminded of the importance of kindness. Henry James said, “Three things in human life are important.  The … Continue reading →