Chapel of Hope Stories

As I read the ” Great Pumpkin’s ” advice… I just re-thought my day yesterday and realized, with the exception of the sun ( it was overcast all day) and the only ” thick skin” I needed was for the chilly wind blowing… my day was ” pumpkin perfect.”

We celebrated Butch and Kaitlyn’s birthday yesterday with a delicious brunch at the ” Post House” in Old Village, Mt Pleasant. So much fun just being together.

Then we came back and let Kaitlyn open her presents!

I had stopped by Wellmore to hang out with Ben on the way to Mt Pleasant and he gave me a new tour of the floor above him … great view of beautiful Daniel Island.

Then I was off to Mandy and John’s to see the family before they fly out Tuesday for Alabama to visit John’s parents for Thanksgiving.

Darkness is prevailing in the skies earlier and earlier every day. There was just one streak of rose colored sunlight leading me home.

So until tomorrow… Every day I try to learn something new… a fact or feeling … and I left Mt Pleasant feeling like the luckiest person in the world. Keep it simple and let love do the rest.

Today is my favorite day… Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

While reading a recent article, the author ( Cydney Weiner) promoted the idea of ” wintering” … adding that all of us ” winter” – …usually several times in our lives. “Wintering” normally follows life-altering events that send us off on a new path along our earthly journey.

” Wintering” isn’t a sign we have failed or even slipped… it is simply a normal part of the life cycle and more importantly a gateway to the next phase of life. It is a time when we need to allow ourselves to be vulnerable… cleaning out the clutter hidden within us and get a fresh start. It is critical to our well-being.

Weiner uses two different examples in nature to explain the purpose and benefits of ” wintering.” The first is the adorable dormouse.

These creatures’ lives are actually geared around ” wintering.” In the short months they are awake, they are busy layering on fat to be able to sustain and endure the long months when food is scarce. We, too, can use the prosperous times, the good times, to make sure we are ready for the ” winters” in our lives. We need to be mentally and emotionally prepared allowing time for us to practice contemplative moods… reflecting back on the year that has just passed, lessons learned, and preparing new plans for the next year.

By the time leaves are falling off trees in the fall… tiny buds are already forming on branches in protective armor of scales… tiny packages of potential- simple waiting on Mother Nature to give them the go ahead to start opening and blooming.

Trees described as ” dead” in winter sighting bare branches, actually hold tiny secrets on their branches… nothing dies… they are just in their planning stages.

So while ” wintering” this year, take advantage of the time to find small pleasures in the season- sleep late occasionally, eat some comfort foods, take hot baths and showers, and let dark moments teach us lessons in strength … using them as a compass to guide us back to light and spring.

So until tomorrow… wintering is how wisdom is created, when we grow in resilience and compassion, and deepen our capacity for joy!

Today is my favorite day… Winnie the Pooh

Someone has a birthday today… our own compassionate loving Kaitlyn! The Grinch could have taken a part of Kaitlyn’s heart for his own and she still would have enough for several people! ( and dogs)

Dear Reader:

Obviously it is just not ” gals” who are ” born with books in their souls” … but guys too! And the very things that draw us to books… immersion in other places, adventures, feelings, thoughts, opinions, imaginations are the very same ” elements” that others would like to know about us… especially ” as the world turns” and ages along with us.

Kent Nerburn says it best… ” We are living documents of the times. Don’t let your voice go unheard.”

Haven’t we all read a letter or a note from a loved one who passed or discovered a great or great-great relative who kept a diary or journal… even just a scrawled message that meant so much to us? We read and re-read passages about a certain historical backdrop we thought boring in class… but suddenly we are seeing it through out ancestors’ eyes?

After I retired and was then diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008… suddenly I realized I had been given the gift of time ( for the first time in my life) and was letting it slip through my fingers… grandmother taught all of us… ” When your blessings arrive… don’t hesitate… say thank you and then get to work sharing your life.”

My passion was writing… didn’t my children and those who would follow deserve to know the times in which I lived… wouldn’t they want to read memories from the past so they could understand how times are always hard … and the good memories center from the strength and core of friends and family?

I discovered , like Kent Nerburn, that all of us need to find our ” quiet daily balm” when we turn to writing. Confusion dissipates and and provides shape to our thoughts and memories. And it does not matter how we express ourselves… just remember it is a gift to others who will come … now and then…

Nobody is reading memoirs for grammatical mistakes or critiquing written expressions… as long as we express our inner thoughts and feelings from heart and soul. How I would give anything to have more memoirs off my family tree.

I have kicked myself several times for not asking mother,my aunts and uncles…grandparents questions when I could have… and now it is too late.

But… if just one Christmas I had asked each relative for his/ her favorite story instead of presents and started that tradition… how many wonderful stories I could have to continue sharing. Think about it… is there a better gift?

So until tomorrow… Tell your story… because you are the only one who can! A gift for the ages.

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

And then Jeff had come by while I was gone and cleared the yard debris again in time for Thanksgiving! Another wonderful amazing delight!

Dear Reader:

I just got home yesterday afternoon from visiting Brooke in her home in Walterboro…today called the ” Front Porch of the Lowcountry.”

Once a few years back Brooke and I climbed the tallest red rocking chair…located in Walterboro… we didn’t do a repeat act, this time, but one is hard-pressed not to see red rockers on each block downtown and on front porches in many Walterboro homes. ( Brooke said hers needed some fresh red paint this year… it has faded over time.)

But we didn’t care much about rocking chairs this visit…with our first Jack Frost night on its way… each burrowing down in a recliner with a quilt…watching romantic comedies … was more what we had in mind. We chose two terrific ” oldie Goldie’s” and one fun ( and surprisingly) touching movie out now!

But of course… the best part was talking and laughing… reminiscing about how obviously things have physically changed since we first met as eighteen year old freshmen… but also the secret no one tells you… the mirror reflects one thing on the outside but inside we are the same essence of the people we were then… just more ” life experienced” -including the good and not so good.

We now know we can survive things our freshmen eyes could never have seen or even imagined… we might be older now but with it comes the knowledge that one doesn’t live for just one self… but for all the people who come in and out of our lives… literally adding on to the tapestry God has watched us create while connecting us to the rest of the universe.

So until tomorrow… Jim Henson once wrote ” There’s not a word to express the feelings experienced when old friends re-meet.” ( I think he was right… I have thought and thought… but nothing feels good ” enough”… anybody got a thought on this? Please share!

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Brooke’s hibiscus blooms are getting covered but the blooms will probably be gone tomorrow and my morning glories who are ” grounded” ditto. Live for the moment!

… Today-November 18 is a year ago since, Ted, Brooke’s husband passed… we stopped by the cemetery yesterday… how fast time flies even after endings.

Dear Reader:

You know by now how much I love Madeleine L’ Engle’s writings and Story as Truth–The Rock is Higher … is one of my favorites.

She always leaves me with a God Wink and fresh perspective on situations I struggle with daily. One of the hardest lessons for me… where I fall short… is in my judgmental attitude of my dislike… simply put… of mean people. Mean people means to me… people who hurt others with their bias and prejudice against acceptance of diversity… who are simply not kind but self-absorbed-whose value system centers on monetary accumulation and power with little thought given to helping the whole over the chosen few. People who don’t seem to understand the sacredness of life .

After reading an example by Jesus towards His beloved disciples ( as pointed out by L’Engle ) I realize that my judging, in itself, reduces me to a place God didn’t intend for us to travail.

My ” aha” moment came when Madeleine recalled the moment of the first meeting with Jesus’ disciples following His resurrection.

She reminds us ” He did not start the conversation with “Why did you all abandon me? Why weren’t you with me when I needed you the most?”

Instead he said ” Peace be with you.” Not one word of recrimination-but words of peace, comfort, and joy. How powerful was that?

As L’Engle explains… ” When I only see how wrong somebody is, or mistaken they are, then I am blinded to their being children of God, who are just as valued as those who more closely share my same set of values and beliefs.”

Only God can judge us and in the end- only His Judgment matters.

So until tomorrow… As Thanksgiving grows closer… let us remember that our anxiety at the serious global problems confronting us daily … must be tempered with trust in God to see us through these tough times. Let us give thanks to God this Thanksgiving and embrace the peace only God can bring to us.

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

… and my favorite day once again because yesterday I left to spend the night with Brooke-impromptu decision-last minute/the best kind… so in Friday’s blog post I will catch you up with the fun!

This little frog helped me out of an embarrassing situation-it is attached to my car keys and has a light inside you can turn on. I was at the drive-through in my car at CVS and getting ready to hand the pharmacist my credit card when I dropped it and it fell under the driver’s seat.

It was dark and raining and I couldn’t find it… a whole line of cars were behind me waiting their turn… suddenly I remembered the frog.. detached it from the car keys and shone the light under the seat! Success!

Can’t God come through at the best times… no doubt with a little chuckle! ?

Dear Reader:

When it comes to Americans and their holiday traditions-be forewarned: Don’t Mess With Them!!!

FDR learned this the hard way… the year was 1939… still a time of Great Depression economical challenges. The ” mobile ” Thanksgiving idea started out innocuously enough with good intentions but snowballed …with a terrible backlash.

That particular year Thanksgiving fell on the last day of November ( 30th.) Retailers lobbied Franklin Roosevelt to move it back one week to the 23rd … in order to lengthen the Christmas shopping season.

FDR wanted to do anything to help the shaky economy so he agreed. In the middle of August he casually announced to reporters that Thanksgiving would come early that year.

This decision sold more newspaper copies than the war in Europe…. sparking a firestorm of controversy. Letters flooded the White House and political cartoonists had a field day.

Calendar makers were livid… all whose products were now inaccurate, college and high school football coaches clamored in line too… upset to find that the big Thanksgiving game was no longer on the right day.

In the thousands of letters received in the White House some were couples with Thanksgiving wedding plans and children with Thanksgiving birthdays.

Protesters outside the White House began chanting and re-naming Thanksgiving Franksgiving Day!

***However some creative retailers in one particular product saw a sharp increase in sales….turning lemons into lemonade!

The issue in 1939 divided the country half and half-23 states pro and 23 con. Texas and Colorado celebrated both dates that year.

” The following year Roosevelt sheepishly admitted that the whole thing was a mistake and returned Thanksgiving to its original date! Congress passed a law setting that date in stone, so no further Presidents could ever again mess with Thanksgiving. “

So until tomorrow… traditions filled with family memories always take precedence … matters of the heart over matters of economics!

Today is my favorite day… Winnie the Pooh

… and Jackson’s too! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACKSON! You finally caught up with the rest of us Ya’s… jump on in… the water is getting better and better!

And today… the Ya’s….

Dear Reader:

Ever since I told the story of Archibald Rutledge’s memory ( as a teen) of being caught in a terrible thunderstorm that threw him out of the buggy as his horse bolted when lightning struck a nearby pine tree… I have been absorbed in the ” Ah-Ha” life mystery that was revealed to him. Subsequently he revealed it to us ( years later) as a famous author and poet laureate.

As Young Archibald picked himself up ( after being thrown out of the carriage leaving him stranded in the dense woods) he tried to pinpoint his location in connection to home-Hampton Plantation. Suddenly the dark heavy clouds broke just enough that Archibald (holding his hand up and out) saw one star beaming down and this boy of the woods knew which direction to go.

He was suddenly aware of an universal truth unveiled to him… as terrifying as the massive thunderstorm had been as perceived on the ground… it was temporary and looking at it from above the storm…were the stars and moon… serenely gazing comfortably far away from any storm.

He realized that every time he ran into personal turbulences – he would remember that storm and know that the spirit of God was with him …yet far enough away to see a whole new perspective on his problems… infusing peace and serenity within him to restore emotional and spiritual balance.

Now, I too, understand that the storms around me are temporary and above them, shining brightly, is the Star of Hope.

Many years later, after this adolescent incident… the wise, aging, poet laureate, Archibald Rutledge, recalled this life-altering benchmark in his spiritual growth… through prose. ( Life’s Extras)

A SONG OF HOPE

O gallant Heart, defeated

Now gazing toward the West

Where this day’s splendor crumbles

Disastrous and un-blest –

Look, till the deathlike darkness

By stars be glorified

Until you see another dream

Beyond …the dream that died.

So until tomorrow… Like the stars that remain beyond the clouds… new dreams await beyond old endings and new beginnings…

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Yesterday I was all over the Lowcountry running errands… that included getting my flu shot… so glad I made myself go-the flu is spreading like wildfire in South Carolina.

Another reason for playing ” Check-Off” yesterday is that the temperatures dropped and fall fell with late afternoon clouds growing darker and heavier.

So last night I built my first fire of the season-have missed it so! ” Serenity Now!”

Susan was on the move yesterday-going to Charleston to keep Rhea-look how our adorable latest family addition has grown! Happiness is…

Rutledge has more versatility than ever… besides playing football and lacrosse… he was asked to model for Free Fly ( and a gift certificate)… fishing merchandise company…

Rainy day… Boo is having a reading day today…So Happy!

Dear Reader:

As I watched trailers on the latest Pinocchio movie starring Tom Hanks … I was taken back to my childhood …watching it in the movie theater for the first time. I can still cry at the drop of a hat… in the scene when Jiminy Cricket stares out of Geppetto’s ( the puppet maker) window, sees the first star of the evening and starts to sing ” When you wish upon a star.”

Isn’t life about taking our wishes and dreams and turning them into ” real”… meaning … revealing the ” real” us? The tricky part, obviously, is transporting wishes there ( from our past) to reality here (in the present moment.) And though wishing on stars is fun and magically filled… the journey requires three tools-faith, love, and hope coupled with real courage and perseverance.

Think about it… every invention we take for granted today… began with a dream… but if the dream had never been transformed into reality… nothing would have changed us or the world around us.

The Velveteen Rabbit reminds us that becoming real takes a long time-in fact all our lives. It isn’t how we are made… it’s a thing that happens when love and worthiness are recognized in each of us… we are all contributing factors in ” keeping it real.” Real involves giving back to others.

In Pinocchio the blue fairy names three important criteria to becoming real… ” Be brave, truthful, and unselfish.” We need to grow and we need to give.

Being real describes being ” perfectly vulnerable humans.” It also means meeting the needs of the spirit while ” keeping self-worth tucked away in the confines of our soul.”

Tough journey, right? Exactly right. But… we don’t have to do it alone… in fact.. we can’t do it alone… because God, our guiding lantern, brings just the right people ( and animals) into our lives through ” God Winks” … those ” bread crumbs” for us to follow… to make us ” real”

So until tomorrow… Think about it… in the very beginning we are only real to our family who loves us… but if we are open to spreading kindness to others… we become real to all whom we encounter. And in spite of our unique situations-the greatest love and reassurance of our worthiness comes from God- our Creator- Who never stops loving us. REAL-Ly!

Dear Reader:

Have you ever heard the term ” NOVEMBERISH?”

I don’t recall ever hearing it growing up or since… so when I discovered the term in a story I was reading … my curiosity got the best of me… and I immediately looked it up.

It means “dismal, bleak, dark”… as attributed to the month of November. I immediately thought WHY? In the Lowcountry the first two weeks of November simply seem like an extension of October… perhaps better named … 0CTOBER PART TWO.

We have continued having spring and some summer temps… so even though the leaves are colorful and starting to fall… outside the weather is pleasant overall. ( Had to get rid of that little pesky ( late to the party) tropical system last week but it brought us rain which we really needed!)

But apparently other places, like Scotland, aren’t thrilled with the bleakness and darkness of November. ( Our depressed little Scotsmen-I am 50% Scottish) trace this Anglo-Saxon root word back to blood-letting because it was when the animals were slaughtered for food with the fast approaching winter… on its way. ( For turkeys, sadly, this obviously still runs true.)

The first time the term was seen… was in a piece of prose by that melancholy little poetic Scot-Robert Burns. He wrote: ” Here I sit, altogether Novemberish… a damned melange of fretfulness and melancholy. “

**** Really Bobby…. get a grip… check out the mirror… you are such a cutie… and Father Christmas ( for you) is following behind and will soon be there… remember… he does not like pouters!!!!

I love this transition time… for gardeners we get to stop the daily care of the garden and begin dreaming of what we want to plant in the fall and early spring to produce another serene, soothing, ” Balm of Rainbow Road.” Time to imagine new additions !

So until tomorrow…

Dear Reader:

Have you ever thought about how we see God’s handiwork and more importantly His love of diversity?

Starting with the animals… God made them adaptable to live underground, on the ground, in the seas and trees and skies. Each individual animal has its own protective ” mechanisms ” to survive. Then when it came to man… God made man every color of the rainbow -adaptable to sustaining life in every type of terrain found on earth.

And God didn’t play favorites… making only cute penguins or dolphins to inhabit the waters or only cute lambs and sleek horses to enjoy a land of beautiful pastures.

God loves diversity… He loves all His creations in all shapes and sizes from small to tall and little to big. This brings us to our autumn story today-one that I discovered I have re/told every three years exactly…over the last decade. The lesson confirms what we already know. God has a reason for creating everything …just the way it is…

” THE ACORN and the PUMPKIN ”

One day a woman was walking through a meadow. As she strolled along contemplating nature, she came upon a field of golden pumpkins.

In the corner of the field stood a majestic oak tree. The woman, weary, sat down under the oak and began to muse about the strange twists in nature. Tiny acorns hung on huge branches and huge pumpkins sat on tiny vines.

She thought- ” GOD made a mistake with Creation! He should have put the small acorns on the tiny vines and the large pumpkins on the huge branches.”

Resting beneath the oak tree… she drifted off to sleep. She was awakened by a tiny acorn bouncing off her nose.

Chuckling to herself… she amended her previous thought… ” Just goes to show that God knew best all along!”

So until tomorrow… I would imagine falling pumpkins would definitely smash one’s nose-requiring a nose job! 😂 Don’t try to second guess God… we will lose!!!

Speaking of acorns… my driveways are completely filled with them… crunch crunch! But look what Mother Nature did to add a little fun!

Yesterday was a big day for my brother Ben ( luncheon and recognition of veterans) and Big Ben -the famous Tower of London clock that was unveiled and did a practice run striking 11 in honor of Remembrance Day.

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh