A little flora, fauna and ornithology. An encouraging spot on our life adventure.
Good Morning !
Here's some inspiring words filled with TOWANDATUDE to help rev your engine !
ABLAZE INDUSTRIOUS ZESTFUL PROLIFIC AND POWERFUL !
WHO ? YOU !
BEAUTIFUL GLORIOUS FANTASTIC AND PRECIOUS YOU.
Enjoy this day and spread your loving TOWANDATUDE !
THINGS have been crazy around here lately. One of those seasons in life where you find yourself starting to say "What else could go .....". You stop yourself mid sentence, knowing you don't want to jinx things !
HERE'S HOW IT'S ALL GONE DOWN
FIRST, MY CLOTHES DRYER CROAKED. I proceed to hang the wet clothes out on the clothesline. Seemed like a good idea. UNTIL the line broke ! All of the clothes fell into the swimming pool ! Yes, my clothesline is over my swimming pool..Yes, it looks like the "Beverly Hillbillies" live here.
THEN, while getting ready for work, I dropped my diamond engagement ring. I caught it, or so I thought, it bounced off my hand and dropped into the OVERFLOW DRAIN. Yes, the tiny hole in the back of the sink. Ever wonder what it was for ? Catching runaway rings apparently !
THE NEXT DAY, I stroll out to the back yard early in the morning. I am greeted by a RACCOON. He has perched himself on top of my bird feeder and is having a gourmet birdseed breakfast. For the next two hours CharlieBean (the 14 yr.old killer cockapoo) and I are held hostage in the house, while ROCKY RACCOON ran around the back yard daring us to exit. Later, I answered the door to a city ANIMAL CONTROL worker. A sweet woman named KAREN. She was filled with TOWANDATUDE and sporting a raccoon LASSO. She gave Rocky a trip to the woods.
NOW, our 1980 Central Air Conditioner has died. MAY YOU REST IN PEACE. You have served us well for far longer than we could have dreamed possible. But, seriously, it's summer time here in the South. It's 90 degrees in the shade. Just a month ago, I didn't even have the A.C. on ! BAD TIMING MISTER ! Oh dear, I am just one HOT FLASH away from a breakdown !
Here's the thing, SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED A NAP !
I gave myself a special treat. I turned the fan on HiGH, marched myself right on over to the sofa and laid down ! This does not come naturally to me. I am more of a "Crash and Burn" kind of gal. Scarlett O'hara may have had something for us TOWANDATUDE types of ladies. SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO "THINK ABOUT IT TO-MARRAH" (read that in your best Scarlett voice).
SO, go on girl ! Give yourself a pass. Lie down on the couch, read a book or a magazine. TAKE A NAP ! HAVE A BEAUTY REST, YOU BEAUTY ! YES, the laundry will still be there, so will the uninstalled sink in my bathroom, (that had to removed to get my ring out). But you and I will be refreshed, composed and ready to take on the return of ROCKY RACCOON or whatever adventure that presents itself later. May YOU be WELL RESTED AND FILLED WITH TOWANDATUDE !!
Funny thing with me, I always notice peoples hands. When I was a child I always sat next to my Aunt Ora in church. I would hold her hand and study it. I was fascinated by the transparency of her skin and the blue of her veins shining through it. Her hands told a story. The story of a childhood spent on a farm in rural Georgia. Years of adulthood spent as an expert seamstress. Later in her life, those hands would sew my wedding dress and later still, baby dresses for my daughters.
Now, I hold my Mother's hands. Her hands gently guided me across many streets and scolded me in my youth. The hands that worked six days a week at the Dry Cleaners for seventeen years, to support my brother and i. Now I see her years as I look at her hands, the love and sacrifice showing there.
I wonder what my own children think when they look at my hands. My youth fading and years beginning to show. What memories will these hands evoke in their mind ?
We are Women who create memories with our hands, our tools of love. No matter what you are doing, be it cooking, cleaning, gardening, bringing in the income for your family, or all of the above. You are creating a legacy with your gifts of love. The legacy of Love you leave with your hands. Your hands of love.
LAST MONTH I went on a camping trip with my daughter and her family. My Mother, now about to turn seventy six, came with us. What a treat it was to sit at the picnic table deep in the forest and listen to my Mom tell us stories of her childhood. She told us about the summers she spent at her Grandparents farm in Vienna, Georgia. There was no indoor plumbing or electricity. We were hanging on her every word. Listening to hear her story, our story. The story of our heritage.
OUR FAMILY lived in Hawaii, when my children were still in school. One of the things I loved about the Hawaiian culture was a term they used, "TALK STORY". It was the tradition of sharing the stories of your family. Keeping the culture of your family alive by word of mouth. Last week, my husband and I traveled to Tennessee for some R & R. I saw again the tradition of telling the young about their heritage. In one small town we visited, an older gentleman was teaching clogging or "buck dancing" to the local children. Their performance at a local "two-step night" was something to behold ! His goal was to keep this dancing tradition alive in the next generation.
SOON my Mother, my Daughter's family and I will be traveling to Vienna, Georgia together. We want to see the land of my family heritage. I want to tell my Grandson's about how I ruined my new summer outfits in the Georgia red clay when I visited there as a child. About my Great Aunt's and Uncles houses and the first basement I ever saw made from that same red clay. We'll see the land where the Patterson farm stood and visit the graves of generations long past.
WHAT IS YOUR STORY ? In these days of everyone moving about, families are flung far and wide across our country, the world. Time is fleeting past us at break neck speed. Don't waste a minute. Share your stories with your children and your children's children. My oldest grandson has been asking me to tell him the stories of my son's childhood. He wants to hear about how his Uncle never wore shoes in Hawaii and played in the tide pools and learned a warrior dance from a Samoan gentleman.
On that note, Today's TOWANDATUDE word is "TALK STORY". Tell the stories of your youth, the stories your parents told you of their youth. Keep it flowing. Keep your heritage, your culture alive for the next generation to come !
Good Morning to you
Wonderful, Marvelous, YOU.
Here's a few words filled with "TOWANDATUDE"
Just for you !
Courageous, Devoted, Effectual, Fervid, Impressive.
That's YOU !
Have a glorious day, filled with your own version of TOWANDATUDE !
Recently, I had the privilege of spending a few days with the mother of a dear friend of mine. Miss Christine is 83-years-old and has Alzheimer’s disease. On one of our outings, we went to the beach and sat on the shore watching the surfers testing their skill in the particularly rough surf. A small plane flew overhead and sparked a memory in her mind from long ago.
Christine's Civil Air Patrol Cadette I.D.
“I took flying lessons when I was sixteen,” she said, and proceeded to tell me a couple of stories about her days at Palm Beach High School and her brief flying career. What an awesome concept - I never really thought of Miss Christine as a TowandaGal! It turns out that it might be the quiet ones who need to tell us their stories!
Christine was born and raised in West Palm Beach, FL, in the same neighborhood as my mom. She was in the Civil Air Patrol at PBHS in the mid-1940’s. She told me about her instructor flying her down the Florida coastline and how she saw her hometown from the cockpit of a Piper Cub (or similar aircraft). Sadly, when she was almost ready to get her pilot’s license, her adventure came to an end. “I’m not letting you go up in that plane by yourself!” was her mother’s response to signing a parental consent form.
That afternoon, when we returned to her house, Miss Christine showed me a photograph of herself with her with her flight instructor and fellow Civil Air Patrol Cadets. She looked so adorable in her uniform! I thought what an amazing feat it had been for a high school girl of that era. I’ve known her for so many years and never would have dreamed that she, the reserved, stoic type, would have ventured outside “the box” I had placed her in. Shame on me! Wow! Miss Christine really does have TOWANDATUDE!
As I sit on my cutie-patootie porch writing this story, I want to encourage you to seek out the women in your life and ask them to share their stories with you. Ask your moms, grandmas, and favorite aunts. What about your mother’s best girlfriend? I think that, like me, you will find a wealth of inspiring stories to spur you on to be a TowandaGal in your own real life-adventures! I hope that you will find your own sense of TOWANDATUDE!
It all started back in Junior High
This Ugly Thing with critical eyes.
That thing that's always in the back of your mind.
Wondering, "What fault in my appearance will another girl find,
to pick me apart ?"
So, right from the start, you'd begin your day defeated.
You left your house and competed,
to be someone you hoped would be accepted.
WHAT IF WE START A REVOLUTION ? START IT THIS VERY DAY !
When we see a gal whose roots have gone gray or whose waist has gone away.
INSTEAD of the usual "Bless her heart"
lets look beyond appearance and say;
"She has many qualities to celebrate, so I will not berate my fellow Gal Pal, no, not for one minute !"
I WILL LOOK BEYOND HER GRAYING LOCKS AND FADING BEAUTY
TO SEE A NEW MAGNIFICENCE THAT IS UNIQUELY HER OWN.
I vow to CELEBRATE HER LIFE,
and all the gifts that are specific only to her being.
I will look at her true beauty without envy
and know her for who she truly is.
Beyond her taste in clothes, the color of her hair,
THERE IS A STORY OF ANOTHER WOMAN'S LIFE under there !
So, I will leave home today with new eyes to see,
THIS REVOLUTION BEGINS WITH YOU AND ME !
Yesterday, I was sitting at a funeral. Once again listening to someone read the” Proverbs 31” passage. In my head I was completing each line before the Pastor. Why? Because I have them ALL memorized. Why? From years of guilt, inadequacy and a whole host of other bologna I've held myself to forever. I used to read this passage religiously, thinking, "How could I ever attain this title ?" All the while, I WAS / AM that Woman (ok, I'm lacking a bit on the virtuous stuff!). SO, as usually happens, I laid in bed mulling this over and here's what I want to tell you..
I AM NOT WAITING FOR ANOTHER FUNERAL TO HEAR THAT SOMEONE "WAS" A "PROVERB'S 31 WOMAN". While sitting in that pew yesterday, I looked around at all the women there of all ages. I looked across the way and saw my tall, beautiful sister-in-law, surrounded by her friends. I thought; "There's a Prov.31 Woman!" She's been a Wife, an Aunt, a Step-Mother, Homemaker, State Trooper..She's got a loving, kind, compassionate heart, OK she's one..next to her stood her dear friend, she's a Judge, I think she's in too!
I began to think of the women in my life who have raised children while working full-time, helping with their elderly parents..My girlfriends that have weathered the storm of divorce, pulled themselves together, started a new home for their kids and pressed on through their heartache. Women who have gone through the pain of watching a child suffer with an illness or some abnormality, who kept going while their heart was breaking for their child. So many things we've all endured and we've become shining jewels of God. Examples of Him. Loving, Long-suffering, Hopeful...Women are my Hereo's !!
And to my daughter's, their friends, and our lovely daughter-in-law,
Don't be reading that passage and worrying if you'll ever attain the status of the Proverbs 31 Gal.. You're doing it my sweets! You're hard working, loving, nurturing, creating beauty, raising kids, carpooling, T-ball watching, gardening, menu planning, food shopping, arranging trips and having adventures...(makes me tired just thinking about all of it!!)
You Are AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL, PROVERBS 31 WOMEN. Don't worry about it "JUST BE.”
If you are not familiar with this passage of Scripture from the Bible, Have a little read all about YOU!!
A capable, intelligent, and virtuous woman-who is he who can find her? She is far more precious than jewels and her value is far above rubies or pearls.
The heart of her husband trusts in her confidently and relies on and believes in her securely, so that he has no lack of gain or need all the days of his life.
She comforts, encourages and does only good as long as there is life whithin her. She seeks out wool and flax and works with willing hands (to create beautiful things*)
She considers a field and buys it, then plants it with fruitful vines..
She keeps herself strong physically, mentally, and spiritually..
Her lamp never goes out, warning away fear, trouble, sorrow, doubt and distrust.
She opens her hand to the poor & those needy in body mind or spirit.
She opens her mouth in skillful and godly Wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness (giving counsel and instruction)
Her children (neices, nephews, fam.friends..) rise and call her blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied); and her husband boasts of her and praises her saying,
"MANY DAUGHTERS HAVE DONE VIRTUOUSLY, NOBLY AND WELL BUT YOU EXCEL THEM ALL !!!"
It's 6:00 a.m. I'm seated on the couch in my screened porch. It is still dark. I like it out here at this hour. Because of the vacant wooded properties close to ours, I feel like I am on a camping adventure. The birds are already up and singing. Here I sit, just me, my "Charlie Boy" (the 13-year-old killer cock-a-poo), and "The Dinosaur" (my laptop). I think of this as my secret spot. Yes, we all know it's not so secret, but it gives me a sense of adventure being out here in the darkness!
Yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life AGAIN.
I did it. I set things in motion to begin this adventure. I have never known myself to be more of a coward. Not too much TOWANDATUDE going on around her lately! It's a hard thing to let go of what you considered to be a secure safety-net and jump into the unknown. We've all been there at one time or another. Actually, life is a series of jumping off of moving train cars! We leave home. We leave marriages. Life is ever-evolving and we just have to put on our big girl boots and cape and evolve with it!
So, what's that dream of yours? That spark that you lie in bed thinking of, saying to yourself: "I could do that!" "I wish I could....." "If I won the lottery, I would start a....." "My dream job would be....."
But what do you do in the meantime? Be YOU! Wonderful, glorious YOU. With all of your talents, abilities, and wonderment. There is NO ONE like YOU. Do those things that only YOU can do in your own special way. FIND places to lavish your talent on others. Do you dream of having your own restaurant? Cook for your friends! Do you wish you could have a clothing line of your own? Sew for your friends! Do you want to be a party planner? Host some parties! All of these acts of kindness are leading you to your dream. Dream your dream and dare to dream BIG!
Go on - get out there! You may still have to work 9-5 to pay the bills, but meanwhile, plan some fun for this weekend. Lavish your TOWANDATUDE on your friends and family and never stop believing in your dreams!
A little flora, fauna and ornithology. An encouraging spot on the adventure of life.
