Journey Out of Pink

  Many of you know I have a grandson serving in the Army. Though he's fairly young, he achieved the rank of Captain late last year. Now he is in charge of over 200 soldiers. That astounds me. When I was 26, I couldn't imagine having that much responsibility. I still see this grandson as a young boy, laughing and giggling playing silly games with his brothers. Back then, we had no idea what he'd do when he grew up but we certainly didn't think he'd be in a position of power. As an officer, he can issue commands to his charges. In my mind's eye, I see him filing through a barracks gaining immediate salutes as the lower ranking soldiers show respect. And after walking about halfway through the rows of soldiers, I can just hear his voice calling out with authority, "Stand at ease, soldiers." Stand at ease. We've all seen movies where the soldiers are given this command. Normally they assume a certain position that's more relaxed with arms behind th...

  On Friday we got the most beautiful snow! I'd been waiting for it and when it arrived, I was thrilled. I love seeing those fluffy, white flakes fall from the sky. I was thankful the weather predictions were on target, they usually aren't when it comes to winter weather here, but this time, they did good!  We were ready. We'd purchased a dump truck load of split red and white oak the day before in anticipation of the cold weather. My husband I worked hard to get all the wood stacked and covered. We couldn't wait to build our first fire of the season in our new house! Having a blazing fire on a winter's day was so comforting and we'd enjoyed many over the past years at our other homes.  We'd also pulled out the antique glass lanterns, purchased new lamp oil and wicks. Power outages are common in this area when there's snow or ice and we didn't want to be off guard.  We had a charcoal grill, charcoal and lighter fluid at the ready, too. If the power f...

How I long for solitude, a day for myself, without interruption of any kind. But I never get it. If I could, right now, I'd be on a mountain top looking toward the sun. There would be complete silence. A soft breeze would caress my check and the warmth of the sun would kiss my face.  I get so tired of noise. Daily, I'm bombarded by pings from my cell phone or the blaring from the TV. My mind struggles for peace. I crave it.  And so, I isolate myself. It's a self imposed protective measure. And when I can't find a place to be alone, I slip in noise cancelling ear buds, a wonderful gift from my youngest daughter. She has no idea how they've helped me survive living in a house with a hearing impaired mate.  I feel selfish today. I know I'm his world but sometimes, I feel smothered. He hovers and that's when I feel the need to escape.  I love him with all my heart but we're so different. He thrives in the noise while I want to hide from it.  What's wrong...

  Are you a season hopper? (I don't know if that's a real term, but it's one I made up for this post.) What's a season hopper, you may ask, I believe it's someone who lives from one season or holiday to the next. They get geared up for one and as soon as it passes, they're working on readying themselves for another. As they do, they often face a myriad of emotions. There's sadness at the passing of the last event and there's excitement or joy at the one coming. Why do we do this?    I think commercialism has a lot to do with it. We are bombarded by "stuff" each time we shop. Take Hobby Lobby, for instance, it's one of my favorite stores but sometimes I don't like going in there. For example, on my most recent visit, all the Christmas items were on clearance and they already had Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day things out. Not only do I find all the seasonal items overwhelming, but sometimes I wonder why people feel compelle...

We were barely through with the first week of the New Year when the weather began to get ugly. Listening to weather reports, we were shocked to find we were in for the first snowfall of the year. In the South, we don’t get snow often so when weathermen say, “Get ready!” we do. We bought a load of firewood, gathered oil lamps and oil, made sure we had some charcoal on hand in case our power went out and we needed a cooking source. Over the years, we’ve weathered several ice storms and even a blizzard or two. Though those aren’t regular occurrences in our area, they do come and when they do, people act crazy. They run to the store for bread and milk. They gas up their cars, just in case, and like us, many of them hunker down until the nasty, cold weather passes. But when it only snows here, it’s beautiful! Looking out the window at our yard covered in white is so peaceful and serene. We weren’t expecting much snow, only a dusting, but instead we were surprised to get about 5 inches! ...

Today, I'm remembering a conversation I had with my oldest daughter about 10 years ago. At that time, I was shocked at what she shared. She'd been having a conversation with her oldest son (he's 18 now) when he looked up at her and said, "Mom, what will you do when you get old?" She thought about it for a few minutes and responded with an "I don't know." Then he said, "Will you be like Gigi (that's me)? Will you just spend all your days cleaning?"    As she shared that with me, my first thought was to laugh. You know, out of the mouths of babes and all, but then I thought, what kind of legacy am I leaving for my grandchildren. Of course, this grandson has seen my house and knows it's always clean (yes, I'm a clean freak) but do I really want to be known as a Martha????   For those of you who don't know, I'm speaking of Martha in the Bible. Martha was one of the sisters of Lazarus, the man Jesus raised from the dead after...