Looking at the World Through Rose Colored Glasses

Jim tells me that I look at the world through rose-colored glasses.  I look for the good in people and enjoy every thing that God has made.  Like the most beautiful setting sun I've ever seen in the sky late this afternoon.  I rushed inside to tell Jim to come look at it.  

Tea Olive blossoms

I was outside working all morning and enjoyed the butterflies that are migrating.  Big bees were buzzing about and so noisy that I thought for a minute there was a "swarm" of honey bees nearby.  I planted fall flowers and some cabbage plants.  Then I pulled up weeds in the flower beds for awhile.  I kept smelling the fragrant tea olive from the tree growing right outside the kitchen door.


I often think about the Bible verse we repeat every Sunday morning at church:  "This is the day the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it."    I am thankful for every day and most of all I'm thankful for good health.  So many people my age have multiple health problems.  I learned about this while working on our school class reunion. For this reason, I keep busy and make good use of every minute of the day.  


My friend, Glenda Williams, sent me this interesting article today via email.  I thought it was so interesting because what the teacher told her class reflects my feelings too. In fact I thought it was me talking!!

Lisa Beamer, whose husband Todd, died in the terrorist attack on 9/11/01, made some comments on a TV news story on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.  She talked about how she and her children missed Todd and  how they were coping.  Then she  recalled this story:
  

"I had a very special teacher in high school many years ago whose husband died suddenly of a heart attack.    About a week after his death, she shared some of her insight with a classroom of students.  As the late  afternoon sunlight came streaming in through the classroom windows and the class was nearly over, she moved a few things aside on the edge of her desk and sat down there.  


With a gentle look of reflection on her face, she paused and said, ' Class is over, I would like to share with all of you, a thought that is unrelated to class, but which I feel is very important.  Each of us is put here on earth to learn, share, love, appreciate and give of ourselves.  None of us knows when this fantastic experience will end. It can be taken away at any moment.

Perhaps this is the Lord's way of telling us that we must make the most out of every single day

Each of us is put here on earth to learn, share, love, appreciate and give of ourselves.  None of us knows when this fantastic experience will end. It can be taken away at any moment.

Perhaps this is the Lord's way of telling us that we must make the most out of every single day.   Her eyes beginning to water, she went on, 'So I would like you all to make me a promise.  

From now on, on your way to school, or on your way home, find something beautiful to notice.   

It doesn't have to be something you see, it could be a scent, perhaps of freshly baked bread wafting out of someone's house, or it could be the sound of the breeze slightly rustling the leaves in the trees, or the  way the morning light catches one autumn leaf as it falls gently to the ground.  

Please look for these things, and cherish them.  For, although it may sound trite to some, these things are the "stuff" of life.  The little things we are put here on earth to enjoy.  The things we often take for  granted.  

The class was completely quiet.  We all picked up our books and filed out of the room silently.   

That afternoon, I noticed more things on my way home from school than I had that whole semester.  

Every once in a while, I think of that teacher and remember what an impression she made on all of us, and I try to appreciate all of those things that sometimes we all overlook. 
 

Take notice of something special you see on your lunch hour today.  Go barefoot.  Or walk on the beach  at sunset.   Stop off on the way home tonight to get a double dip ice cream cone.  For as we get older, it is not the things we did that we often regret, but the things we didn't do."   

My Book Club met today

I belong to a book club that meets the 3rd Tuesday morning of each month. We have an average attendance of around 10 people and all sit around a long table in Just Folk Coffeehouse on the town square.  Once a year we make a selection of books to read during the year and then we all start reading. Usually the person that selects a particular book will in turn be the moderator at the meeting when we discuss that book.

We share books or get them from the local public library.  Some of us order them for our Kindles and it's easy to go back and review them just before our club meeting.

Today we discussed a really good book, Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay.  I filled in as moderator for a friend who went out of town on a trip with her husband.  I enjoyed reading this book so much that I read it in two days.  The chapters alternated between 2002 and 1942, which was very interesting.  Here's a short review of the book that I copied from Amazon, where I order many of my books:


"Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.


Paris, May 2002: On Vel' d'Hiv's 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an   article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah.  Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life. 

Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode."

When we gather at our meetings, we talk about good books we are reading or have read.  Some have been made into movies, i.e. The Help, a book we read earlier this year.  I was wondering how they could make a movie that would be like the book, with the dialect and all.  The movie pretty much followed the book and was great.  People clapped at the end of the movie  - I guess cheering for one of the main characters, Minnie.    Now we are waiting for the movie "Sarah's Key" to come to our area.  We might have to get it on Netflix next year and watch it on big screen TV at one of our meetings.    

PEAR DAY: Pear Relish, Pear Honey Marmalade, and Pear Bread

Our neighbor Ralph appeared at the door Tuesday with a 5-gallon bucket of pears. 

Today I decided to spend the day processing the pears.  First I had to peel them which took about an hour.  Then the next step was to cut them into thin slices away from the hard core.

 I had already made some pear preserves so i decided to make my favorite, Pear Honey Marmalade.  It is made of grated pears, sugar, and crushed pineapple. I made 2 recipes of that, bringing the mixture to a boil and simmering for about an hour until pears are transparent and the juice thick like syrup.

Then I made several jars of pear relish.  This is so good to eat with vegetables, put on hot dogs and hamburgers, add to salads, etc.  The relish is made of ground pears, green bell peppers, chopped onions, and a couple of red hot peppers.  To this you add a quart of vinegar and bring to a boil, and then fill jars with the hot mixture and seal. 

I made 2 recipes of pear bread, filling a loaf pan and 7 small loaf pans.  I didn't have any pecans to put in it so I sprinkled the top of each loaf with roasted sunflower seeds.  Delicious!

After all this I still had a lot of pears left over.  So I added some sugar and cooked them for about 2 hours and made some more pear preserves.  I'll probably give a lot of them away over the winter.                                                    

Celebrating our US Constitution

Yesterday was our annual Daughters of the Amer. Revolution and Sons of the American Revolution annual Constitution Luncheon.

Ten year old Caleb Sims gave a speech about the Pledge of Allegiance (history, etc).  He is presented a certificate from the SAR Registrar, John Wallace.

John and I, along with another SAR member Dick Kemp (now deceased), organized the first Constitution Luncheon 11 years ago and it has become an annual affair.  The SAR takes care of awards, programs, and  speaker or entertainment, and the DAR members decorate the tables and also present some awards.

This year we didn't have a speaker, but the Enterprise State Community College sang patriotic songs for about 15 minutes.  You can see them behind Caleb in the photo above.  Our meeting was in a church fellowship hall and the singers were standing in the choir loft.  We loved their music.  They had to go back to classes and couldn't stay for lunch.

The SAR furnished the color guard (see photo on right).  Several of the SAR men have uniforms, musket guns, etc. and often provide color guard for SAR functions, i.e., grave marking ceremonies outdoors.  Only 3 could come to the luncheon; usually there are 6 or 7 in the group.

The DAR presented 4 awards for length of service: 1 for 25 years, 2 for 40 years and 1 for 50 years.  I have 30 years but they don't give certificates for 30.

Flag of Honor

Linda Westbrook and her daughter Janna Curtis presented a "flag of honor" to the Elba Fire Chief Danny Jordan, to hang up in the fire station.  The stripes are filled with names of those who perished on Sept 11, 2001.  The Flag of Honor includes the names of everyone who perished on 9/11; on all of the planes, at Shanksville, PA, the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.

Medal of Appreciation

I was very surprised when the  SAR President called out my name to come forward to receive the SAR Appreciation Medal and a certificate for all I have done to help organize and help with the annual Constitution Luncheon.  I received the SAR Martha Washington Medal several years ago.

The Martha Washington Medal was authorized in 1971 and may be given to a woman over 18 years of age in recognition of outstanding service to SAR.

The SAR Medal of Appreciation, authorized in 1960, and may be given by the SAR to a member of the DAR in good standing in recognition of and in appreciation for outstanding services rendered to the SAR.

Martha Washington Medal

We had lots of door prizes and a couple of raffle items at the end of the program.

We had 70 people at the luncheon.  The meal was catered and very good. 



 Everybody had a good time.



Taking a Class - Online

I'm learning how to use Adobe Photoshop by using a classroom book Jim ordered for me from Amazon. My goal is to learn to restore old photographs.  There are 17 lessons and I have completed 3.  It's very interesting.

9-11-01 Remembered Today on 10th Anniversary

Today was the 10th anniversary of the terrible terrorist events in NY, Washington, DC and PA.
We had a special service in church to remember the victims and their families, and honored our law enforcement personnel, EMS first responders, and firemen.   After the church service, they were invited to stay for a special picnic lunch.  What a great day!  Special music and good attendance.

Then tonight we went to Hayes Funeral Home for visitation for Elba's Mayor, James Grimes - who grew up in Curtis community with us.  James died (cancer) Friday night at Elba Hospital around 9 p.m. - during the Elba High School football game, where his son Wynn is one of the coaches.

James was Mayor for 15 years and did a lot for the City of Elba.  He was so proud of the new children's playground and the new levee around the town.  He was a classmate of my sister Susan.

Perry's Pond

My brother Perry Wilson has a new project!  He acquired some property near the Elba by-pass from his grandson Bradley and is turning it into a beautiful get-away.  He has cleared 5 acres of dense forest around the 2-acre pond and behind the cabin his son Brad was building when he died several years ago.

Perry contracted with someone to come in and pull up all the trees less than 6" diameter and pile them up to be burned later.  Then the area was leveled and grass sown (hasn't come up yet).  At the back of the cabin is Beaver Dam Creek - which flooded downtown Elba in 1998.

More later.................

The Might Pea River is rising

Weather map on The Weather Channel on TV

Tropical Storm Lee arrived yesterday (Sunday) and it was cloudy and light rain throughout the day.  Today
was the big day here.  It was raining when we got up after being awakened by the weather radio informing us that we were under tornado watch.  Then about an hour later it got very dark outside and the tornado sirens went off.  We saw this map on TV and there was a notice that a tornado had been seen over the Elba airport, heading north.

Tornado warnings and watches, severe thunderstorms, etc. have been broadcast all day.

We went downtown for me to get a couple of photos of the Pea River which runs through Elba.  It's on its
way to being very full in the next 24 hours.  I will post some more photos this time tomorrow.  It is very
muddy and full of debris.

There was a truck with a boat trailer near the boat ramp.  I can't believe someone is on the river in all the rain and tornado warnings we've had today.

We've had almost 5" inches of rain in the past 24 hours and it's still coming down.  Glad we didn't have any high winds or thunder or lightening.   It was really just a gentle and sometimes heavy rain and feels nice and cool outside now.

We are supposed to have nice, cool weather all week.  Can't wait!

Waiting for Tropical Storm Lee

It isn't often that we eagerly anticipate a tropical storm to arrive from the Gulf Coast.  But this time it's different.  We need rain badly.  We don't need a lot at one time but this time it's predicted to move through slowly and the soil is so dry, it should soak it up as it falls.  We DO NOT want Pea River (that flows through Elba) to flood again as it did in the 1990's three times (1990, 1995, 1998).

Tonight the rain is supposed to move into our area.  YEAH!  I don't think we've anticipated rain this much in a long time, and without hurricane winds and tornadoes.



Large vats of peanuts boiling

 We took advantage of the cloudy and breezy day to take a short trip to nearby Luverne, AL to get some boiled peanuts at the "World's Largest Peanut Boil".

Held in conjunction with The Shriners' World's Largest Peanut Boil participants in the festival will have a great chance to purchase some of the over 60,000 pounds of peanuts which are sold each Labor Day weekend as a part of the Shriner's annual peanut boil - recognized as the largest peanut boil in the world for over 30 years.


Then we settled down to watch the Ala football game, the Auburn game, and listen to Clemson and Troy ballgame on the radio.  Several of our family were at the Clemson/Troy game where our granddaughter Nerissa is a 2nd semester Senior in Nursing program.  Several people from the Elba/Troy area went to the game.

We had an early Labor Day cook-out tonight.  Jim grilled some good rib eye steaks and I made  baked potatoes and a big garden salad to go with the steaks.  And a tall glass of good cold iced tea.  He is waiting awhile for a dish of Homemade Vanilla Blue Bell ice cream that I bought today; the best ice cream in the world according to Jim Gilmer!

Celebrating two birthdays



Katie and Caroline opening their gifts



 Two of our granddaughters have birthdays a week apart; Katie was 20 on August 29th and Caroline will be 16 on Sept. 5th (Labor Day).  We traveled to Florence, SC for the birthday party on Saturday, Aug. 27.

Their Uncle Jerry and Aunt Alice came from Charlotte to help celebrate, along with the girls' boy friends.

Caroline is shown in the next photo dressed for school on Monday, Aug. 27, wearing a new outfit she got for her birthday, including feather ear rings.

In the next photo, she is off to school, the 2nd day dressed in hot weather clothes.  She is driving now and has her own parking place at school.  She drives the family car and Bill drives his pick-up to work or goes on his motorcycle.  He has to keep up a truck, a motorcycle, an SUV, and two other cars.  I can only imagine his insurance bill!!

Caroline, Nell, Nerissa, Jim and Caroline