My Aha Moment This Morning

Snowball AKA Project Deadline

I was talking with my friend, Linda B. last night at work.  We were bemoaning all the things that always seem to be pressing down on us, turning up the pressure and stress levels.  She was saying how she just needs a day to relax and have nothing to do.  Paraphrasing here...then she added but when I actually get one it, it is not that great.  That made me think about how that happens to me too.

It seems we have become so accustomed to the running that we don't know what to do with a slow day.  It is almost incomprehensible that there is not something that must be done today or that someone doesn't want something!  Surely that cannot be!

I started to think about how we live...there is one project to complete after another.  It is how most of us roll.  Have our lives become To Do Lists and Projects and Deadlines?  Kinda! As I work I am usually thinking... I am half done, almost done...done!  My brain is always running the calendar of events in my head and how I need to do XYZ to be ready.  And I always know what time it is.

So this morning I realized I really only have today to work on my family history!  I was so overwhelmed with; where to start what to do first, how I need to buy more folders as my paper files are getting way too full, I need to write some lessons for my classes, and I want to work on my own genealogy and organize the papers that have been piling up about the Mayflower and get all that in its place....yada, yada yada.  Oh and I want to blog, and research some things on Wikipedia and I have to try hard to finish up on the vacation adventure posts in my spare time.  Oh yeah, and there are all the things I have around the house.  The never-ending watering flowers (ugh!)  cleaning, cooking, you know how it is. 

Then came my AHA!  "Bonnie life is more than just project after endless project."  Life is not a project marathon.  Life is a process.  It is a process of accomplishing things a little at a time while not killing yourself in the process.  It is working on something and finding the joy, not the time clock.  It is balancing the 'have to' moments with the 'want to' moments.   It is having those days we call the "days with nothing to do" be the days of doing plenty, but just what we want to do...not just what we have to do.

 I am not suggesting never doing what we need to do, that would be very irresponsible.  But rather balancing that with the special want to do days.  May I be so bold as to suggest the kind of day when you do something just for you?  That can even include doing for others but on your terms.

In some ways I have been conscious of this feeling since leaving the workplace and that is what I love most about it.   The freedom to choose.  That is what I had the least of when I worked many hours a week for someone else.  Having my own business for six years was so much better because of the flexibility.  Doing what you want does not eliminate work, it just allows you to work at something you like to do...or even PLAY, heaven forbid.

I had a lot of feelings about that not being able to choose how I spent my time phenomenon.  But the Aha of "process not projects" really articulates it for me.  I understood this on a certain level before, but just hadn't attached language to yet.  That tends to make concepts more useful.  Until something moves from the feeling stages to the articulated stage it is hard to make changes.  (That is one reason I love writing so much.)  I want to accomplish things but with a different emphasis and paradigm. 

Nipping at one's heels...

It will help me (I'm hoping) in removing that feeling that there is a big snowball chasing me down a hill that is about to over take me and flatten me completely.  It will also make me face the fact squarely that I am the one putting that snowball on my heels.  I either make that happen or let it happen.

I want to stop putting unrealistic exceptions upon myself and life, in general, because as we all know...the projects just keep coming like beads dropped on a string with no knot at the end.

 I am going to put more emphasis on the process of living well and enjoying all that I do. I seem to use the word "savor" a lot lately.  That is living life as a process not a project.

Me pushing back at the snowball...

You are going to see me chilling (but not on a snowball) a little more and being more realistic.  Man is that he might have JOY.  (Woman too.)  And pushing unrealistically all the time robs me of that.  Some people are much more capable of it than I am.  So anyway...that was my big "Aha" moment today.  As you can see...I am blogging in the middle of all these papers all over my desk that I was reorganizing and decided that instead I needed a little joy... and that always brings me back to my keyboard and you.

Letting the snowball melt all alone...without me!

Are you enjoying your life as a project-oriented person or a person in the process of living your life to the fullest and savoring it?  It doesn't mean being lazy, it means living with a different mindset and more purposefully.  Something to think about.

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Happy Father's Day To All The Wonderful Fathers We Know!

I absolutely love this quote.  Think about how you are the result of the love of thousands.  As a lover of genealogy and family history I just adore this thought because it is so indicative of just how special every person is.  Not only are we each a child of our Heavenly Father who loves us completely, but our human family through out the ages has conceived each of us in love.

Today I have been thinking about all the fathers in my life.  There are many.  Of course my own father and Jim's father came immediately to mind, we miss them always and wish we could turn to them for guidance often.  And most especially, my husband who has been the most amazing father our children could have ever had.  From the moment we became acquainted with the fact that we were expecting our first child, he has been a supportive father.  Always there, always ready to reach out and give of himself.  He has been a spiritual leader in our family, always a teacher, a servant and always a good example.  He loves in a total way.  What child or wife could want for more than that?

We love and miss our grandfathers.  Jim's grandfather in many ways became my best-known, best-loved grandfather too.  We stood overlooking the graves of our family today.  Grampa Andrew, our fathers, and Jim's brother, Gary.  Wow! What dynamite men.  Each and every one of them good, really good fathers.  We feel that good part of them inside of us in a real way.

When I look at our pedigree charts and try to imagine each of our grandfathers going way back, I sense they were very good people.  I wish I could know them and feel we will one day.   Of course there is always the exception and none of them were perfect, even as we are not.  But still they were mostly good at heart.

As I have worked hard to learn about them I am blessed to instinctively know that.  Each of God's children has that spark of the divine, even when our human eyes may not readily see it.  We are all a composite of those who came before us.  Today I am feeling that like never before.  A family is a sacred heritage that goes on and on in each direction. We belong to each other.

I think of our brothers, Steve and Gary and Jim's brother...they are all good fathers.  Jim's brother died at 26 with only one child, but I see the effects of his goodness in his grandson, Thomas.  Who we are affects our posterity for generations.  I think of our uncles, all good men and fathers.  Our cousins, tremendous men that have contributed much to this world.  Our friends, each one a good father and raising or has raised remarkable young people.

I have witnessed how the ones who left us early in life are missed so terribly much by their families, like Bill, Larry, John, Sione, and most recently, Alan.  The mark a father leaves behind is tangible, precious and to be remembered.  Our sweet friends that are still here are all active, happy grandfathers and even some great-grandfathers.  They are 100% in for the durations with their families.  They live their children and grandchildren's joys and sorrows right along with them.  We love you.

This is such a joy to witness over generations.  Who says getting older is not so good, does not look around with eyes to see.  As we look at the exemplary families of our children's spouses, Melissa, Lowell and Robert we see their great parents whose goodness has visited itself upon our shared grandchildren.  That influence is huge, meaningful and a great blessing to us.

We are privileged to watch our sons, Chris and the two wonderful sons our daughters married.  They amaze me to the point that a hush falls over the room sometimes as I see them at work.  They have given all for their children and their families.  We truly are the result of the love of thousands.  How can that not bring unspeakable joy to us today?

We watched a wonderful young father say good-bye to his four day old son, as the baby returned back to heaven, just weeks ago. Through the strength of their little family and the baby's very supportive grandparents, many have been lifted up in faith and hope and love~forever changed.  We will love you forever, Chapmans.  We have been taught by your deep love and faith in our Father in Heaven.

Just a little while ago I spoke with my sister-in-law, Emily, to wish her a happy birthday today.  She told me of our nephew, Nicholas, and his wife, Mara and their first new baby, Quinn, just a few months old.  She told me of their complete devotion to their little one, barely having time for anything else in their lives, in the newness of it all.  And I realized another new Dad has been born, completely and totally devoted to his little girl.   And I see, my brother, my dad, our grandfathers, uncles and cousins.  They are all a part of that eternal influence that insures Quinn she belongs to something big and powerful and where she will always be loved and cherished....her family.

May we all have had a wonderful day of reflection upon all the fathers in our lives that have been the best they knew how to be and may we feel a special joy in knowing that they have touched us for the better through their love and inherent goodness.  Thank you to all our wonderful Dads related or otherwise!   And Thanks be to Our Heavenly Father for blessing us with all of you.

James with Jennifer 3 days old!

"If in John 14:2 the word "mansion" is replaced with the Hebrew word "bayit" - meaning "family" - we get a very different interpretation of what the Savior was saying to His disciples when He talked about "mansions" within His Father's house.  "In my Father's house are many families. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you (plural, meaning you and your family) ... that where I am, there ye many be also."  
 By Ryanna Ollivier~ Meridian Magazine 6/17/13

Our Wedding, June 15, 1968 Reprise

 A little the worse for wear and also

 a little the better for the journey!

Tomorrow, June 15th, we will have been married 45 years.   Seriously, I can hardly fathom that.  Life goes by so fast.  It has been a joy most of the time, especially in retrospect.  I think by the time you have been married for this long you are just filled with amazement and gratitude that another person has actually been able to put up with all of your stuff for so darn long!  Holy Smokes!

Another person has stayed with you through thick and thin, in sickness and in health, through all the trials and set backs and struggles...your person has stood by you and witnessed and shared your life, your progression, your best and worst moments.

They have accepted your repentance and forgiveness.  And you have done the same for them.  You have both worked hard to make it good and you have never stopped trying.  That is what a true Lovely Princess/Prince Charming really does!  He or she is a person that is  committed to the "us" more than to him/herself or to you.  He/she is a builder and filled with commitment to his or her promises.  A person of honor and trustworthiness.  I like anniversaries.  They are a time to reflect and gain perspective of the whole picture.  The nitty-gritty, day to day can just be set aside and you can bask in the light of the overall joy. 

 That is a miracle isn't it?  In my mind it has become divine, irreplaceable and sacred.  We share most of our life experiences in ways that no other human can ever know us or love us or care for us.  I am more in love with James today than I ever have been.  He really touches every part of my heart, my soul, my experiences..my life.  The best gifts we share, the Gospel and ~ our wonderful children and grandchildren!  Happy Anniversary, Babe, your deserve a crown!  I love you!

These are a few pictures I ran across yesterday and I think haven't been viewed by human eyes in a very long time. I have a feeling our kids have not ever seen them actually. They depict the first few hours of our married life together back in 1968. And I added one of my bridal shower at the end just for fun.

This is our hot ride to our reception after the wedding. 

I love this photo but could someone please photo shop the cat glasses and the goofy head dress? The ride is Jim's Grampa's 55 Chevy...an antique even then and the coolest car. I think it is Jim's brother, Gary, that was our driver!

The receiving line at our wedding reception
with my smokin' hot (baby) HUSBAND and my cute Mom and Dad. 

Our little Volvo! 
 

It had the shiniest black paint you ever did see and hubcaps full of rocks thanks to our clever brothers. We stopped here in Lafayette to remove them before going to a late dinner in a romantic, little restaurant called Petar's. The restaurant still exists in Lafayette but has moved to a new location.

This is a picture of the first dinner (spaghetti and salad) that I cooked for Jim in our first San Francisco apartment when we first got married. Lots of firsts! It shows our wedding china and flowers still left over from our wedding and our fancy chrome and Formica kitchen set that someone gave us with the vinyl tablecloth which was the latest and coolest tablecloth you could get! No ironing~just wipe it off! Cool ( not). We left the next day for our honeymoon at Lake Tahoe.

This is my bridal shower at my friend, Judy's, house. She was my maid of honor and best friend since 7th grade. Last year we attended the wedding of one of her daughters. Ah, the circle of life with good friends!

Check out my orange, wool, 2 piece dress with the fancy floral trim that I made (don't faint, K?) and the lovely hair....a hairpiece called a 'postiege' that was individually woven to match your hair exactly. It was essentially a long hair swatch like a horse's tail that you would loosely braid and set atop your head ala Barbra Streisand. Everyone saved their $25.00 for months and had one and they were quite fun and easy to 'do!'

The biggest advantage was you didn't have to sleep on those hard, uncomfortable rollers! I got my first hair dryer a few weeks after the wedding for my 21st birthday. Pure heaven even if you did have to get up at 3:00 am to shampoo and set your hair and then dry it under a big plastic cap attached to the hose of the dryer.

Yep, now that is VINTAGE, no?

But I digress...don't you love the yarn touch around the fancy braided bun? Such a fashionista, seriously! But the glasses...the cat glasses are the bane of my existence when I see any photos from this time period! And black... sheesh, no blending here!

C'est la vie! As my friend Michelle Simpson would say, "It is what it is, Bonnie!" No do-overs.

Good One!

My friend Marie posted this on Facebook.  Too good not to share here for those of you that haven't seen it.  I hope you enjoy it!

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days." The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."

She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were truly recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we reused for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks. This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags. But too bad we didn't do the green thing back then.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throwaway kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana.

In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

Oh, Savannah!

One of the beautiful city block parks in Savannah

Since I read The Work and The Glory by Gerald Lund, I have wanted to visit Savannah.  There is something so enchanting about the south.  I can still remember the descriptions of the River Walk area down by the water front where Joshua had his mill.

I just have realized that so many of our ideas of where to travel have originated between the covers of best loved books.  I wish we had had more time to spend there.  But at least we were able to take the back roads to get to our hotel.  It took longer but was so much more interesting and pretty.  We have a thing about back roads.  We enjoy them.  We saw way too much freeway on this trip because we wanted to cover a lot of territory, but our favorite way is to just meander along stopping when the fancy strikes us.  The country sides of both South Carolina and Georgia were lovely.  The green was just so noteworthy there.  Everything green like only God can do it.

The rain clouds followed us to Savannah.  There is something cozy and romantic about traveling in a car in the rain.  We love it.  We had two rainy nights in Georgia.  I could hear Brook Benton's song in my head both nights.  Oh wait, I think I'll put it on as I write.  Ah. perfect.  ;-)

 
A real Magnolia!
We were just a week or two to 
early see them all in bloom.
  

We stayed just outside the city limits of Savannah and saved a ton of money on our hotel.  That night we went to a local restaurant recommended by the hotel concierge.  It was a family style type restaurant whose name escapes me but,  it was the epitome of southern fried everything. They had it all decked out in 70s decor...lots of brown and big booths that could hold a large family.  There was a lot of y'allin' going on in there.   It is where the local likes to go.

We had our first hush puppies and still don't know what they were.  The little waitress couldn't quite tell us.  Some kind of fried dough like a donut in the shape of a fish stick...no sugar.  In fact, I thought is was fish, all tucked in with the other fish on the fry plate and was dipping it in tartar sauce.  Jim thought that was hilarious.  (Jim of all people who eats the weirdest concoctions you can imagine on a weekly basis!  Ahem! ) Cole slaw was the only green thing in the room.  We were beginning to rethink the notion of eating something unique each place we visited.  Even delicious can be over done.  I could envision our blood turning pink from all the deep frying.

After writing that last paragraph I had to find out what they are. Here is Paula Deen's recipe for them  http://tinyurl.com/5uerm5.  If you click here you can see how to make hush puppies and how they got their name and some tricks for not getting your hands gooey in the process in the video.

Speaking of Paula Deen, we admired the Lady and Her Sons for begin closed on Sunday!  I am sure she is doing it for the right reasons~honoring the Sabbath Day.  There were plenty of tourists that were hoping she would have been there.  Savannah has lots of beautiful churches and we enjoyed hearing the bells ring most of the day.  We took this photo below when it cleared up in the afternoon.

In the morning as I have mentioned previously, once we got over the fact that it wasn't Saturday and we had missed church, we had our second shower of the day on the open air City Tour trolley.   It was so pretty in spite of the wetness.

Looks a lot like San Francisco right here.  
I love these fancy row houses.

 

So many pretty colors used in good taste

 in both Charleston and Savannah

The architectural features of these beautiful buildings and homes are amazing.  The one thing I think I love about the east and south so much is the noticeable difference between it and the newness  you feel in the west.  I wouldn't exactly call it antiquity, but it definitely has a more established, historical feeling.  There is a sense of pride in the maintenance of the things of the past that we don't feel here.  It has a regard for the permanence of things,  and it is accompanied by a certain special respect for preserving it.

 

One of the fun things about this tour was they picked up passengers in character from the early days  in their history.  This guy was a person that died during the civil war.  He died in his own neighborhood when he and his brother were arguing about the issues of slavery and he was accidentally shot.  This was a real historical character.

 

Loved the brick sidewalks

We passed by some beautiful little inns and hotels 
and of course some spectacular homes.

 

This looked like fun!

One of the most distinctive things about Savannah is that they have many many block sized parks in the downtown area.  You can walk a few blocks and then sit and enjoy a park bench and a little rest.   I am thinking this may be very welcomed when it is very hot and humid in the summer. 

 Many of them have historical monuments and water features and it seems to be a place where people congregate to chat and be together with friend and strangers soon to be friends.  This was very reminiscent of the Italian piazzas.  You see the buskers singing and playing their instruments.
You see people picnicking in the squares like we did.  That was delightful.

We met a wonderful old black man there that was so talkative and sweet.  Jim and I thought he was just delightful.  He was preaching the gospel and singing and selling his flowers he had woven from the reeds he had cut from along the river banks and then dried.   Jim bought me one for Mother's Day in hopes that our donation would be helpful to him!

 I tried to take their picture together but the camera was on video so I got a little piece of a spontaneous song he was singing us about God. Too bad I only caught the part about the devil 'cuz he was singing a lot about Jesus most of the time.  Nice guy, he was a kick.  Jim is holding the flower he bought me in his hand.

We wanted to go to the Ole Pink House for dinner but they were full so we landed up at the Pirate Restaurant recommended by our tour guide.  Umm, it was not really that great....too Disneyland-ish. It might have been more fun with some grandkids.  The food was good though.

 

Well,  the funny thing is the place that made me want to come to Savannah actually turned out to be a bust.  It was tacky and seedy and full of unsavory characters.  It features lots of booze and nasty t-shirts and the like.  The river right in front of this was cool but not this part.  Too Bourbon Street for us.  We drove by a few times to see it and that was it.

 

 River Walk~Not Our Cup of Tea

The rest of Savannah was charming and we enjoyed our short stay here.  The next day we were heading out early for Virginia and spent most of the day driving.  Our next destination, Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Charlottesville, VA. 

A Simple Woman's Daybook~June 11, 2013

Our lives pass swiftly by! I want to do something to remember

the everyday moments and my thoughts about them.  

That is what this Daybook is all about.

Focusing on the little things that become my life.

One entry at a time.

Just for today~Tuesday, June 11, 2013

 

Outside my window...It is just past 1:00 pm and the sunny day outside my office window is very inviting.The breeze is gently blowing the American Flag around and the hydrangeas looks so pretty by the side of the house.  And I am loving Michelle for taking care of the flowers while we were away.  She definitely has the knack.  Me, not so much.

I am thankful for....Priesthood blessings and my physician.  She is so sweet and kind and knowledgeable.  She is my first female doc and I really like her.  I have seen her twice this week because I have been having some facial swelling which they have determined is probably a reaction to a medication I have taken for years.  So hopefully by stopping it it will cause the swelling to subside.  I will feel better and definitely look better than I do now ( Like a botox treatment gone bad!)  They gave me an EPI pen to carry around until this thing is under control.  A little frightening, but I am thankful for my faith, a great companion, and my wonderful Dr. Taher.
 

From the learning room....more about the places we visited as I have begun to recount what we did in our travels here on my blog.  I love to research the historical places and share the things we have learned.  It helps cement it in my mind and makes the learning last longer when I share it.  Stephen Covey was right when he said, "First learn, then teach it to make it your own."

 
I am reading...William Bradford's Pilmoth Plantation~this is considered to be the first American History book ever written.  Jim and I are reading it aloud together and it is excellent so far.  It is Governor William Bradford's account of why the Loyalists from England and the English Separatists from Holland came here on the Mayflower.   It recounts their heroic voyage and is about the settlement they created when they arrived.  It is a fascinating story.
 

From the kitchen...All stocked up with pantry items, fresh veggies and fruit and I made Jim his soup yesterday.  So the next few days we'll be coasting through the kitchen to eat but not to prepare.  I am focusing on learning to get the love back for cooking.  So far so good.  Maybe I'll try of few of the bazillion recipes I have saved on Pinterest....just in case!

I am missing...my normal smile.  I am looking a bit like the Joker of Batman fame these past few days.  Not attractive at all.  Patience is a virtue...repeat three times!

Some spiritual thoughts I have been having...that placing the Lord at the center of our lives is the best way to live, cope, and enjoy our blessings with Thanksgiving.  When we move him out of front and center it just complicates every day life...both the big and the small things get distorted.  The basics like prayer, scripture study, going to church regularly, these are the things that help us stay the course.  Without this I pretty much have to say...what is the point of anything?   Filling our lives with earthly things, entertainment and hedonistic pleasures will never fill our cup.  He knew that, that is why he gave us substance that matters and allows us to choose for ourselves.

I am hearing..the dryer humming, a plane overhead and some jazzy music.

One of my guilty pleasures...chocolate and summer fruits and veggies.  Today Watermelon. Yummy.

Pet Peeves...the new blankety-blank light bulbs.  Oh tell me the government doesn't have more important things to do than regulating light bulbs.  Argh.  I really do not like those guys over there that do this kind of stuff with all the major issues at hand.  The new light bulbs are a joke, they are not good and I'll be darned if I am making a trip to the hazardous waste disposal place in another town to throw them away.  And no, I am not saving them up some where either.  Just no!  

I am quoting...from Pinterest

Both Joy and Sorrow!

If I could change one thing it would be...that Laura and Robert's basement had not flooded three times in the past week.  Who votes this the craziest year ever for weather?  We about roasted to death on Saturday with temperatures nearing 110 and it has been 40 degrees cooler every day since??

An enjoyable movie/ TV show we have watched lately...North and South~checking out Mont Royal.  Love it!  I haven't watched much on the big or little screen this week.  But this computer screen has been blazing a trail all hours of the day and night.

I am curious about..why anyone would want to wire-tap my cell phone.  Now that is some kind of desperate for something to do.  It even bores me...poor them.

  

Plans for the rest of the week...pretty much just blogging.  I have a lunch date on Friday but we'll see how I am by then.  Otherwise I am sticking close to the hearth and home and recuperating,  reorganizing and recreating a great vacation on the blog.

One of my favorite things...that Jim and I have been married for 45 years on the 15th.  Unbelievable how time has just flown by.  I cannot comprehend 45 years...what the heck? 

One thing that made me so happy this week...getting back in the swing of our normal (?) life.  The routines have been sweeter after a time away.  I am so sad to be missing work today but will be there next week with bells on...hopefully!

The most surprising thing this week...looking like I've had a botox injection without having one.  Weirdest weird and surprising in a bad way.

2 Photos I am sharing this week...

June 15, 1968

Flashing back!

          Until we all return...happy day to you!

❤♡♥♡❤♡♥♡❤♡♥s, Bon

Boone Hall is Mont Royal!

Well I must admit it was me pushing to get us there when the gates opened on this morning.  I truly wanted us to have a chance to get unpopulated photos and we were pretty successful at that.  For us the secret to all our traveling is beat the crowd, beat the heat.

When you first enter the Plantation you see some lovey landscapes like this.  We spent quite a bit of time in this area just breathing it all in and taking some photos.  It was cold and windy which was good.  Other than the leaves rustling in the trees, there was complete serenity all around us.

We meandering around for awhile on the packed 

gravel road and then turned a corner and saw this.  

Can I just say this view pretty much stops you dead in your tracks.  This is so impossible to capture in two dimensions.  You just cannot imagine the majesty and beauty of these trees or their scale compared to a couple of humans.  It is not often I feel small...here I did.  These trees were planted along this almost mile long drive in 1743.  They are a priceless treasure.  If I were prompted to pray for the endurance of any trees in the world it would be these.  It would be beyond heartbreaking if anything were to happen to them. 


This amazing Plantation has THE MOST BEAUTIFUL life oaks on the planet.  I am convinced of that because there could not be any more magnificent than these. This is the world famous

Avenue of The Oaks

The Live Oak is native to the Southeastern United States and Northern parts of South America.  The thing that makes these unique is that they are evergreens.  Oaks have long been one of my favorite trees, but I did not know there are some that are evergreen.  That is something to love about them in itself.  They can grow up to 50 feet tall with wide spreading branches reaching up to 70 feet.  Adding to this stunning vision, they often have huge clusters of Spanish Moss hanging in exactly the right places.  It looks like someone added it like one would with tinsel on a Christmas tree. This is what heaven looks like.  It literally brought tears to my eyes.

 

The Plantation Home is drawing closer and closer. 

This is where Patrick Swayze would ride his horse 

like the wind to and from the house
The little white dot down the Avenue is the house!
Check out the Spanish Moss below!

We drove along very slowly, 

often stopping to just be there. 

 In the distance we could see the mansion now

 but we were savoring it like a yummy dessert

Not wanting it to be gone too quickly! 

Looking slightly to the right is a large fenced
 area for horses and some out buildings.

  

A pristine white barn...

And perhaps a caregiver's small home?

This is a couple of the slave houses.

  
And then the Plantation home...Mont Royal!

We really were there!  Mont Royal! 
(Pinching myself to see if it's real!)

From the Gate looking back on the Avenue of the Oaks

James standing in front of the carriage landing pad! 

 Just jump out and walk in!

We were about to go on the house tour.  No photos are allowed inside but it was very very nice.  Could recognize a lot of the rooms from the mini-series.  They only let you see the downstairs as the current owner lives here upstairs.  Poor thing.  Who gets to live in a place like this?  One lucky lady!

 A side view of the front of the Mansion
both sides of the veranda have steps leading up to the house. 
This antebellum architecture is gorgeous.

Google image

There is a river behind the house.

This view is part of the backyard.

Slave Cabins

Borrowing this photo from their website  http://boonehall.com as it was raining pretty hard when we went to the slave houses. At one time in their history there were 27 out here, today 9 remain.  They are located along The Avenue of the Oaks on the left hand side as you come in.  They are strategically placed back far enough from the road so as not to detract from the beautiful entrance.  These cabins were for the house staff and slaves with a higher than average standing.  The plantation was a cotton plantation and the field workers lived in another area of the plantation in smaller less desirable conditions.  The owner at the time built  them out here for a reason.  He was a builder and he wanted to show off his work.  He also wanted others to know how well he treated his slaves.  Sometimes several families would live in these brick cabins and there was one common one set up like a church for the slaves to meet together in small groups to worship God and sing hymns.

The interior of the meeting cabin

It is sad that their way of life had to bring such sorrowful conditions to the slaves.   It is even sadder that our history is tainted by the buying and selling and abusive behavior towards other human beings.  I am grateful to Abraham Lincoln and the Abolitionists that worked and fought so hard for their freedom.   I understand the economic reasons for slavery but find the principle of using people like that deplorable. 

Each little cabin has displays and historical information
 in them and were decorated to simulate what they
 would have been like back then. 

This was a poignant and sobering experience.

Thank Heavens for this Civil Rights Act of 1866!

Most of the slaves that worked in the South in those days were from Angola, Africa. Today there are 500,000 of their descendants living in the Carolinas and other southern states.  Their ancestors started being captured and brought over here to be auctioned and sold in the 1500s.  For nearly five centuries their lives have been politically and economically tied to the cash crops of the south; rice, cotton, tobacco, and now even tourism.  

They were captured and retained in holding cells and on the west coast of Africa.  The imprisonment brought a lot of Africans under one roof and formed the basis of what would become the Gullah Culture.  These Gullah Salves made, many of the southern plantation owners very very wealthy.  They were so knowledgeable about the farming techniques used that they were the most desired of any slaves. 

One of the descendant of these early slaves does a one woman show there at the Plantation.  Her name is Jackie. The name "Gullah" it is thought has some reference to Angola.  They have these story telling shows every day and if you ever go I hope you get Jackie.  Her story was tender and sweet and told without guile.  I always have that 'guilt by association' thing going on and the way she spoke and sang and related to all of us was just beautiful.  

boonehall.com

What she said in a nutshell without saying it was...I don't blame you for what happened to my forefathers and mothers.  She would say repeatedly... 

"This is my story (pointing to herself) 

  this is your story (gesturing in our direction)

  this is our story (encircling all us all with her arms)

  this is His story (pointing up to God.) "

I felt that from now on the word  history would be spelled like this in my heart..HisStory.

 That was just so touching to me and made me feel we all just need to have peace about the things we cannot change now and move forward making this a better place to be for all.  I just loved Jackie and so did Jim.  At the end of her presentation we went up and thanked her and hugged her and we felt a sense of communion and peace that went beyond the three of us to include those who had gone before.  It was an experience that will stay with us for a long time.

*******************

This old mill is being retrofitted and preserved

 in another area of the Plantation.

It is to be reopened as a restaurant when completed.

Today many events are hosted At Boone Hall and 

Ryan Gosling recently got married here.

He was in "The Notebook" and part 

of that was filmed here as also!

The Plantation offers four things to do:  The Gullah Cultural experience, a House Tour, a Boat Tour and the open air Train Tour.  All are included in the admission price of 20 dollars.  It was worth every penny and more just to see the Oaks.  But all of the other things I have mentioned made it a wonderful day, never to be forgotten.

As we left I felt like I was caught somewhere between the story of Mont Royal and the reality of Boone Hall.  My perspective had changed  and was made different by this day as I was made more aware of how it really was.  The Pollyanna part of me wants to just stay in the movie but the reality of slavery is more poignant than ever to me.

There were so many things to ponder about this day.   I think we may have been unusually quiet on our hour and a half trip down to Savannah.  This type of experience makes things you have always known about, take on a whole new clarity.  It adds dimension to your understanding of the Family of Man in a fresh new way.  I remember having similar feelings when we toured Anne Franks' House in Amsterdam, years ago.  There is something about being there that heightens your sense of humanity and understanding.  This is truly educational.   And that is probably what I love about traveling more than anything else.  That and being with my best friend!