A little sand in your teeth

“I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.”  ~e.e. cummings

I am not, even remotely, what you would call a green thumb—I leave those talents to my Granny Hobbs and my mother-in-law. My thumb is probably some shade of orangey-yellow. I love plants and flowers, but they must be basically able to grow and thrive with little to no assistance from me. Here is what is growing itself in my side yard right now:

Hydrangeas! Aren’t they beautiful? They just make me smile and I love having them in my home to enjoy this time of year. Just wanted to share them with you today!

We are a beach family at this house. The most challenging part of living in the Midwest for a few years was not so much the winters, but being so far from the beach and our family. Being back in proximity to the beach these last almost 5 years, we try to make pretty regular day trips to the beach when we can. So yesterday, in spite of the threatening weather, we made our way to our favorite SC Lowcountry beach, Folly Beach. We love it for its family friendliness, its sprawling beach front and the fact that it reminds us a bit of Atlantic Beach, NC, where my hubby and I both grew up going.  Apparently, there was some tropical storm off the coast of Charleston somewhere. When we first arrived at the beach, things were looking pretty sketchy. In fact, it was sprinkling a little when we got there. And there was a looming band of black clouds. It was pretty windy, cold and rainy-ish for about the first 45 minutes we were there.

Here is how Emma spent the rainy time :

 

It was pretty funny. When it appeared to clear off a bit, and the boys were throwing the football, Emma and I decided we would walk down the beach and when we got, oh, about 100 yards from our chairs, it commenced POURING. We made a run for it back to the chairs and laughed so hard the whole way, trying to cover our heads with the towel. And by the time we got back to our chairs…it had STOPPED. We laughed some more. It finally cleared off and turned into a beautiful, albeit gusty, day at the beach.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

See the loose sand blowing over the packed sand? When said sand hits you, say, on the back of the legs or, in your EYEBALL, at about 30 MPH  it gives you a not-so-pleasant feeling. And it gets sand in places that I can’t even mention here. However, it is not enough for us to leave, no way. A rainy, windy, sandy day at the beach is better than a regular day at home! Can I get a “what what”?? Exhibit B really gives you a good visual for the blowing sand…the ground almost looks covered in snow. Or fog. Or something other worldly.

Jacob tried to build a foxhole and a sand wall to barricade himself from the blowing sand. It was very cool and quite effective.

There was also the obligatory sand sculpting, in the form of a dolphin. I thought is was pretty fabulous.

We topped it off with a trip to Jack’s Cosmic Dogs on the way home. What is a cosmic dog? Hm, well, next time you are in the vicinity of Folly Beach, SC, you will have find out.

I love days like these. Days just being. Where we laugh and relax. Where we enjoy each other and creation. Where my biggest worry is getting sand in my teeth.  Yep, good times.

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Feeling Springy

Just a couple of things:

1. I. CAN. NOT. seem to regroup from the (not so) fabulous springing forward festivities of this past weekend.  I am like coma woman walking around in some weird daze. Does this mean I am just getting old? Wait, don’t answer that.  On the flip side of that coin, I really, and I do mean, really, love the longer days.  It is just the adjustment period that jacks with me. Does anyone else see the irony of how springing forward totally kills the spring in one’s step? So you end up feeling not at all “springy”?  Just a thought.

2. Yellow is a nice color, but when everything is covered with it, well, not so much.  The pollen is driving me (and my head) nuts!  And yet…I do so love the spring.  The rebirth of God’s creation is something I always look forward to.  All the little birdies nesting. The grass is turning green.  Camellias in full flower.  My Jasmine is smelling heavenly. Trees are starting to leaf out.  I would like to mention here that we  have fortunately seen the end of the blooming of the Bradford Pear trees though, which my daughter calls the “poo trees” and my son calls the “rotting corpse trees”.  If you have smelled a Bradford Pear in bloom, you will understand.  WARNING: I do not advise going out and sticking your nose into one of those beautiful blooms, as tempting as this may seem!  Just trust us on this.

And now, Ivanhoe calleth.  I must needs bid you all a fond adieu. Let the reading commence!

Nature Calling

“I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.”  ~George Washington Carver

 

I knew I smelled honeysuckle when I was out walking the other morning.  I stopped in my tracks and looked around to find it.  That yummy deliciousness filled my head and immediately carried me back to my childhood.  It immediately relaxed me and made me smile.   

It’s a smell, all floral and sweet, that reminds me of summer and fun and no responsibilities.  Of long days spent playing and then seeing the lightening bugs start to light up at dusk.  I remember pulling the blooms off the vine and pinching the bottoms to pull out the center of the flower to get a taste of the nectar.  I always thought that the yellow ones tasted sweeter than the white ones. 

Yes, I realize it’s a wild growing vine that people probably consider a weed, and it’s also probably considered a nuisance to many folks.  Just one more thing in your life that you are going to have to deal with.  It got me thinking. 

What if we overlook the things, or people, in our lives that, on first glance, seem to be a nuisance or a weed we need to be rid of?  We might just be discounting some of the most beautiful things in our lives.

Look closer. 

Stop and smell the honeysuckle.