Peering into the clouds

   For the longest time, I pondered how my elderly neighbor claimed to see people in the clouds.  I understand that the cloud formations can give the idea of something or someone but he claimed that he saw people...real people...only they were all dead.  His exact words were..."real dead people".  It was a scary thought.  He never explained whether he saw real people who had died or if they were just really dead people.  For a while, I was scared to look at the clouds in case I saw really dead people.  It is not that I don't see things.  I do.  In fact, my imagination is probably a bit wilder than most folks. In my brain, I can twist and turn things to be most anything.  It's a gift!  Not really.  Just trying to justify having a weird sense of reality.

  With all of the heavy cloud cover lately, it has been hard to visualize much of anything but rain.  A few days ago, the hike was drippy.  The slight drizzle would have kept most folks inside but I have had enough of confinement.  I braved the cold and wet to head to the unfinished pier.  A thick layer of clouds was divided from the horizon by a thin line of clear skies.  Once the sun rose behind the cloud ridge, magical things began to happen.  I started seeing things!  Lots of things!  Like I said, my imagination is strong and this time it ran amok.

  I took lots of photos and then checked them to see if I actually saw what I thought.  Hmmm, there it was right smack dab in the middle of the photo!  I will leave it up to you and your imagination.  Hint...at least, it is not a dead person!  (If you look at the tags, you will see suggestions from a few of my friends.)

The Tiny Angel

  The old idiom of "Great things come in small packages" was never so powerful to me as a recent act of kindness.  One tiny gift projected an extreme amount of love that left me almost speechless.  It brought a tear to the eye and a heart that was overwhelmingly full. One act..one wee gift had a profound effect.

  Cousins..masses of cousins..recently descended upon the Bayou. Some were "old" friends while others were just met.  Cousins, children of cousins and grandchildren of cousins all made themselves at home in the Little Bayou House.  It was literally filled to the brim with folks.  The laughter, chatter and hugs were shared and promises of more meetings were made.  It was fun. The day was long but enjoyable.  The tiny gift came at the close of the day.  One cousin who has always been so dear to my heart, slipped a card into my hand.  Helen quietly whispered, "This is for you.  You have been such a dear to open up your home to all of us.  I love you."  I wanted the hubbub to stop right there so I could sit and spend the rest of the time with just her.  We needed the time to just "catch up" with each other's lives and feelings.  She and the other cousins were on the Coast to lay their father to rest. Uncle Alfred had passed away in July just two days short of his 100th birthday.  Now the whole family was here to celebrate his life.  I needed to sit with Helen and tell her what an important part of my life she is.  I needed to be able to tell my all my other cousins that the connection with them will always be special and lasting.  I needed to stop the commotion spinning around us and say "I love you."  Not that we do not tell each other this often but I needed to have time...calm, quiet time to let it all sink in to my brain!

  Inside the card was a tiny angel pendant. When I opened the card, the angel dangled loosely as if she was flying.  It made me smile as I thought of how the love of cousins was much like that tiny flying angel.  We do not have to be next door neighbors to know that the bond will always continue.  We can be as far as angels fly and still be connected at the heart.  Our love will travel the distance to keep us connected.  We do not have to constantly be reminded nor constantly be in contact...it just happens.  Cousins are usually the first friends we have and the ones that stick with us through a lifetime.  They are the ones that will stand behind us, take the step before us, pick us up when we fall or give us that kick in the pants when we need it to keep us all headed down the right path. Cousins are the ones who step in when brothers and sisters cannot be there.  The ties that bind you together are unbreakable and the loyalty is fierce.  The tiny angel was the embodiment of all that.  Love, Loyalty, Patience and Faith were all riding on the wings of one tiny angel and that angel carried it well.  

 Thank you, Helen.  YOU are an angel and are so very, very dear to me as are all my cousins!

The Angel of Smiles

I am a bit late with the Christmas decorations this year.  Not late by a lot of folk's standards but definitely late by mine!  I would put Christmas decorations up as soon as I took down the Halloween ones if I had my way.  This year, however, too many chores got in the way of even hauling the stuff down from upstairs.  The first annual Bayou Clue Hunt took up more of my time than I expected and put me several weeks behind schedule.  Still, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the Little Bayou House!  Today, I unpacked a huge box of decorations and came across something that struck a memory.  A rather plump stuffed ragdoll of an angel was lifted from between the jumping jacks and nutcrackers.  This angel is nothing special to anyone else but carries a bit of special meaning to me.  You see, it is not everyday that you can rescue an angel!  That job is usually flip-flopped around to where the angel saves the mere human.  But I rescued this angel from a dire situation and I am quite sure she appreciates my efforts.

Long ago, I was in a department store just before Christmas.  This was back when my kids were small and I needed to do some Santa shopping.  While I was there, a group of kids that I am sure were not on Santa's "Good List" were being downright rowdy!  They were running through the aisle pulling items from shopper's carts, pushing through the crowds and screaming at the tops of their lungs.  The parents of these (not so) sweet darlings were oblivious to their brats'..er..kids'
 roughhousing.  I pushed my cart far from them but was soon accosted as I rounded the end of one aisle.  It was then that I saw that the kids had pulled down some of the store's decorations and were kicking them around on the floor.  Ugh!  I am quite sure that my kids would have met with some..umm..stern discipline long before their actions would have gotten so out of hand.  When they saw me, they scattered leaving a huge mess.  Amidst the broken ornaments, tangled garland and toppled trees was a sweet angel.  They had been kicking it as if it was a soccer ball.  Poor sweet thing!  I could not stand the idea that the angel was being so abused!  I picked her up and tried to shake the dust and grime from her.  Shards of glass Christmas balls were tangled in her hair and her wings were ripped from her back.  This would never do!  I put her in the shopping cart.  I was not in the mood to shop any more!  When I went to check out and pay for my items, the store manager walked up to me and apologized for the kids' actions.  She looked at the angel in the cart and asked if I wanted a different one.  When I declined and explained why I chose that angel, she reached over and put her in my bag.  "If you really want that angel, there will be no charge.  Just make sure she has a Merry Christmas."  I smiled and told her that I would definitely do that and that she just made my Christmas a bit merrier!

Now this angel is one of my favorite decorations.  She sits among the pine cones and holly berries with the broadest smile on her face.  You know, I do not recall that bright smile when I picked her up from the floor.  It almost seemed as if she was sad..very sad at that time. Merry Christmas, Little Angel!  I am glad that you came to live with us and be a reminder that we should be a bit nicer, a bit kinder to all.

A Southern Belle

The Mirriam-Webster Dictionary defines a Belle as a woman whose beauty and charm make her a favorite. I had the honor of not only knowing but being related to a true Southern Belle. She was as lovely as she was charming. She was gracious, soft-spoken and kind-hearted.. a true lady. She imparted pearls of wisdom without seeming pretentious. We all could have and should have learned many, many things from this lady. I cannot pretend to ever be able to relate all of the wonderful points of this person other than to say I admired her for what she was. Charm, grace and elegance are all words that come to mind along with generous, intelligent and modest. The epitome of the word "lady"..a true Southern Belle.

My heart aches tonight..this wonderful lady passed away last night after a very difficult illness. For the past two months, as she was fighting for her life, she was still teaching us. Lessons in living were being taught whether we realized it or not. Even when facing the most debilitating foe, she was always still the lady. As a child, I was always in awe of this fine lady, she was not only a very lovely lady in appearance but for the lack of a better phrase she was beautiful "inside" as well. Again..she was the epitome of the word "lady" and a true Southern Belle.

Aunt Betty..I will miss you. We will all miss you. You left this world far too soon but the Good Lord needed an angel. An angel that was in a word.. a lady..a true Southern Belle.

Sophia's Sunset...

Last night there was an unusual sunset. I have never before seen a rainbow during a sunset in all the times that I sit on the pier. It was amazing. Some people believe that a rainbow is a "bridge" to a happier place. Hence the words that Judy Garland made famous..

Somewhere over the Rainbow,

Way up high,

There's a land that I heard of

Once in a lullaby.

Somewhere over the Rainbow,

Skies are blue,

And the dreams that you dare to dream

Really do come true.

Is it possible to grieve for someone that you never met? Is it possible to hurt so deeply for an unknown family? I do. Today I learned that a little girl passed away after a long, hard battle with cancer. I never met her nor do I know her parents although they are a local family. I kept up with her saga through a wonderful website called CaringBridge. I struggled with her parents as they had to make decisions about her healthcare, I prayed for the whole family, and I weep with them now. My heart hurts for the family of this beautiful little girl. For an eight year old child, she was beyond brave..she was truly courageous in all she faced. Before she became ill, she was like any other wonderful little girl..she played ball..she danced..she loved horses. She did all the things little girls were supposed to do. Then she was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and her entire world changed..as did that of her family. There were hundreds of doctor's visits, innumerable treatments and unbearable pain as the tumor grew. This precious baby suffered more in just a little over a year than most of us do in a lifetime. Last night, her pain ended..her suffering came to an end as the beautiful little girl could take no more. As a mother, my heart breaks for her mother..I cry tears..and again I pray..this time for Sophia's mother. The pain she suffers is like no other..a true broken heart..the loss of a child..the deepest pain a mother can ever endure. I know that my feelings cannot compare to the torture that this family is having to face and I feel helpless to know that I can do nothing to ease this pain for them. So I pray .......... in the words of her mother,"My angel got her wings last night." .......... and I weep.

....................Rest in Peace, Sophia....................

Small Treasures!

The thing that turns something ordinary into something extraordinary is always just the little "extra". The extras that you add, things that make you happy, may in turn bring a smile to someone else's face. Maybe not to everyone, but then that is ok, too. As long as a single smile is generated, any effort is well worth the doing. Yesterday, I posted a picture of some old table and chair legs. I had visions of wonderful things that would leap out of that pile and maybe be useful once again. Up-cycling! Sure, sure it could be called recycling but I do like the word up-cycling. A new and improved mousetrap, so to speak.

Today, I went through the motions of all my daily chores, pondering..just pondering possible crafts involving wood-turnings. The tomatoes were picked, herbs planted and beans weeded..I pondered. The laundry was washed and hung out to dry..I pondered. The kitchen was cleaned and a pot of chicken soup was cooked..I pondered. Finally! That pile of glorified sawdust and kindling wood got the best of me and I quit work. Time to play!

I pulled out the saw, glue-gun and paints, I knew what would be the first creation. Hopefully, the end result would be the same as what was in my head. Grabbing a spindle, I sawed it in half. I am not sure why I did this but it seemed highly important at the time..so I cut! Time to paint! Remember now, this wood was all rescued from Hurricane Katrina debris piles..it was dried from being in the salt water. It soaked up layer after layer of paint. Had I been smart and primed the thing first, perhaps two coats would have sufficed. No..not me..I am too impatient for prime coats. I want to paint color! I want to see results..not prime coats! Six coats of paint and finally I was pleased with what I saw. I think she turned out rather cute considering her humble beginnings. Her body is the broken chair leg, arms are pieces of a clothespin, the base is a can lid and her wings are made from copper wire that was pulled from trash pile. All up-cycled! Even the wooden beads and ribbon are salvaged from the junk drawer.

An hour and forty-five minutes later, she posed on the window ledge for her first portrait. My first chair leg angel! My Goodness, Angel, you look sweet!