Little Orphant Annie by James Whitcomb Riley (1885)

Today I'm thinking about my favorite poems and poets again, which reminded me of James Whitcomb Riley's 1885 poem, Little Orphant Annie.

In case you haven't already noticed, I really love poems that tell a story.

Every week, back when I was in grammar school, we would all gather in the auditorium for music, which consisted of Mrs. Carol teaching us songs that we would all sing together.  One of the first songs I remember learning was a musical version of the first verse of this poem.  I still remember it well.  I sang it to my sons when they were small, and now I'll sing it to you.

I know...I know...I lose the tune now and then, but you get the gist of it.
  

Little did I know at the time that the story was inspired by a real life person, Mary Alice "Allie" (Smith) Gray.  If you'd like to know her story, click HERE, and if you'd like to know even more about her story, click HERE. 

On another note, I found this YouTube video about the poem, Little Orphant Annie, that you might enjoy.


And last (but certainly NOT least), here is the poem itself in case you'd rather read than listen.  Enjoy! 

Little Orphant Annie

    Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,
    An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,
    An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,
    An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep;
    An' all us other childern, when the supper-things is done,
    We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun
    A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
    An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
      Ef you
        Don't
          Watch
            Out!
 

    Wunst they wuz a little boy wouldn't say his prayers, —
    An' when he went to bed at night, away up-stairs,
    His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl,
    An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wuzn't there at all!
    An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubby-hole, an' press,
    An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'-wheres, I guess;
    But all they ever found wuz thist his pants an' roundabout: —
    An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
      Ef you
        Don't
          Watch
            Out!
 

    An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin,
    An' make fun of ever' one, an' all her blood-an'-kin;
    An' wunst, when they was "company," an' ole folks wuz there,
    She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care!
    An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide,
    They wuz two great big Black Things a-standin' by her side,
    An' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'fore she knowed what she's about!
    An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
      Ef you
        Don't
          Watch
            Out!
  

    An' little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,
    An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo!
    An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,
    An' the lightnin'-bugs in dew is all squenched away, —
    You better mind yer parunts, an' yer teachurs fond an' dear,
    An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear,
    An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,
    Er the Gobble-uns 'll git you
      Ef you
        Don't
          Watch
            Out!

Many Questions - No Real Answers - Something to Think About

Today I'm full of questions.  Questions questions questions.  The kind of questions that really have no answers.  These are basically just questions I'm thinking about this morning.  

I hope you find something to make you think in today's post too.  Here goes:

Have you ever thought that your body might be a prison?  What if we are confined to these bodies until we learn a lesson or lessons we must know to move to another level in our spiritual growth?  

Have you ever thought that your body might be a cocoon?  What if we are put inside these bodies to grow into the spirit or energy we need to be in order to evolve?  
 
What if only our souls were created in God's image?  What if ALL SOULS are the same energy? 

Do souls have a gender?  If so, why?  

If God creates, wouldn't "He" be both genders and not just male?

What if a single soul lives more than one human life at a time?  What if "soul mates" are human lives connected to a single soul?  

What if your thoughts are real matter?  What if thinking thoughts influences the physical world?

What if death is really birth?

What if all things really do happen for a reason?  What if all things really happen just as they should?  

What if we have all already lived many lives together?  What if reincarnation is real?

What if....

See? I'm full of unanswerable questions today.

Just something to think about.

Remembering My Dear Friend, Flo

When I was growing up we used to play board games or card games a LOT.  Then later in my life, I remember loving to play board games or card games with my sons.

Now I have friends who enjoy board and card games.  The most recent addition to the pile of games we play is Exploding Kittens.  

Exploding Kittens is a game of chance and fun to play despite the name, but I prefer more strategic games like Rummikub or Scrabble.

A few years ago I used to get together with a friend named Karen and her mother, Flo, and we would play Rummikub on Sunday afternoons.  I really miss those afternoons.

Flo was in her 90s and a Rummikub shark.  -grin-  Seriously, she would beat Karen and I all the time.  It is really bad when a 90something year old beats you playing a game of strategy.  -sigh-  I used to ask her when she was going to get senile.  She would laugh and laugh.  

I just loved Flo.  

Flo eventually moved away to live with her son in Ohio and has since passed from this Earth.  Heaven is a brighter place with Flo there. 

I sure hope to be like Flo if I live to be in my 90s.  She lived everyday with zest!  She laughed a lot and loved a lot and basically enjoyed her life.  

We should all strive to be like Flo.  

Flo on her 90th birthday (2009).

Alice and Flo at her 90th birthday party.

Toxic People - Envious Ellie - Envious Ed

Today I'm thinking about toxic people.  There are many types of toxic people, but today I'm remembering several specific toxic people that I have removed from my life (hopefully forever!) that have the same personalities.  They are all envious of everything and everybody. 

Honestly.  If I had the flu, they would want it!  

Envious people bring you down.  They are never satisfied with their lot in life.  If they won $400,000,000.00 in the lottery, they would complain about only having $200,000,000.00 left (FREE MONEY) after taxes.  Then they would tell the story about how so-and-so won such-and-such and didn't have to pay such outrageous taxes.

They are never satisfied.  

Sometimes their envious nature works in their favor, like when a sibling gets a college degree and they want one too, so they go back to school.  They still won't be happy, but at least they'll be better educated.

Envious people spend a lot of time and energy putting others down.  They hate seeing your successes, but they will absolutely relish your failures and constantly remind you of them for as long as they can.  

Here are some things envious people tend to do or say:

• Your flashy new late model car with very low mileage will be described simply as an old used car.  
• If you buy a modular home, which is built to house standards (or better than stick-built house standards), they will describe your home as a double-wide trailer.  
• If you paint a picture, they will ask you if you traced it.  
• If you publish a book, they will look to see who the publisher is first thing and if it is not a major national publisher that everyone recognizes, they will scoff at your book without even reading it.  
• If you win a Tony, they will remind you that it is NOT an Oscar.  
• If you mention you are applying for a better job, they'll give you a long list of reasons why you could never do that job.
• If you have a new boyfriend or girlfriend, they will say, "How did you get him (or her) to look at YOU?"

Recognize anyone you know?  Recognize yourself?  

Aw...we all do some of these things sometimes, but I'm talking about people who ALWAYS respond in an envious backhanded way.

The best thing to do is to just avoid these people.  Stay away from them lest you believe some vocal toxin they spew at you.  

That's my advice for today.  

The only person you can change is yourself, and changing YOU is difficult.  Remember that.

Lupus Information

It is my hope that they will find a cure for Lupus and all the other autoimmune diseases one day soon.  In the meantime, raising Lupus awareness seems to be the best I can do to help the fight, so today's post is aimed at doing just that.

Many people think "Lupus" is one thing, but there are four different types of Lupus.

• Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)
• Discoid Lupus (Cutaneus)
• Drug Induced Lupus (DIL)
• Neonatal Lupus

SLE is the most common and most deadly form of Lupus.  SLE is unpredictable.  It flares.  It goes into remission.  It can and will kill you, but it usually takes a very long time to do so.

With SLE you will be okay one day and the next day you can barely move or breathe, etc.  SLE can affect your heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, blood and/or skin in very bad ways.

These are my Lupus symptoms when it is flaring:

• White or purple fingers and/or toes from cold or stress (Raynaud’s phenomenon)
• Painful swollen joints 
• Muscle pain
• Sometimes unexplained low-grade fever
• Breathing problems
• Hair loss
• Sensitivity to the sun and/or heat and/or high humidity
• Swelling (edema) in legs, hands, face, glands, etc.
• Mouth ulcers that don't necessarily hurt
• Extreme fatigue
• Fuzzy thinking and memory problems when too tired

You may have other or different symptoms.

My ANA will be positive when I'm flaring.  My inflammatory markers will be too high in my bloodwork.  My C-Reactive Protein will be too high, etc.

Discoid Lupus on the other hand only affects the skin.  You will have unexplained rashes that can appear anywhere on your body, but typically appear on your face.  A butterfly rash on your face that extends from one cheek across the nose to the other cheek can be a sign of Discoid Lupus. 

Discoid Lupus is often unsightly, but it will NOT kill you.

However, Discoid Lupus can sometimes turn into SLE.

DIL is similar to SLE, but will go away once the offending medication is stopped.  At least 46 drugs are presently known to cause DIL in some people.  These include drugs for (but not limited to) heart disease, thyroid disease, hypertension, and neuropsychiatric disorders.

Very rarely a mother who has Lupus can give birth to a child with Neonatal Lupus.  Symptoms of Neonatal Lupus include rashes, anemia, or liver problems, but these symptoms usually go away after a few months and cause no permanent damage.

People with all types of Lupus can live a normal life span.  However, there is nothing normal about your life when you have Lupus.  

Living a normal life span and living a normal life are two entirely different things.

Remember that when you encounter a person with Lupus.  

People with Lupus do NOT look sick!!  This does NOT mean they are healthy.  This does NOT even mean that they are okay.

Remember that when you encounter a person with Lupus.

If you suspect you have Lupus, a rheumatologist is the specialist you need to see.

For more information about Lupus, click HERE or go to http://www.lupus.org/

Dolls

It was brought to my attention recently that baby dolls are NOT what they were when I was a little girl.  Today some of them are just nightmarish and downright scary.

Case in point: Mrs. McGettrick's Fuggler Emporium "Fuggler" dolls as pictured below. 

Okay...I admit I kinda love the Fuggler monsters, but...

...other monster dolls are seriously frightening!  

Having said that, the dolls that really freak me out the most are the ones that look absolutely like real babies.  I'm afraid those things might come to life when I'm sleeping!  😱

Here are some examples for you.  If your browser will not allow you to see the photos below, you can disable the tracking protection for this session or you can simply click these links to see.  Enjoy!

1. Haunted Doll With Sound
2. Living Dead Doll - Annabelle
3. Child's Play Chucky Doll
4. Living Dead Dolls
5. Days of the Dead Doll - Camilla
6. Ashton-Drake Interactive Baby Doll
7. Realistic Sleeping Girl Baby Doll
8. Newborn Realistic 14" Anatomically Correct Girl Baby Doll
9. Alicia's Gentle Touch Realistic Interactive Baby Doll

My favorite dolls right now are Tree Change Dolls. They're not frightening at all.  In fact, they are quite wonderful!  I totally love the story of how they were originally created, so I thought I would share. Enjoy!

Gunga Din By: Rudyard Kipling

One of my favorite war themed poems is Gunga Din by Rudyard Kipling.  I first heard this poem in high school.  It painted such an unforgettable picture in my mind that I just had to share.

I only wish I could read it in an English accent, but I only have my own, so I'm including the words below in case you'd rather read than listen.   Enjoy!

---

Gunga Din  By Rudyard Kipling

You may talk o’ gin and beer  
When you’re quartered safe out ’ere,  
An’ you’re sent to penny-fights an’ Aldershot it;
But when it comes to slaughter  
You will do your work on water,
An’ you’ll lick the bloomin’ boots of ’im that’s got it.  
Now in Injia’s sunny clime,  
Where I used to spend my time  
A-servin’ of ’Er Majesty the Queen,  
Of all them blackfaced crew  
The finest man I knew
Was our regimental bhisti, Gunga Din,  
      He was ‘Din! Din! Din!
   ‘You limpin’ lump o’ brick-dust, Gunga Din!
      ‘Hi! Slippy hitherao
      ‘Water, get it! Panee lao,
   ‘You squidgy-nosed old idol, Gunga Din.’

The uniform ’e wore
Was nothin’ much before,
An’ rather less than ’arf o’ that be’ind,
For a piece o’ twisty rag  
An’ a goatskin water-bag
Was all the field-equipment ’e could find.
When the sweatin’ troop-train lay
In a sidin’ through the day,
Where the ’eat would make your bloomin’ eyebrows crawl,
We shouted ‘Harry By!’
Till our throats were bricky-dry,
Then we wopped ’im ’cause ’e couldn’t serve us all.
      It was ‘Din! Din! Din!
   ‘You ’eathen, where the mischief ’ave you been?  
      ‘You put some juldee in it
      ‘Or I’ll marrow you this minute
   ‘If you don’t fill up my helmet, Gunga Din!’

’E would dot an’ carry one
Till the longest day was done;
An’ ’e didn’t seem to know the use o’ fear.
If we charged or broke or cut,
You could bet your bloomin’ nut,
’E’d be waitin’ fifty paces right flank rear.  
With ’is mussick on ’is back,
’E would skip with our attack,
An’ watch us till the bugles made 'Retire,’  
An’ for all ’is dirty ’ide
’E was white, clear white, inside
When ’e went to tend the wounded under fire!  
      It was ‘Din! Din! Din!’
   With the bullets kickin’ dust-spots on the green.  
      When the cartridges ran out,
      You could hear the front-ranks shout,  
   ‘Hi! ammunition-mules an' Gunga Din!’

I shan’t forgit the night
When I dropped be’ind the fight
With a bullet where my belt-plate should ’a’ been.  
I was chokin’ mad with thirst,
An’ the man that spied me first
Was our good old grinnin’, gruntin’ Gunga Din.  
’E lifted up my ’ead,
An’ he plugged me where I bled,
An’ ’e guv me ’arf-a-pint o’ water green.
It was crawlin’ and it stunk,
But of all the drinks I’ve drunk,
I’m gratefullest to one from Gunga Din.
      It was 'Din! Din! Din!
   ‘’Ere’s a beggar with a bullet through ’is spleen;  
   ‘’E's chawin’ up the ground,
      ‘An’ ’e’s kickin’ all around:
   ‘For Gawd’s sake git the water, Gunga Din!’

’E carried me away
To where a dooli lay,
An’ a bullet come an’ drilled the beggar clean.  
’E put me safe inside,
An’ just before ’e died,
'I ’ope you liked your drink,’ sez Gunga Din.  
So I’ll meet ’im later on
At the place where ’e is gone—
Where it’s always double drill and no canteen.  
’E’ll be squattin’ on the coals
Givin’ drink to poor damned souls,
An’ I’ll get a swig in hell from Gunga Din!  
      Yes, Din! Din! Din!
   You Lazarushian-leather Gunga Din!  
   Though I’ve belted you and flayed you,  
      By the livin’ Gawd that made you,
   You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din!

Are Opportunities Really Missed?

I've been thinking a lot about why things happen.  Sometimes the timing of things is all wrong, or is it? 

Do all things happen as they should?  When they should?  Where they should?

For instance, back in the 1990s when I did not have a cell phone, I missed a phone call.  

I had gone from work to a party at a female friend's house on a Friday.  I had a few drinks and didn't want to drive home, so I stayed the night in her guest room.  

When I got home around lunchtime Saturday, I found a message on my telephone answering machine about a job.  They were filming a movie in town and wanted me as an extra that weekend.  

I missed the call. I missed the opportunity.

I had sent in an application for the acting job as a lark and never expected to be called. 

At the time, I was devastated.  My life could have been very different if I had been home to take that call.  I would have met so many new people!

It is true that I never experienced the friendships I would have made through that job.  I never learned the things that job would have taught me, but I have to believe that I was not meant to know those people.  Maybe they did not deserve to know me.  Maybe I did not deserve to know them.  Maybe they would have made me miserable or somehow caused me harm.  Maybe maybe maybe....

Maybe I need to just have faith that I am, right now, today, exactly where I am supposed to be.

Maybe missing the opportunity is the real opportunity.

Remembering My Grandma Alice: A True Story

Two of my brothers have passed away.  One is buried at sea.  The other's grave is in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.  I've been missing both of them a lot this week, which reminded me of funerals and the process of dying, which somehow made me think of my Grandma Alice.

My Grandma Alice lived in a little white house in Gaffney, South Carolina during my early childhood.  She was in her 70s when I was born, so she was retired all the years I knew her.  

Grandma was a tiny little woman.  She might have been five foot tall if she stood on her tip-toes.  She was thin and nicely wrinkled with dark brown hair that never turned grey. 

Grandma loved me.  I was her namesake.

Grandma was the mother of ten children.  She outlived two of them.  My father, who was her eldest, died of heart failure in 1962 less than four months shy of being 62 years old, and  Samuel, her third child, died of pneumonia as a young child on the "mill hill" in Cherokee Falls, SC. 

I admire my grandmother.  She had a hard life raising all those children on a shoestring and losing two of them and her husband in her lifetime.  I'm not sure I could have survived that life.  Grandma was a very strong woman, a direct descendant of both French and Scottish nobility, who lived her life in poverty in the isolated hill country of the Carolinas.

I have many memories of my Grandma, both good and bad, as she was human, but the memory I want to share with you today happened in 1963 when Grandma was so very sick and living her last hours on this Earth.  

They had called in the family.  Grandma was released from the hospital so she could die at home.  By the time we got there, she was in bed in her house and her fever was high.  I was young, but I remember my aunts and uncles looking grave and saying, "Pneumonia," in hushed voices.  

Grandma was talking in a croaking voice between weak coughs.  She had a death rattle.  I will never forget that sound.  Not really something a child should hear coming from her grandmother, but there it was.  Death.  The aunts and uncles recognized the sound.  Their faces white, their mouths clinched tight, trying to keep back the tears.  Their mother was dying.

And she was talking.

Grandma was suddenly young and happy and being courted by my dashingly handsome, Grandpa William, who passed in 1934 at age 56 of kidney failure, so long before I was born.  She was getting ready for a date with him and telling her Mama she could hear William's carriage coming down the road.  She was trying to hurry.  "How do I look?" she asked, wanting to look her best for her beau.

I asked Mama why Grandma said carriage instead of car.  Mama explained to me that back in the late 1800s when Grandma was young and dating Grandpa, there were no cars.  They only had horses and carriages.

Grandma relived many years of her life while lying in that bed those final long hours.  She talked to friends and relatives long since dead.  They gathered round her bed thick as thieves.  She would laugh, which sent her into fits of coughing, but she was happy to see them.  She talked to Daddy too, which made Mama cry.

In the end, William came in his carriage and she went peacefully and happily to join him.   The body she left behind was merely a shell...a decaying cocoon.  Her soul was free. 

Grandma's body lies beside her beloved William in the Hopewell Baptist Church graveyard in Blacksburg, South Carolina.   I find it comforting to know they are together.  She loved him so....

Even the Windows Sweat

There are no words strong enough to describe how much I truly hate July in Charleston, SC.

Don't get me wrong. I love Charleston. It is a lovely historical city, and a wonderful place to visit. I have lived here 21 years now, but I plan to move to mountains the minute I retire next year.

Why, you ask? The air is just too thick for me to breathe here, and I miss autumn most of all. There are no true seasons in Charleston. The seasons here are basically: Hot, Hotter, Hottest, and Hellfire.

Seriously.

For instance, this is what the insulated windows in my house looked like today at 10:30 am.

Yes. That is condensation. No. Not on the inside. It is on the outside. The humidity outside is presently hovering around 86% with actual temperatures in the 90s, heat indexes in the 100s and thunderstorms on the way.

Summer thunderstorms in Charleston mean more heat and humidity. In other words, if you enjoy saunas, come to Charleston in July! Just walk outside. Free sauna!

Charleston is a subtropical environment. The weather here is very different from other parts of South Carolina as illustrated by this planting zone map:

I am originally from Cherokee County, SC. Notice how much cooler it is there.  Very different plants live there. The heat kills those plants here.

I'm in the minority here though. 999 out of 1000 people I meet here don't have asthma or breathing problems. They LOVE heat and humidity. They think 80 degrees is chilly. If you are one of those people, you'll love it here!!

Come to Charleston! Where even the windows sweat...

The Wind by Robert Louis Stevenson and a Memory From the Writers' Museum - Edinburgh, Scotland

Today I'm reading one of my favorite poems from childhood.  It is from the book, A Child's Garden of Verses, by one of my very favorite poets, Robert Louis Stevenson.

I was once privileged to visit Edinburgh, Scotland.  I truly am blessed. 

My favorite place I visited in Edinburgh was the Writers' Museum. The Writers’ Museum celebrates the lives of three great Scottish writers – Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and (BEST of all!) Robert Louis Stevenson.

Above is a photo of me with the lady (A very knowledgeable lady!) who worked in the downstairs Robert Louis Stevenson area of the Writers' Museum back in 2005. This lady had an identical twin sister who worked upstairs in the Robert Burns exhibit.  They were both volunteers at the museum.  This one was very friendly and talkative and helpful, her identical twin was the opposite, but they looked EXACTLY alike! 

Sadly, this lady and her twin have now passed away, but I will always remember them...especially the one pictured above.  She told me wonderful stories about Robert Louis Stevenson. 

She said in 1876 Robert Louis Stevenson met and fell in love with a married American woman named Fanny Vandegrift Osbourne.  Fanny later divorced and much to the horror of his family, Robert married Fanny, the divorcee, in 1880.

If you'd like to know more about Robert Louis Stevenson, click HERE. 

Now, the poem!  Enjoy!!



The Wind by Robert Louis Stevenson

I saw you toss the kites on high
And blow the birds about the sky;
And all around I heard you pass,
Like ladies' skirts across the grass--
                  O wind, a-blowing all day long,
                  O wind, that sings so loud a song!

I saw the different things you did,
But always you yourself you hid.
I felt you push, I heard you call,
I could not see yourself at all--
                 O wind, a-blowing all day long,
                 O wind, that sings so loud a song!

O you that are so strong and cold,
O blower, are you young or old?
Are you a beast of field and tree,
Or just a stronger child than me?
                O wind, a-blowing all day long,
                O wind, that sings so loud a song!

Remembering My Brother, Howard

My brother, Howard, passed away a few days ago, July 11, 2016.  He will forever be missed. 

Howard has been on my mind so very much these past few days that I have decided to share a glimpse of some happy times we had together.

For this post I think I'll tell you about the time I visited him in his home in Derry, Northern Ireland. 

In 1968 Howard married a lovely Northern Irish girl named Juliette.  They were happily married for 48 years.  They lived in the US for a good number of those years, but moved back to Derry, N. Ireland in the late 1990s.

Back in 2005 I was given a gift of a lifetime for my 50th birthday, nearly a month exploring Dublin, the Irish countryside, Derry, London, Paris, Venice, and Edinburgh all expenses paid.  I even got to take an overnight trip on the original Orient Express train from Paris to Venice. 

I truly am blessed and I know it and I'm very extraordinarily thankful every single day.

The very BEST part of that wonderful trip was I got to visit my brother, Howard, and his wife, Juliette, in their home in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, and I was able to meet and spend time with Juliette's family who all lived nearby.

Howard and Juliette's lovely home is in the city, but we visited many places while we were there. 

It was so hard to leave him that trip.  At the time Howard was on a list for a heart transplant.  When I left, I wasn't sure I'd ever see him again.  It hurt my heart to think about it at the time, but Howard did get his heart transplant in England in September of 2005.  He lived almost eleven more years after that.  He even got to come home to the USA to visit me in October 2011. 

I am honored and privileged to have known my brother, Howard. A better man never lived.  He will be missed.  He will be missed. Forever and a day. Until we meet again.

Howard R. Batchelor(1942-2016)

Howard

Howard, Alice, and Juliette

Alice, Howard, and Juliette

Howard and Alice

Alice and Howard

Alice and Howard

Howard and Alice

Alice and Howard

Alice and Howard

Alice and Howard

Howard

Howard and Alice

Howard and his lovely wife, Juliette

Howard and Alice

Dunluce Castle, Northern Ireland. Late Middle Ages Ruins

The Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland

Juliette's nephew, Juliette, and Howard

A Londonderry, Northern Ireland street near Howard and Juliette's home.

Grianan of Aileach atop a 244 metres hill in Inishowen in County Donegal, Ireland.

Howard, Alice and Juliette

If I could save time in a bottle....

Flying the Friendly Skies When the Skies are NOT so Friendly: A True Story With a Happy Ending!

Wednesday night, July 13, 2016, thunderstorms caused 285 flights to be cancelled at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. 

Two-hundred and eighty-five flights full of humans who had no place to stay that night.  The hotels were full.  Connecting flights were missed.  Some were unable to reschedule for the next day. 

The airlines set up cots.  Cots and cots and cots.  Hundreds of cots so the passengers would have a place to sleep that night.  Even if the airlines were willing to pay for hotel rooms, there were none available. 

Yes.  You guessed it.  My flight on United Airlines was scheduled to leave Chicago's O'Hare airport at 7:35 PM that night to arrive in Charleston at 10:55 PM.  I was expecting to get home by midnight at the latest.

Having read about recent TSA security checks at O'Hare taking hours and hours, I arrived at the airport around 5:00 PM that evening in order to have plenty of time to make it through security.  

Then I discovered that I had been chosen to be one of the few people to get to go through the TSA Precheck security lines instead of regular security!  Took two minutes if that.  I remember thinking that was almost as easy as in the old pre-9/11 days.  Then I thought  I might have to go through another security check somewhere later on my way to the gate, but nope.  That was it!  Yay! 

So I was there early, all checked-in, boarding pass in hand on my phone, found the correct United Airlines terminal and original boarding gate.  I even found a seat with a plug to charge my cell phone.  I was thinking, "Life is good!" 

I should never think or say things like that.  It tempts the fates.

The United Airlines app on my cell phone saved my sanity by the end of the night.  That app is GREAT!  I didn't even have to get in line for ticketing.  United just let me check in on my cell and displayed my Boarding Pass on my phone for scanning.  Easy peasey.  LOVE IT! 

That app also notified me every time there was a change to the time of my flight or to the boarding gate where I should be.  What a blessing!  My phone beeped and told me detailed pertinent information anytime something changed with my flight, which was often.  I never had to even look at a board for postings.  Thank goodness!  It would have been so much more stressful without that app. 

It wasn't long before I noticed other people's phones beeping at the same time as mine.  I ended up hanging out and talking to a whole group of people also trying to get to Charleston, whom I would not have met if our flight had been on time. 

All in all we changed boarding gates SIX times!  That is a personal record for me and I've been flying since the 1970s. 

The lines at Customer Service were ridiculously long.  At one point during the wait, someone announced that the Charleston flight was cancelled, so we all went to that Customer Service line to be rescheduled.  Then one of the passengers in our group overheard a United employee say he had made a mistake.  The Charleston flight was going to happen! 

Our fellow passenger came and got us all out of the Customer Service line.  What a nice person!!  I am very thankful someone told me before I had stood there worrying for an hour or more.  I'm sure the United employee would have told me when I made it to the front of the line, but it was a very long line.

Thank goodness for friendly travelers!! 😊

When we made it to the next current gate, I said, "I told you our flight is going to come and take us home!"  They all laughed because I'd been saying, "They're not going to cancel.  We're going home tonight," over and over and over all night.  At first they thought I was crazy.  They were skeptical, but by the end, they all believed me. 

The later it got and the more coffee we had the brighter the atmosphere was around our little traveling group.  We all told traveling stories and stories about our families. 

I discovered that one family had left San Francisco that morning at 6:00 AM and had pretty much spent their day in airline terminals.  They were trying to get to the man's sister's house in Summerville because the family had gone in together and rented an oceanfront beach house in Isle of Palms, SC for the week. 

Another woman traveled all the time for work and was headed home, etc. 

There were big discussions about which airports were the BEST and which airports were the WORST, as most of the people in the group were business travelers. 

We could see on the United Airlines app when our plane was finally in the air and on its way to us.  We all cheered its progress. 

We ended up having the best time in a bad situation.  We laughed.  We raised each others' spirits. It became a party.

Instead of grumbling because our plane was four hours late, we all just kept repeating how lucky we were that our plane was coming to take us home that night, and we weren't going to have to try to sleep on one of those cots.  We were so happy!!!

We finally boarded our plane at 11:37 PM Central Daylight Time, which was 12:37 AM for me because my body is on Eastern Daylight Time.  We landed in Charleston around 3:00 AM and I was home in bed by 4:00 AM or so.  I was very tired, but not nearly as stressed as I would have been had I not been prone to talk to strangers. 

The next morning I just happened to see this photo (below) that my friend, Sasha, had posted of a United Airlines plane in Charleston, SC the day my plane was so delayed because of thunderstorms. 

Sasha did not know that I was stuck in Chicago that day.  Sasha did not know I was flying United.  Nature just speaks to Sasha on a regular basis, so she takes fascinating and fantastic photographs that she thankfully shares. 

Sasha graciously gave me permission to show it to you.

As I look at this beautiful photo, I'm pretty sure God and my whole flock of Guardian Angels were on the job watching over me that day, and telling Sasha to take this photo to let me know I am never truly alone.  I am loved and miracles happen every single day if we only use our eyes and our hearts to see them.

This double rainbow is speaking straight from God to me, "Don't worry, Alice, United Airlines is bringing you home."

Blessings to you all!

Charleston International Airport, Charleston, SC
United Airlines - July 13, 2016
Photo Credit: Sasha Azevedo Photography

 

Half-Naked Firefighters

The title got your attention, did it?  -grin-  I bet!  

Aw...I'll tell you about the half-naked firefighters, but first some background:

Those of you who know me, know that I LOVE dogs.  Actually, I love all animals, but I especially love dogs.  That is why I feel the need to share today's information with you, my friends.  To help save the lives of many dogs (cats, birds, horses, etc. etc. etc.) here in the Lowcountry of South Carolina.

Back in 2013 there was a little abandoned dog named Toby.  Toby was surrendered to Charleston Animal Society twice.  The second time someone had poured hot water or acid on him leaving him severely burned.  Instead of putting him to sleep, the fantastic folks at Charleston Animal Society decided to save him. 

You can read Toby's story HERE.

Toby's rescue inspired "No Kill Charleston" an all-out effort to save every healthy and treatable animal that ended up with Charleston Animal Society.  This is how Charleston County became the first community in the Southeast to become "No Kill."

"How do they do it?" you ask.  "Isn't it expensive?" you ask.

Very expensive and they do it with fundraising and donations from people just like me.  People just like you. 

They created Toby's Fund, Charleston Animal Society’s Medical Fund.

The biggest fundraiser they have is their annual Charleston Firefighter Calendar.  Charleston Animal Society first teamed up with local firefighters to do a fundraiser calendar for Toby's fund back in 2014.  The calendars have been wildly successful, and many animal lives have been saved because of it. 

The 2017 Charleston Firefighter Calendars go on sale TODAY,  July 15, 2017!  To pre-order yours or to stock up (They make GREAT Christmas gifts!) click HERE.

If you don't particularly like half-naked firefighters or you just don't want another calendar, they will also take donations at that link. 

Adopt if you can.  Donate or volunteer if you can. Spread the word if nothing else.  Be a hero. Save a life.

Alice and the Wolf Spider: A True Alice Adventure

A long time ago back in the 1970s, when my sons were small, I had a run-in with a Carolina Wolf Spider (aka the Giant Carolina Wolf Spider).

Now. If you've never seen a Carolina Wolf Spider before, let me introduce you.

The Carolina Wolf Spider is the largest wolf spider in North America. Adult Carolina Wolf Spiders are about 4 inches across. They have a gray-brown body with a dark center stripe on the abdomen, long, hairy legs; and eight large, dark eyes of unequal size that reflect light (just in case the LARGE hairy body doesn't freak you out enough).  They run down their prey (like a wolf) instead of catching it in a web.

They bite.

Now I generally like spiders and never kill a non-poisonous one under normal circumstances, but -shudder-.

Wolf spiders eat mostly ground-dwelling insects and other spiders, but, especially large females, may also eat small vertebrates.  (Yikes!)  They usually live in silk-lined burrows in the ground with silk and grass covering the entrance. That silk is thick as a sewing thread!

Well, the day I had the run-in with the wolf spider my family and I had just gotten back from a vacation at Myrtle Beach, SC, which is about a five hour drive from the wooded area in the hill country of South Carolina where we lived at the time.

We were all exhausted from the trip, and it was late.

I put my three small sons (ages 1, 3, and 5) in the tub and bathed them, dressed them in their pjs and put them to bed.  Then I put in a load of clothes to wash and got in the shower.  

At this point, I should probably tell you that I am nearly blind without my glasses.

I adjusted the water, got in the shower (as I said) and pulled the shower curtain closed.  

It took about half a minute or so, I guess for the wolf spider who had taken up residence in our shower curtain to jump on my leg and climb up my back.

You can guess the rest.  

Okay.  I'll tell you.  -sigh-  

I started jumping and hollering and somehow knocked that spider off my back and ran buck naked and screaming into the hallway.  Dripping water everywhere.  

The noise I made could have easily raised the dead.  Seriously.  My exhaustion vanished in an instant.  When I regained enough whits about myself to be able to use words again, I started screaming for my then husband to come kill that spider!

He made fun of me, of course, and told me to stop scaring the children. 

He laughed when I told him how big the spider was, and said, "Okay.  I'll go kill the little spider for you."  I said, "Okay, don't believe me.  You go see for yourself." 

He came out of that bathroom pale-faced and visibly shaken, and said, "And just how am I supposed to kill that thing?" 

I couldn't tell him, and I still don't know how he did it, but we both agreed that was the biggest spider we had ever seen, and I felt myself fortunate that it did not bite me. 

He told the tale of that spider at his workplace and nobody much believed him either, but I promise you it is true.  If you laid that spider on a mason jar, it's legs would have overlapped the circle all the way around.

-shudder-

I may have to sleep with the light on tonight remembering it!  😩  I still marvel (and am very very thankful) that the spider stayed in the shower curtain while I bathed my sons!  What a nightmare!

I know these things do NOT happen to everyone.  -sigh-

My life has been one adventure after another.  I'll tell you more by and by.

Useful Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows PCs

Aren't computers fun?!  NOT!!!

Well, computers are really good when they work, but they can be a real  headache when they're not working correctly.  This is why I believe it is always best to know more than one way to do anything on a computer.

When I do software training workshops, I compare computer knowledge to driving directions.  It is always best to know more than one route to where you are going.  There may be a wreck that has traffic tied up for hours, or a bridge can be under repair, etc. Knowing a detour is very useful information.  The same is true when you're working on a computer.

That is why I've decided to share the most useful shortcuts I use when working on a computer.  These work with most Windows programs.

First of all, I use right-click a LOT.  Oftentimes if I highlight something and right-click on it, I will get an option that I need, but when that doesn't work, I try these (Just hold down the Ctrl key and press the appropriate letter. Don't press the + unless you are doing the Zoom one.):

Ctrl + B	Make text bold
Ctrl + I	Make text italics
Ctrl + U	Underline text
Ctrl + L	Align text left
Ctrl + R	Align text right
Ctrl + E	Align text center
Ctrl + X	Cut
Ctrl + C	Copy
Ctrl + V	Paste
Ctrl + Z	Undo action (My personal favorite!)
Ctrl + Shift + Z	Redo action
Ctrl + A	Select all
Ctrl + +	Zoom in
Ctrl + -	Zoom out
Ctrl + 0	Reset Zoom
Alt + F4	Closes the application
Ctrl + Alt + Del	Restart the computer immediately
F5	Refreshes a webpage immediately
Ctrl + F	Find
Ctrl + P	Print

I hope you find these useful!