carried Haley with me and really made a big dent in the work I have to have
done before Thursday. Employees are getting "antsy" about getting their W-2
forms - guess they are getting a tax refund.
I had a terrific supper with a great lady, Ms. Joyce. She is such a
thoughtful person and always has something great to eat. Tonight was no
exception.
I thought about several things to put in my email tonight, but all of them
were kind of negative subjects and I've had such a good day, I didn't want
anything to spoil it. As I was leaving Ms. Joyce's house, she loaned me a
book a friend had given her. It's entitled "Glory of Creation". The text
is by several people and the drawings are by Thomas Kinkade. The book is
beautiful and I'm going to share one of the selections in it with you. It
doesn't have a title but was written by Corinne Roosevelt Robinson.
"There's a path that leads to Nowhere in a meadow that I know,
Where an inland river rises and the stream is still and slow;
And beneath the silver green
Of the birches'silent shadows where the early violets lean.
Other pathways lead to Somewhere, but the one I love so well
Has no end and no beginning -- just the beauty of the dell,
Just the wildflowers and the lilies, yellow striped as adder's tongue,
Seem to satisfy my pathway as it winds their sweets among.
There I go to meet the Springtime, when the meadow is aglow,
Marigolds amid the marshes, and the stream is still and slow;
There I find my fair oasis, and with carefree feet I tread,
For the pathway leads to Nowhere and the blue is overhead.
All the ways that lead to Somewhere echo with the hurrying feet
Of the Struggling and the Striving, but the way I find so sweet
Bids me dream and bids me linger -- Joy and Beauty are its goal;
On the path that leads to Nowhere I have sometimes found my soul."
As I read this, I realized how much we miss of the beauty of the world
because most of us are always in a hurry to get somewhere or do something.
I am very guilty of this. I have attached 3 pictures to this email. All 3
are taken from my front porch, from almost the same spot. It is one of my
favorite views. I have often wished I lived on a hill with an unobstructed
view of the sunrise and sunset. I can see the sunrise every morning from my
front porch and I see the sunset as I head home from work in the afternoon.
Sometimes the sunset is so red and dramatic, it's almost like I am heading
into an awesome fire. I love my drive to work in the mornings. I'm glad I
have to go across the Manns Harbor Bridge and get to enjoy all that expanse
of sky and water. There have been a few times I have actually stopped on
the bridge to take a picture or two. But, occasionally I will see something
that I just can't catch with the camera. This happened about two months
ago. When I let Haley out that morning, the sunrise almost took my breath
away. I let her out and immediately went to get my camera. I probably took
12 or 15 pictures, but just could not capture its beauty. And I guess
sometimes it's meant to be that way. If we could always capture the beauty,
it might become "ho-hum" rather than spectacular. "O Lord my God, when I in
awesome wonder, consider all the works Thy hands have made, I see the stars,
I hear the mighty thunder, Thy pow'r throughout the universe displayed! When
thru the woods and forest glades I wander and hear the birds sing sweetly in
the trees, when I look down from lofty mountain grandeur and hear the brook
and feel the gentle breeze....then sings my soul, my Savior God to
Thee...how great Thou art!"
One day a friend and I were discussing which we would rather lose - our
sight or our hearing. I realize this isn't something we would get to chose.
Either would be bad, but I would rather be deaf than blind. I can't imagine
what it would be like to never have seen my precious children's faces.
Hannah, my beautiful granddaughter - how I would miss her smile. Even
Haley, when I speak to her and she turns her head a little to one side and
how she wiggles all over, not just her tail, when she sees me. To think I
would never see another sunrise, sunset, rainbow, the osprey that has the
nest near my house; the dolphins playing in the water. I could go on and on
but I am sure you get the idea. As I get older, I realize how many things I
have missed out on because I had to work and was always too busy. I often
think back to the day my Mama died and I wasn't there to tell her goodbye
because I had to prepare payroll checks for 3 clients. So many things.....
When my boys were little, I didn't have much time to spend with them; to do
things with them. I managed a cottage court in addition to my full time job
as an accountant. There were a lot of things I missed doing with them. But
then, I think again and remember a lot of the things we did do together. I
taught them to fish, bait the hook and cast. I taught them how to unhook
the fish - they caught bluefish once in a "blues blitz" that were almost as
big as Ray was at the time. One of TJ's was so big, he wasn't able to reel
it in; he just kept walking backwards until he was almost to the top of the
barrier dune. Ray's almost drug him in the surf and Buster helped him get
it in. I remember the 3 of us sitting in the pavilion, early in the
morning, watching the dolphins playing in the water. I remember seeing an
Orca whale off shore one day - one of the most beautiful sights I have ever
seen as he came out of the water and turned over before he crashed back down
again. So, after thinking about it, I did miss doing some things with them;
but I did a lot of things with them I can't put a price on. More recently,
in June, I saw the beautiful expression on TJ's face as he watched his
future wife, Amy, walk down the steps to him on their wedding day. I hope
to see that same expression on Ray's face one day.
So, yeah, I think I would rather be deaf than blind.
I want to quote one more thing before I close this email. George Strait
released a new song this past summer and the words are so very
true..."Life's not the breath you take, the breathing in and out, that get's
you through the day...ain't what it's all about. You might just miss the
point trying to win the race. Life's not the breaths you take but the
moments that take your breath away." Hope you have a lot of those moments
in your life.
Brenda
boutlaw@carolinaregion.com
If you have trouble viewing attached photos or would like to see the online
version of this email, you can visit my blog to see the newest posts online
at http://brendaoutlaw.blogspot.com
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