thehereandafter

This past weekend was the semi-annual McCorkle's Nursery "plant sale"! A wholesale nursery within miles of my house assembles flowers, bushes, plants, and trees in a big field and sells them at a very discounted price....what bargains there are to find!Hundreds of people flock there over the three day event with their sunhats and wagons for their love of plants. It has been going on for years and my family has been attending it since the very first one. For three days we chuckle as we watch the cars and trucks come up and down the road loaded with plants..."Hey, look at that truck! Boy, they sure bought a lot"! It is what America loves...a real deal! I have had many conversations with people I know about "finding deals". Everything from coupon clipping to consignment shopping and selling. I am not sure about everywhere but I am sure we here in the South love our deals! How about those couponers....clip some coupons and watch the pay off...  your groc...

My mom and dad moved Saturday into an apartment that is adjoining my sister's house. They didn't have to move far, just six doors or so down their street. Change for me is very hard and especially change that involves physical moves. We moved many times when I was a child and it was always hard for me. So, for me, this move was hard not only because my parents are downsizing but because of the memories that have stayed with me from my childhood. Over the past six months I have had to deal with many emotions. I really don't care where my parents live (as long as it is close to me), nor do I really care how large their house is. What has been hard is the thought of not having all our holidays in their home, something that is the tradition in our family. Another issue that I struggled with was the grands and great-grands not being able to stay with mama and daddy when they come for a visit...face it, family and friends come to see them not us! We benefit from their visits but...

Everyone who knows me will tell you that my grandson has stolen my heart! For me, as for all you other grands and great grands, there is nothing better than spending time with those sweet little ones! And I am very fortunate that I am able to spend a good bit of time with my "honey bun". I started calling him that around the time he started smiling. When my children were younger we would make honey buns and the sweet icing we spooned over them would drip off the top and puddle over the bottom. That sweet, dripping topping is just like the sweetness that drips from my little honey bun...and it puddles down around whomever he is with! Sweet, sweet, sweet! Today, I want to talk about the example of pure sweetest that comes from God and is meant for all of us...the example God shows us through children. I think the sweetness I see in my honey bun can be translated into the word "kindness" for us adults. It is pure, it is sincere, it is innocent, it is joy, it is a ...

So school has ended and graduations are over so it is time to go on vacation. I assume I am not the only one who over-packs. I over-pack because I want to be prepared for whatever my comes my way. Prepared! So my luggage looks like "Let's make a deal" on steroids! If we are going somewhere cold...bring a sleeveless shirt...you never know when a heat wave will flow your way. When we are going somewhere warm...bring a coat...there may be a cold front coming in. I feel the need to pack dresses, shirts,  and pants and shorts...be prepared to look proper at all places. And because of all the outfits, you have to pack appropriate shoes, jewelry, and don't get me started on the make-up! Doesn't everyone pack a different lipstick for each outfit...a nude, a red, a pink, a bright pink, a soft pink, a coral, a gloss.....oh well. Moving on, I always pack something to occupy my time in the car, on the plane, or aboard the boat...you never know what you might be in the mood to...

This being the month of June, I wanted to give congratulations to all the graduates out there and their accomplishments.  You have worked so hard and received special recognition, awards, and scholarships for all your hard-work....plus your treasured diplomas! Have you noticed all the media attention surrounding the newest Bruce Jenner/Caitlyn story? It is on the front of every magazine, on every news story, popping up on my smartphone in the news-feeds.....on and on and on. And with this story goes much debating on how genuine all this is and whether or not it is just for fame and fortune. The limelight given to this one person is huge! OMG! What a breathtaking wedding keepsake....a photographer taking wedding pictures captured the couple, a Marine Corps Cpl. and his soon to be bride, praying and holding hands from around a corner, in an effort to avoid seeing each other before the ceremony. And here is a quote from the groom, Caleb Earwood, "We were about to take our first ...

Last night we had "lots of thunder and lightning" as the morning news is reporting during evening and overnight storms, just in case you were one of the very few that were unaware of the night's events. Before nightfall, the sky turned dark...in spots almost black as I viewed it from the front windows.The wind picked up; I could see the tall pines in the back swaying from side to side. From the big windows, that look over the back yard and pasture, you could see the lightning strikes,at times they seemed like they were going to strike right into the back of the great room. They were lighting up the sky...one right after the other. And then the thunder....it would BOOM! and then the sound would roll...seemingly for minutes! BOOM, CLAP,ROLL...over and over again! And now, as the sun rises, flash flooding, power outages, streets littered with debris...storms in all its glory...part of nature, part of life! During the storms we had overnight are we are able to turn on the t...

We are spending a few days at the beach with our son, daughter in law, and grand baby. Of course,we went out to the beach and stood at the edge of the water. It was great fun for us and for our grandson to have the waves break just short of us and let the foamy water sweep over our feet. As the water hit us, and then receded, you could feel the sand wash out from under our feet. It gave us the feeling that the earth was moving beneath us. It made us feel off balanced, unsteady and slightly wobbly. This started me thinking about the last year to eighteen months. Life has thrown me every kind of churning surf possible. Life has washed over me and attempted to drag me out to sea. My life has been like those pair of feet standing in the foamy sea water with the ground underneath them washing out from under me. The circumstances and challenges that I HAD to face left me unsteady, off balanced and not just slightly wobbly but teetering, shaky, weak and unsure. Life for me has been like the...