Glory Bee Attitudes

I had a life lesson yesterday when I was reminded that a sign can be wrong. I was driving down I-95 in rush hour traffic near the Fort McHenry Tunnel in Baltimore. This stretch of the road is usually very crowded at that hour and a fender bender or flat tire in the tunnel or road construction can wreak havoc on the commute. Yesterday there was a big electronic sign that read something like "Road Work. Two left lanes closed at toll plaza". I muttered to myself about how stupid it would be to have construction close lanes during rush hour. I stayed in the lane I was in and suddenly realized that I was in one of those lanes when I saw traffic bunching up and moving to the right. By dumb luck alone I stayed in my lane until it was too late. That was a good thing for there was no construction. The sign was probably never turned out from the early morning hours when they often do this kind of work. So I found myself sailing through while others were in slow moving traffic. I realiz...

I've always loved the "Don't Quit" poem. It is so inspiring. I remember hanging it on my desk at work back in 1989 when I had lyme disease. I was so sick and so tired and sick and tired of being sick and tired. It took a while for the illness to be properly treated since the disease was not as common back then. One of the meds my doctor put me on caused me to be so overwhelmed that I was unable to focus. I felt like I was in danger of being unable to hold onto my job. I was writing software at the time. I'd write code one day and then come in the next and it would be illogical and all wrong and I wouldn't even have any recollection of writing it. But I was determined not to quit. After a few months of horrible struggles, I was gloriously healed and all symptoms were gone. I gradually eased off the meds as suggested and never needed them again. My energy was restored and I was able to function normally again. Here's the poem: Don't Quit Poem by anonymo...

John McCain has nothing on me other than that is mother is still alive. But as I see it, we are both really proud of our mothers. My mother was a jewel. She was a woman of much spunk and wit. She was clever and creative, wise and dear. She had an intelligence that belied her lack of education. Born in the early 1900's she had to quit school at a young age to help out at home. Her father passed away when she was a young girl and her mom, a fierce but caring German woman hung wallpaper to make ends meet. My mom worked in the factories as a young woman. When she married my dad and had children, she stayed home and kept house. We never had much but we always had warmth and love and plenty of mom's ingenuity. My mother became a Girl Scout leader when we were of scouting age. I always think that it was her way of being able to use her creativity. She had so many great ideas and the girls just loved her. She continued as a leader for many years. If she had been born in a diff...

When our lilac bush was blooming recently I was reminded of the lilacs we used to have in our backyard when I was growing up. One year my mom picked a bunch for me to take in to the teacher. I remember the teacher exclaiming about how beautiful they were and I was so proud when she displayed them on her desk. We never had a lot of extra money to buy things for school faculty members. My mom always made it a point to do what she could but she was not one of those smiley women who showed up with cupcakes for the whole class. (Not that there were that many of them but there were indeed some). I was a quiet child who seldom asked for favors or tried to be noticed. So when I did get a little attention lavished on me because of that simple bouquet of flowers, I felt like a princess. It's amazing what a simple inexpensive gesture can do for yourself and for others. It's the random act of kindness, the senseless act of beauty that counts for more than some extravagant gesture. This yea...

DH and I had a lovely day on Saturday, going to yard sales, running errands, stopping at the mall for a bit. We were enroute from a trip to pick up a free vintage metal outdoor rocking chair that I found on Craig's list when we happened upon a motorcycle accident that had just occurred. L got out to see if he could help and I was trying to keep cars from coming any closer to the intersection until the police got there. It was kind of a frightening sight and turning my back to it made it easier for me. Then I realized that my job was to pray. So I did while I was also helping and I realized that it was a privilege to pray for that man. I was reminded of a time about five years ago when I was going grocery shopping and there was a bad motorcycle accident in front of the shopping center. The road was closed in order to allow the medical helicopter to land. I was able to pray for the man who was hit and the people in the car who hit him. A year or so later I ran into the victim in a do...