Just a Reminder

Wonderful Visit from Greensboro Friends

Early this week we enjoyed a short visit from Karen and her 11 year old daughter Clare, who I'm afraid I bore with stories about remembering the day she was born. She is a great little girl. We share a fascination with origami. She folded this eagle, which I had long ago given up on, in about 10 minutes.

Karen is a wonderful gardener and brought me daffodil and canna bulbs, purple cone-flower and black-eyed susan plants. This will inspire me to quit waiting on the homeowner's association and go ahead and make a bed down the side of the condo.

This was a perfect opportunity to go to Magnolia Plantation on a not-too-hot day with someone who would really enjoy the gardens. Karen had a new camera and she took tons of pictures which was good because mine was balky all day.

The azaleas and camillas were well past their peak, but there were enough left to be amazed at all the varieties scattered throughout. This garden has so many nooks and crannies -- it is maintained in a very natural style but there are nice surprises around every bend in the path. We loved coming upon a spectacular bamboo archway -- lots of iris and lilies gave the area a very Asian feel.

The Aquarium was on Clare's list of things to do, so we went there Wednesday AM before they had to head back to Greensboro.

It did me good to have quality time with Karen who has been a good friend for over 20 years. It's nice to live in a place where friends can come to visit and feel they've had a real treat.

Happy Easter!

We don't have kids or grandkids to do Easter baskets for -- so we had to do one for the kids in us. We had our supper group for dinner here last night and I noticed every single grown-up person dug into the bowl of jelly beans.

Here's our one pretty azalea bush. The temps went down to near freezing again this week and I didn't cover it up. I was afraid I would wake up to a muddy brown azalea bush, but I don't think we get the coldest temperatures here on the marsh.

Another Woman Joins the Ranks of Wise Crones

It is the height of spring in Charleston -- we had our first clutch of ducks hatch on the pond this week and the azaleas are in full bloom. This picture of the very picturesque Pineapple Fountain next to Waterfront Park was the picture of the week on SCIWAY . It taken in 2007 by a fellow named Alan Tobey who was visiting from California.

Last weekend I attended a "Croning Ceremony" -- the 60th birthday party for a friend who is also named Sandy. Sandy's life has taken her many places -- Her husband served in Nepal in the Peace Corps and they have returned there several times. They have traveled widely throughout Southeast Asia. Sandy was the first person I met in Charleston and she became my first Facebook "friend". She is one of those adventurous, open-hearted, extroverts who attracts interesting people around her. She has good and true friends all over the world. I am honored to be a part of her local orbit.

Apparently, a formal Croning Ceremony is common is some cultures -- a recognition of a woman's third life stage -- after the Maiden and the Mother, comes the Wise Crone. Guess I skipped the Mother part. Anyway, this was a celebration of the wisdom that comes with deep knowledge of self and of the world, the freedom and the fearlessness to love well what is true and real and the grandmother's sacred role of storyteller for her family, her community and her culture. In the picture, Sandy is being welcomed into the sisterhood of wise crones by Renate, who at age 87 was the most senior woman among us that night.

It was a wonderful celebration with women of all ages, ritual, blessings and prayers, food and wine and gifts given and received. I left with a lovely silk scarf and a henna tattoo on my ankle -- a strangely empowering embellishment. Later in the week, I was sitting on a bench downtown waiting for someone when a woman walking down the street stopped and told me she liked my tattoo. File that in the category of "Things I Never Thought Anyone Would Ever Say to Me."

Signs of Spring Everywhere

This is the bluebird who has taken to frequenting our deck. I think (s)he comes to drink water from the cat's dish (dangerous!) and then looks up and sees her/his reflection in the glass door, so (s)he goes on the the attack and charges at the rival bird, slamming her/his little body into the door. (S)he does this repeatedly until (s)he has to go sit on the railing and shake her/his little head to clear the stars. It's Spring and everyone is acting a little crazy.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to You

Today I have blatantly stolen a picture off of someone else's blog -- I'm sure there is blog protocol that harshly discourages this practice -- but I am pleading ignorance. It is just too good a St. Patrick's Day picture! I can't even remember the name of the person or the blog I stole it from -- but she's local, so I hope I don't get caught.

Since I was on a crime spree, I also took a picture off Joan Perry's Charleston Daily Photo blog of the alligators at the pond at Roper St. Francis I wrote about earlier. I added the picture to that earlier post about alligator sightings to make it more interesting. I need to get better about taking my camera everywhere. I enjoy Joan's photos and commentary. She gets great shots of all that Charleston has to offer and also notices the small, quirky things. She is the Director of Volunteers at Roper St. Francis. Maybe I will get to know her.

Now, I must get out of jammies and find something to wear that is appropriately green and Irish-like.

Change of Plans

It's going to be a nice warm weekend. Three days ago it was 21 degrees in the AM. Sunday it's going to be 80. Christy and Morris were going to visit this weekend, but Morris' mother is critically ill and they are going to Kansas instead -- So-o-o instead, we'll go over to Vicki and Jim's Saturday evening and see their daughter who is visiting from Toronto before she leaves for a time to study in Spain -- and maybe get to the beach. Knowing people who travel but not traveling much myself seems to be an on-going theme for me.