The Silver Lining

So here it is.  The last day of 2016.    Hallelujah!! By all accounts, it has been a tough year for a lot of people.   The election brought out the absolute worst in people; I remain shell-shocked at the hatred and bigotry that I see so flagrantly exhibited in our country. Many beloved heroes, celebrities, and athletes left us:  David Bowie, Arnold Palmer, John Glenn, Leonard Cohen, Prince, Patty Duke, Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Harper Lee, Pat Conroy, Nancy Reagan, Mohammed Ali, Merle Haggard, Elie Weisel, Florence Henderson – just to name a tiny handful.  This short list alone contains people who wrote amazing books I read, acted on screens large or small that I watched with rapt attention, or sang songs that are part of the soundtrack of my life.  I vividly remember being 5 years old and watching John Glenn “splash down” on our old black and white television.  I also remember learning about integrity as I watched Moh...

When I was a very young bride in 1975, my mother gave me a treasure box full of gold. Actually, it was a small metal box full of recipes, neatly typed on 3x5 index cards.  The box was full of family favorites, foods I had grown up enjoying.  On the back of several of the recipes, she had hand-written special memories and stories about particular dishes – which made them even more valuable to me.  Some were familiar tales that I’d heard before, some notes told me the origin of the recipe or who had first made and shared the dish, and one was a secret that made me laugh (and I’ve never told)! In the back of the box I found 3 cards clipped together – my grandma Belle’s Fruitcake Recipe. Every Christmas in my memory, there’s been a homemade fruitcake on the table.  It’s one of the traditions that I hold dear.  Dense with chopped fruits and nuts, rich with homemade ingredients like apple jelly and fig preserves, and thoroughly soaked with Belle’s homemad...

If you REALLY know me, none of this will come as a surprise.  You might even nod your head and smile a little bit.  I value my friends.  Throughout the years I’ve found friends of all colors, races, genders, political backgrounds, and varying faiths.  I’ve learned and gained so much richness in life from them. For that, I am thankful. This week – actually this whole election cycle – has made me examine my values, my beliefs, my feelings.  The whole thing has been ugly, on both sides.  At times I shook my head in dismay and amazement.  The things I have read on social media, things I have seen on television, things I have heard first-hand -- all have astounded me.   I chose to vote for Hillary Clinton.  I absolutely could not reconcile my core beliefs with the racism, misogyny, prejudice, and bullying I saw in the other candidate.  To be perfectly honest, I was shocked by the evangelical support he gathered.  I was disgu...

We are all familiar with Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem defining Success. To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better,          whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. Recently, I began participating in an online Retreat for the Writer's Soul.  Each day, in addition to a short meditation, I receive a writing challenge.   One such challenge was to create our own definition of success, following Emerson's lead. It took me just about all day to put it together.  I played with phrases and words that spoke "success" to me.  It was a tough assignment, but one that I really enjoyed. I share it h...

I tackled "The Drawer" this morning.  I bet every one of you have one just like it -- that catch-all drawer in the kitchen that gets crammed with all the "stuff" that you don't know where else to put.  I have eyeballed it for several weeks (months?) now, knowing that it's been on my to-do list.  It certainly isn't going anywhere, nor is it going to clean itself out.  So I pulled the drawer completely out and dumped the contents on the table.  I laughed at the collection -- I am not even sure what some of that stuff IS.  The Lizard Man could be living in there, for all I know! I wiped out the drawer, and felt good about the "clean slate" I now had to start with.  Batteries, glue, a marble, masking tape, a collection of small tools, some keys that fit lord-knows-what, a vast assortment of nails, screws, and nuts, pull chains for ceiling fans, a label-maker, seed packets, 3 miscellaneous electrical cords, gardening gloves, a couple of keychain...

(Photo taken by Tammy Brewer Parker, "The Old Parker Homestead" in Anson County, NC.) DAFFODIL'S SECRET Another gray day in late February.  Would this winter never end?  I zip my jacket and pull my knit cap down over my ears as I head outside for a walk.  Brown leaves crunch beneath my feet.  A deer bounds into the woods, forewarned by my noisy footsteps.  I see the white flag of her tail as she disappears amidst the trees.  I peered into the woods where she vanished, straining to catch one more glimpse of her but her camouflage was too good. However, a brilliant flash of golden yellow catches my eyes.  Could it be?  Yes!  In a small clearing I see beautiful yellow daffodils, nodding in the breeze!  I smiled at the sight of them – a true sign of spring.  Looking closer, I realize this small clearing in the trees was once a home place.  A crumbling pile of stones was once a chimney; a few rotting boards were a...

During the month of November, I've tried to select one thing each day and give thanks for it.  The last two posts have shared some of those.  This is my third "Thankfulness" post.   I am thankful for things my daddy taught me.  Again, I could spend a year telling you why I am thankful for my daddy, but I’ll just focus on a few things I learned from him.  His love, work ethic, and sense of fairness have been a guiding beacon for my life.  He has always looked out for folks who were less fortunate than we were.  I remember him making “care packages” to send to a young man who was in training school and couldn’t be with his family at Christmas.  He taught me how to use a hammer, drill, power saw, screwdriver, and paintbrush.  I learned exactly where to put 5 water jars around every brooder in the chicken house (Becky, stop laughing!) and how to check to make sure they were level so they wouldn’t leak all the water out. I learned that I’d b...