Garden of Blessings
Friday, July 25, 2025
Ding Dong, Avon Calling!
Monday, August 22, 2022
All Good Things Must Come to an End
Lancaster Tigers: 5th and 6th science and math
Christway Chaparrals: 5th and 6th Bible, science, history
Permenter Shorthorns: 7th math
Friday, April 29, 2022
Dusk in the Country
There is a time between the busyness of day and the tiredness of night called dusk.
As the sun slips below the horizon, the wind calms and everything becomes peaceful. Coolness settles. Animals wind down, Chickens head for the roost, flutter, and settle for the night. Doves coo. Frogs croak. Bats swoop after roused mosquitos. Coyotes howl as they ready for a nightly prowl. Owls hoot then fly silently from treetop to treetop trying to spot a scurrying, unaware mouse.
All seems unfamiliar and mysterious. This magical time lasts for a few precious moments until darkness closes in and swallows it up.
Friday, June 25, 2021
Growing Up on the Job
I had almost forgotten about my first, full-time job back when I was 18 years old. I had babysat and pulled a couple of shift as a substitute dishwasher up to that time. These jobs just put a little money in my pocket, but were nothing to depend upon.
I had moved to New Orleans, La, my first move from home! Everything was different and a little scary! I picked up a job as a cashier at a Barkers Department Store.To get to this store, I had to cross the Huey P. Long Bridge. This bridge was very narrow, barely room for too trucks to run abreast. There was another problem, the bridge had been started at both ends and built to the middle, where it was about a foot off! Well, they just jogged it over a foot! You needed to be aware of this little error so you wouldn’t either hit the curb or stray into the other lane! To add to this excitement, a train trestle ran way up above the lanes of traffic in the middle of the bridge! Every drive was an adventure!
Barkers was like a small Walmart. To use the old-style registers you had to understand how to count back change. I wasn’t very good at it and hardly ever did my register balance at the end of my shift! It usually was over, which was good for the store, but bad for the customer! I wasn’t a very good cashier.
Each week there was a sales flyer with specials. I was supposed to somehow keep up with all of the items on sale, and there were a lot! My boss, Mr. Strict (no joke), was not happy that he had to come to my register and void ring ups often because customers would inform me that the item was on sale after I rang it up at the regular price!
We also had to inform customers of item limits, a few of which ended in scenes like the woman that wanted an overflowing cart of wicker baskets on sale for $1 each! There was a limit of 5 . I had to allow Mr. Strict to engage the customer who was quite angry!
As New Orleans is a port city, we often had foreign customers who didn’t pay taxes at the store but at customs when they left to return home. Again, Mr. Strict would be at my counter voiding the sale for me to start all over!
Often these foreign customers would buy items to resell in their country, so there would be a basket of a certain type dress in several different colors and sizes! Once a customer bought a bean bag chair and proceeded to dump all of the little pellets out into the parking lot so she could get the bean bag chair in the trunk of a taxi.
I had a colorful peer at this store. Her/his name was Erica. She/he told me she wanted her boyfriend to change his name to Jack, so she could change her name to Jill and they could be Jack and Jill! Daily one would hear Erica’s booming male voice announce her entry into the woman’s restroom. She was nice to us all, but took a little getting used to!
Weekly I was paid with cash in a little brown envelope. I never brought home over $100 for a week’s pay. I still have these little brown envelopes which surprises no one who knows me!
Sunday, May 16, 2021
Weeds or Wildflowers?
He loves a well-manicured lawn and is meticulous to keep it all edged, weeded, and tidy. I, on the other hand, love a natural lawn, weeds (wildflowers) and all! I love to see the birds, butterflies, and bees flitting about. My ideal lawn looks wild and unkempt! In our first spring together we had to sort out our lawn issues!
James bought a second-hand riding mower, brought it home, started it up and headed out to the shoulder of the drive. I quickly ran ahead of him, pointing at various clumps and shaking my head "no". He dutifully went around my clumps and made a choppy run at the shoulder of the drive.
I then started mowing around the areas that I wanted to save in the front yard. He thought I was crazy and said that was the strangest mowing pattern he had seen! But we at least had an abundance of bluebonnets and black foot daisies!
So the bluebonnets finally died back and he stated that now he'd like to mow. Well, the Indian blankets were now popping their buds up! Along with the Mexican hats and the skeleton flowers, there were various verbena and such. He once again set mowing aside.
As we discussed mowing last weekend, I pointed out that the horsemint (Lemon Beebalm) was just now budding! We needed to wait until it had bloomed and seeded.
We never argued, but I could see that there was some frustration at my love of wildflowers and lack of interest in a lawn. As we sat in the swing the other night, James pointed out to a coupe of trees and suggested that he be allowed a lawn from the edge of the trees to the house and I be allowed a wildflower meadow the rest of the way. I thought that was a very reasonable and fair compromise!
Now we have to decide how to handle the back yard.....
Look for a Window
It seems the things we worry about the most aren't necessarily the things that actually go wrong. Those things just spring up on the spur of the moment. They leave you a bit perplexed as you try to figure out your next step. Sometimes these are big, weighty problems and sometimes just little inconveniences. It is hard to stop the emotions and look around for the blessing.
Our recent reminder was on a camping trip to a local state park. We pulled in late, after a busy work week. We were somewhat stressed and wanted to begin to unwind. James was outside setting. up while I worked inside. As he turned on the water, I heard an unusually loud spraying noise. I quickly found that February's ice storm had broken a pipe behind the toilet and water was spraying out and quickly filling the shower floor! I turned the water off at the hydrant and went back in to survey the situation. Since the shower had a built-in drain, no water left the contained area, so there was no additional damage. But it was obvious that we'd have no running water on this trip!
I went out to find James and tell him about the situation and found him walking back to the trailer along a paved trail, our private campsite trail to the restroom! Yes, we had our own little path that led directly to the restroom! No long hikes in the middle of the night! There was a need and a solution provided! We really didn’t have time to be concerned! God provided. I immediately thought of the saying, "when God closes as door, look for a window!" I don't think God caused a break in our pipe, but I do think he provided a solution, we just had to open our eyes and see it!
Friday, May 15, 2020
The Ugly Shoes - A Children's Story
Soon the baby became a toddler and it was time to walk, only she couldn't. Her feet turned in and her knees knocked together and she constantly fell.
This wee one began to see doctors who worked to stretch the tendons and strengthen the muscles to help her walk. She also wore oxford shoes with metal braces inside.
All was well until school started! At school, most of the other little girls had pretty, black Mary Jane shoes, cute go-go boots, Ked's sneakers, except the little girl. She still had large oxford shoes; ugly shoes! She wanted those pretty Mary Janes, but all the wanting and wishing didn't make that come true! Being different was hard.
Another student in class was different too. It was 1965, and, up until that year, the children with lighter skin were separated from the children with darker skin. This year was different. One little girl with beautiful dark skin and bunches of dark braids was allowed in the class. The two little girls became friends! Being different with someone else is much easier to bear!
As time went on, the shoes were no longer an important issue and children were allowed to go to school together regardless of differences. The two girls remained friends despite time and distance. Both grew up to follow different paths, one of motherhood and homemaking, the other of sports and career.
The moral of this story is that to be different is okay. We must learn to be brave, to rise above obstacles of the mind or imposed by others, and to follow our own path!
Be bold! Be brave! Be different!
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Janice and I in first grade |
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Janice and I all grown up |
Dr. Janice Hilliard of Hilliard Creative Education & Development Solutions, LLC |