I am lost in a maze of photo files....

But,...it's fun...

I love re-living the experience of our trip to

Brookgreen Gardens...

If you have the opportunity to go...

do it.

The gardens are made up of 4 former rice plantations,

bought and saved by a couple in the early part of the twentieth century.

The wrought iron is everywhere....

The lush gardens have been manicured in a most natural way...

Some areas of the gardens are more formal..and arranged...

Others are quite wild....

The day that we visited for the first time,

was overcast, grey, and a bit cool...

The weather made photography interesting...

One might think it would leave things flat..

it could have...

but a little manipulation..and

wah-lah!

an image that I really love....

I love that!

When I first cradled a camera,

many years ago...

the technology was such that your manipulation

took place at the time of focusing.
Now I can think about what I want to do with my image

while it is uploading to my computer...

Over the weekend

I am taking the time for myself...

so that I can smell the swamp water...

hear those cranes, egrets and
eagles...

feel the splatter of the water from the fountains...

Ah...

fall in the south...

smiles.

Dig the Pig!...

OK,

I am not kidding here...

I have a strange fascination with

Piggly Wiggly stores

Not that I would like to be

buried there or anything like that...

it's not a morbid fascination,

its just that when I was

growing up....

many long years ago,

the Piggly Wiggly stores were located,

only at the beach,

and therefore, took on a sort of

mystic...sort of like the aura

you might find around the

"beach bums" of

Beach Blanket Bingo fame.

Now,

back to the PGs

Back then, groceries at the beach

were only a slight step up from the

road side market...

there might be sand on the floor...

maybe a dog lounging by the cash register

(perhaps to scare away potential robbers)

and well,

you might also find

more hog's jowls,

fat back,

gizzards,

and of course,

chitlins...

(I must interject here that the spellchecker doesn't recognize this word)

in the meat dept than

what we currently identify as "meat".

So it is with this understanding that you

see I simply couldn't believe what I saw

as I stepped into the new PG,

located in the development that has sprung up

on the former Air Force Base at Myrtle Beach....

Trader Joe's might have a difficult time competing with this

place for variety, cleanliness, bright sunny faces,

flowers,

salad bar,

wine dept,

gourmet foods....

and

get ready...

Starbucks!

Holy Hog Heaven, Batman!

I had to buy a T-shirt!

Smiles.

My vacation...

Have I mentioned just how incredibly

blessed I feel...

I am no Pollyanna, believe me...

My natural disposition tends

to be sceptical,

pessimistic,

aggravated,

practical,

rational (except on hormone driven days),

warily cautious,

so, knowing this about myself..

I aim everyday to find the "good"

in my life.

I have to ....

if I don't, I will fall into a funk that

is morbid and dank.

So, today I choose to see the

blessings that have been bestowed upon me...

The most prominent

example is the vacation that I

have just returned from.

My son sent us to the beach.

He paid for it....

Yes, you read right...

he paid for it....

Mind you,

I have no idea

what I did to warrant

this blessing.

Yes,

I gave birth to him,

took care of him,

but I've made lots of mistakes too...

You know what I am talking about moms.....

the times you are pushed to wall with things to do..

and you just snap..

say things you shouldn't

do things you shouldn't

all the while

knowing

that taking these things

back...

well, will be impossible.

I have tried

very hard to be the best mom

that I can be,

it has not always been enough.

But this trip

tells me

that

I

am

forgiven

for

not

being

perfect...

smiles.