It is a beautiful day here in the Northeast today. Finally after so many days of snow, the sun has broken through and it is shining gloriously for all to see and appreciate. Some of the remaining snow is beginning to melt, and it is a wonderful day. The next few days are appearing promising as well; although the middle of March may not fair so well. They are predicting more bad weather, along with possible huge snowfalls. But for the next few days at least, we are getting a little taste of spring. And to those of us who have had enough snow for a while, it is surely a welcome sight.

The birds are singing, the sun is shining, the snow is melting, and it is one beautiful day here in our “neck of the woods”.  I surely hope it is one for you too!!

Windy March is here, and I for one am glad to see it. February’s Fury was a little too much here in the North East this year. The whole Eastern plane was continually battered with one snowstorm after another. Even the kids are tired of  it!  Some clever person had written on a bill board-Whoever is praying for snow, please stop!

March usually brings it’ s own bag of tricks; with high winds, snow, rain, and some sunshine too. It is one of those months you never know what you will get ahead of time. This week’s forecast is starting March off right with a mixture of rain, snow, and sunshine later in the week.

Hope this month is starting out on the right track for you!

I know the saying goes–To each a little rain must fall, but thankfully we are seeing some sunshine now after so much snow, and it is certainly appreciated here in the Tri-Cities. Yesterday the sun made an appearance, and it is back today to help melt some of this snow from the ground. Some of us hasn’t seen dry ground in over a month. People are going around with big smiles on their faces just because they are so happy to see the sun again. With spring only a month away, surely the sun will make an appearance more regularly. And the bitter cold will just be a memory….

I for one am waiting anxiously for that day. And I am sure I am not by myself. If for no other reason, the astronomical fuel bills are enough to give a poor working man a heart attack. I have heard of some bills that were almost unbelievable.

But for this week-end we will see the sun once again, and revel in the fact that the sun will shine again, and life will go on, with or without us….

Many sunny days to you!!!

I have had a very discouraging time lately, and as in life, these things happen. Sometimes we need our friends to offer words of encouragement, and sometimes they do. But most often, you are ultimately the one left to deal with your feelings and find your own way.

Life isn’t fair sometimes and we all have to learn to live with that. Most people have enough problems of their own, and aren’t that well equipped at helping someone else deal with theirs. It is at these times, that we need our own inner spiritual strength to help us through.

There will always be happy times, sad times, lonely times, and greiving times. I certainly hope that you have more happy times than the rest. And I hope you have someone that can help you share those times.  Life happens, and we learn to deal. Here is hoping that you won’t have to deal all that often!

As we begin the month of February, our thoughts turn to love. It is wonderful to think of something so nice during one of the most dismal months of the year. During February, most of us has already had our fill of winter and spring seems so far away….

Certainly there is no stronger force on earth than love. But love has certainly taken a beating in the last few decades; it has been used, abused and misunderstood. But there are those who still know the meaning of true love. Nothing can make you feel as happy and fulfilled as love; that is why so many still search for it. If you find yourself alone on this Valentine’s Day, don’t give up. Your “heart mate” is still out there and quite possibly still searching for you.

We all have  a deep need to love and be loved, so while you are waiting, maybe you might want to find other ways to express love. Love your family, love your work, love your community, love those things that you value in your life; just don’t settle for less than what your heart truly desires.

Here is to true love!! May  it live forever in your heart!!!

Here it is another Ground Hog Day, and I surely hope that little creature doesn’t see his shadow today. Six more weeks of bad weather at this point does seem a bit hard to bear. But spring will come again, and with it the beautiful flowers and fresh air and sunshine; but until then, I think we just need to hunker down and bundle up, because it looks like it might be a while.

Is our chronological age indicative of how we really feel or are there other factors at work? To be young at heart does seem to prolong our days. I have made the statement that I would fight old age “tooth and nail” , but that is more a state of mind than actually reality. I doubt that I will ever pay two hundred dollars for a bottle of face cream, but with my spirit I will try to do those things that I can do.

A case in point is a friend I use to work with. She was in her sixties, approaching seventy, and her mother was in her nineties. They were out shopping one day at the mall, and she told her mother if she saw something that she liked that she would buy it for her. Her mother said, “Alright, and if you see something that you like, I will buy it for you.”

They looked around for a while, but couldn’t find anything that really appealed to them. The daughter said, “Now, here mom, this would look good on you.”

“Why, that is an old lady’s dress,” she said. They continued shopping and the mother found one she liked.

“Now this would look good on you, ” she said.

“Now that is an old lady’s dress,” the daughter said.

As soon as she said it, they both looked at each other and laughed.

“Who do we think we are?” they both laughed.

I think this spirit has served them well and is quite possible one of the reasons that they are both still vibrant and healthy. Sometimes maybe you really are just as young as you feel.

Keeping an attitude of gratitude can go a long way in our pursuit of healthy living. I wish you all long lives of healthy living.

It has been a long year for some this year. A year filled with hopes and desires unfulfilled. Many have lost jobs and find re-employment almost impossible. Some have lost dear family members that have left an ache in their heart. And some find the daily grind a little more harder than usual. Whatever your circumstances have been this year, a new year has arrived, and with it the possibility to make all of your dreams come true. Let’s make this the year that we win! Win in 2010!! We won’t look back, but ahead to the potential to see all of our dreams and desires fulfilled.

May your new year see you reaching for everything you desire, and may your new year be filled with love, and may your barns be filled with plenty, and your joy full and overflowing, and may the kindness you extend to others return unto you, and may the lighthouse of your love shine brightly so that others can see through the darkness of their lives.

We may have lost in the past, but let us go courageously forth into the new year, and make this the year that we win. Let’s win in 2010!!!

Folklore and superstition run deep here in the mountains of Northeast Tennessee and Southwestern Virginia. This part of the country has always been a hard place to make a living. I imagine as these sayings were told, it wasn’t so much  truth as just saying, “Why take chances?”

One of these old sayings is the tradition of having cabbage, greens, black eye peas, and hog jowls for New Years Day. Having eaten these, you are assured of money and good luck for the coming year. The cabbage is for money-greens is for “green backs” -black eye peas are for luck. And the hog jowls? I think that was just thrown in there to make the others taste better.

My mom went one step farther and insisted that how many times you swept the floor that day was how many new dresses you would get the next year. (I think she may have made this one up to assure a clean house).

This is also the day to take down your Christmas Tree. Any time sooner and you will surely have a  bad Christmas next year. And if you are really superstitious, you will wait until the next day.

I am sure this sounds silly to most people, and I am no longer superstitious about it, but I still do it for traditions sake. Every New Year Day finds me cooking my traditional dinner of cabbage, black eye peas, greens, mashed potatoes, and corn bread. I forgo the hog jowls. And even if  it doesn’t bring money and good fortune to my door, it surely can’t hurt to put a few vegetables in the body after all of those Christmas treats.

Oh, and by the way-I will diligently sweep that floor until it shines!

The snow started falling about two pm, and as I looked outside, I decided to leave work four hours early in the hope of getting home before darkness fell.

The interstate was backed up on all sides with people lined up back to back traveling at a rate of ten to fifteen miles per hour on a sixty five mph interstate.

Visibility was terrible; it was a “white out”. I realized it was going to be a long dangerous ride.

We inched along at a snail’s pace, and I kept thinking if only I could make it off the interstate, surely the traffic would be better on the less traveled roads. Wrong–It only got worse once I was off the interstate; now the roads were more treacherous and traffic was not only moving at a snail’s pace, but had actually stopped completely at times for periods of twenty minutes at a time. Traffic was so backed up, I couldn’t tell what the problem was, but as I approached closer, I realized that we were coming upon a hill and people were sliding off. I had already passed several stranded motorists that had given up or hit a ditch.

Sure enough when it was my turn to take the hill, I too started sliding and had a hard time staying on the raod. My car is front wheel drive only, and although I have always managed to get home on bad days, this was proving to be more difficult than usual. I made the hill only to find myself sliding again a little farther on. Once again I made the hill and proceded on.

I thought I was in the clear now, and just as soon found myself sliding uncontrollably toward the edge of the road. I stopped just short of the edge; I couldn’t really tell how much distance I had before falling into a ravine below because of the snow; but I could tell it wasn’t much. I tried to move the car and slid just an inch more, so I tried backing up, and once again I slid just an inch or two more toward the edge. Finally I just sat there, thinking surely someone would see the precarious situation I was in and stop to help, but no, they had plenty of room around me, so they went on around and preceded on their way. By this time it was starting to get dark. I sat there in the car and stared down at that ravine and imagined how many times my car would flip over until it hit the bottom. I decided to try once more, and miraculously, it moved in the right direction this time and I managed to get it out and back on the road again.

Not long once again I slid into a curve; only this time I was on the other side of the road. I saw headlights approching in the distance; I tried desperately to get back on my side of the road. Failing this, I laid down on the horn to warn the approaching car of my dilemma. He approached the curve and I could see the fear on his face as he tried to avoid me. By this time I was getting back to my side of the road, and he manuvered around me. Thankfully no one was hit, and he managed to get control and continue on his way. Once again diaster had been averted.

More cautiously, I made it to the next town, where there were several Bed and Breakfast Inns. I considered getting one, but after thinking the storm would probably last another day or two, I decided to try to make it home instead of being stranded there.

Once I passed the town and the journey became even more dangerous, I regretted my decision to go on. The road was no longer visible, so passing another car was just as much luck as any thing else. I continued on, sliding and running off the road; and getting back on and trying again. It seemed I had been on the road for days and my nerves were feeling the strain. I passed a few cars, but traffic had died down now, and I pretty much had the road to myself now.

I was just three miles from home, so I thought surely I could make it home now. But no, the roads had become even more treacherous, and my little car just spinned it’s wheels and dug and finally started sliding until I hit the ditch. Thinking no one would stop to help, I sat there pondering my predicament when two men stopped and asked if I needed help. They kindly pushed my car out of the ditch and suggested I try the old road into town. So I backed out and started out the old road, but once again my little car had went as far as it was going to go, and I hit the ditch once more. I didn’t sit there long before a kind lady came by and offered to call someone for me. While we were talking two different men stopped to help. They got in front of the car and pushed me out, and as the car hit the road again, it spun completely around and had me facing the way I had just come.

“Well, I guess I am going back the way I came,” I told the men.

“I guess you will have to, Mame,” one of the men said.

I thanked them and headed back to the little store I had just passed. As I drove off, I heard them saying, “Be careful, drive slow.”

I am not one to give up easily, but I realized it was time to “abandon ship” and ask for help.

I made it back to the little store I had just passed, and called my good friend and neighbor to come and get me.

I noticed as I pulled into the parking lot that several cars and trucks  were already abandoned in the parking lot.

He came in a four wheel drive and took me home. It had now been five and a half hours to make what should have been a one hour and fifteen minute drive. I was worried about the electricity being on since I knew people were already losing power; I was fortunate, mine was still on.

I pulled off my wet socks and shoes and took a nice warm shower and put my cozy bath robe on.

I  was stranded at  home for the next two days;  so I drank hot chocolate and watched a marathon of Christmas movies and counted my blessings to still be alive and well.

That, dear friends,  is how I spent the blizzard of 2009.