Monday May 10, 2021

Good morning everyone, today is Monday May 10, 2021. Another cloudy day in store for the great northeast, yesterday when I went out in the morning it felt more like October than May. I guess we just have to hang in there and wait for better days. I hope everyone is feeling well and I trust all enjoyed a great Mother’s Day.

Many years ago I took a trip to Williamsburg Va. I went in the summer, I almost died it was so hot. As a matter of fact the French Ambassador at the time of Thomas Jefferson committed suicide due to the oppressive heat, a little trivia, I think it was a bit extreme. But I visited the Governor’s mansion and off the kitchen it had an herb garden which impressed me. However, I thought at the time how many herbs do you need, all you really use is basil in the summer. How wrong I was, now that I cook I use a plethora of different herbs, you like that word I used, see how smart I am, lol. Parsley is used in just about everything. So I set out to make myself an herb garden, I chose a spot where there was an old wooden flower bed and I am building it with stones. Of course I am Italian and the more stones the better, seems like I am a comedian this morning.

But I am no Bob the Builder but there is a sense of achievement that I am getting while I am doing it. That is something we all lack self praise, most of us feel we didn’t do it right, it could be better, I should have done it differently. I think that goes back to childhood, there is nothing more important than praise to a child, it builds confidence, self esteem, worth and much more. My students and I would talk about that all the time , I would expiain if I told them they were wrong everyday eventually they would believe they were wrong in everything. This I believe sometimes is a flaw in my character, I think I don’t praise enough which I know is so important and it has taken me a long time to realize it and correct this flaw. Sometimes as I have explained before I seem to have had some kind of metamorphosis. I’m not perfect but I am working on changing many things about myself. So I am proud of this little garden, when it is done I will post a picture. We need to be proud of all we do and teach that to our children, I think we will be better, happier people. That’s why I want everyone to find something everyday to be happy about, it makes us feel good about ourselves and we all need that. Yesterday, I went to a different kind of florist to get something and the woman was making arrangements , I saw she had lilacs, you never see them in a florist so I asked her Did you grow them yourself? Her response was yes I did and I said they are beautiful. While I was on line to pay she came up to me and gave me a sprig of the lilac and said this is for you. That little gesture however brought me pleasure all day as I looked at it on the counter. So I will be working on becoming a better person.

Again I kept you too long, I apologize but remember it is a new week, we can get a fresh start. So enjoy your day even the clouds, remember they have a silver lining. Don’t forget the small things talk soon Til Tomorrow!