10 Cuttin Sage

It is Wednesday night, September 12 and I’m at home, along with multiple others in their homes, anxiously awaiting Hurricane Florence. It is scheduled to hit land tomorrow and, according to all news reports, is expected to pretty much decimate the coastline of North Carolina and much territory inland from days of torrential rains and flooding rivers. I am surprisingly at peace. I have prayed for the sparing of lives more than anything because property can, in most cases, be replaced. It’s odd awaiting a hurricane. Although we are hours and hours from the coast, “they” are predicting record flooding even in my home town! For 3 days now, we have been told to stock up on water and food supplies (at least 3 days worth, which I have not done) and be prepared for flooding of low areas and power outages. (The Doer did spend 2 hours in line to buy a generator!) It’s almost surreal to watch the hurricane develop slowly over many days and listen to the weather experts predict virtually everythin

There are many blogs. I follow about 3. Many of them, if produced by women, have beautifully photographed recipes to accompany their thoughts, opinions, travel adventures, etc. Aren’t we so fortunate to have an outlet for all these “thinks” by way of the internet, imagining that there may be someone, somewhere, out in the vast universe, who might just care about what we have to say? If these blogs have their own websites attached to sponsors (ads), then they must be popular (enough) and there are people out there who really do care about what the blogger has to say!  I enjoy cooking, but not enough to photograph and publish every step in my cooking processes, and my recipes are not at all original. I like to travel, but I don’t often (except, of course, to Ocracoke Island) and I’m not very good at photographing things (although these iPhones have awesome cameras and you don’t have to be a photographer anymore to make ordinary things look extraordinary). My thoughts and opinions a

Preface: a few years ago, we took a trip to the lovely tropical island of Anguilla and went on a snorkeling excursion. Upon our return our guide reminded us, in his charming British accent, to “gather our bits and pieces”. We have joked about it since and use the phrase as often as possible. March 13....It is mid March with snow on the ground; forsythia and camellia are in full bloom while the green tips of tulip and daffodil leaves are up about 6 inches: the conundrum of March in Virginia makes it hard for the body and mind to adjust! I’ve spent the past 2 and a half months on a project: cleaning out and sorting through the belongings of Great Aunt Blanche whom I’ve written about numerous times. It is fitting to write about her this week since Thursday marks her 103rd birthday! You would think that the belongings of a 103 year old would fill a barn but the truth is, she downsized many years ago when she left her home in Florida to come live near us where the majority of her blood

I enjoy having a “quiet time” every morning.....I’m able to do that now that the kids are grown and I usually have no place I have to be at an early hour. I kind of feel like I’m having a cup of coffee with the Lord. First I MUST create the atmosphere: coffee (fresh ground and local roasted, of course), my bible, a devotional (I rotate Spurgeon and Chambers each year), my journal (since I like to write) and a fire if it’s winter or the porch if it’s summer. For some reason, setting the atmosphere gives me peace; I guess it helps me divorce myself from the world’s worries. In the throes of winter, I battle depression every year...February is the worst month for me. January’s not so bad because it comes on the heals of holiday celebration; newness and resolution; and anticipation of soup, football, and snow. February is now old and tired and always, it seems, Punxatawney Phil predicts 6 more weeks of same old same old and, if for some reason, he predicts an early Spring, it’s a lie.