Leaving Your Mark

Alright gang, we've got to confess ... we took a bit of time today to catch up on a few business chores and then to do a little Christmas shopping. Consequently, we didn't get to visit some of the spots we had hoped to get to but we definitely continued our string of meeting great new friends. We won't spend time with details right now but our visit with Rebecca, a fantastic businesswoman, really gave our trip a boost. Then, on to the "shops of Bluffton" to melt down a card or two. During the day, though, we reflected on some of the things we have learned and it got us started thinking about the impressions we leave behind. For most of us the impressions might be small and fleeting while for others they might endure for millennia. Some are intentionally left behind while others are accidental. Some are positive and others are negative. Either way, they are the substance of our life on this planet and, like the threads in woven fabric, they combine to form a living garment in which we are all enfolded.

Some we can only speculate about while the intentions behind others are documented extensively.

We ponder the origins of many ...

... And have copious documentation for others.

Some of the things left behind are intended to speak to the best features of our make-up as a species ........... while others, like this graffiti etched on a mirror in the Heyward house by an angry Union soldier in 1863 announcing that " ... hell is here!", are intended for sinister purposes.


But, I choose to believe in the motto of South Carolina ... "Dum Spiro Spero" .. 'While I Breathe There Is Hope. Like we implied in the title of our post yesterday, people are what it's all about in the final analysis. We have been endowed by our creator with the freedom to choose how we will relate to others and in the last few days, while the echoes of mindless cruelty still reverberated from the small town of Newtown, Connecticut, we were blessed with the experience of people treating other with deep kindness and care. We clearly have a long way to go as a species but we still have peace within our grasp. Let's keep working on it.
Whoa...!!! That was a bit somber - but - perhaps it was just an exclamation point for some of the things we have seen and heard in the last few days. But, we'll be re-charged in the morning and we've got plans for you so, be ready!! See ya.
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