Since Christmas is coming and I love literary gifts. Especially ones that make you think and consider your own thoughts and feelings. I thought I would share some quotes from one of my favorite books I never would have read. I was looking for a gift for a friend a soul sister. Not someone who I hang out with. Someone most of my friends don't know but I have a closeness to that can not be broken no matter what. Our hearts are tied with the strings of her children's shoes. The kids are getting older now but when young I loved her them as though they were my own. I would do anything for her or them then or now. But since we made a grave mistake and mixed business with pleasure we have not spoke in over a year. Maybe later in life this will be different. Not that I do not think of her and her children all the time. But today I feel a closeness that I can not let go of. I think of the kids on their birthdays though I am terrible with remembering hers. At Christmas maybe 3 or 4 years ago I bought this book for her and before I gave it to her I read it. It is such a good book I have bought more copies and given them away.
The book was originally printed in 1955 but it speaks to me today as though it was just written. I found it ironic that in 1955 she knew that the modern conveniences of the day were at times more trouble than they were worth.Written while the author spent time alone on Captiva Island, Florida The book Gifts from the Sea the author Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Yes, that Lindbergh. Mrs. Charles Lindbergh. If you don't know who he is stop reading now and Google it I will wait...
I never knew Mrs. Lindbergh was an author and the strangest thing was where I found the book was not with the fiction but with the religious books. I always bought my friend's kids books that I loved from my youth. So with her I thought I would find something that spelled out the words I do not always have to say. We have shared our thoughts on life and politics and religion and our spiritualism. This book sums up things beautifully. The words are so well thought out and perfectly arranged. So I thought I would share some of my favorite quotes from the book with you. This first one sums it all up for why I bought the book.
“I want first of all... to be at peace with myself. I want a singleness of eye, a purity of intention, a central core to my life that will enable me to carry out these obligations and activities as well as I can. I want, in fact--to borrow from the language of the saints--to live "in grace" as much of the time as possible. I am not using this term in a strictly theological sense. By grace I mean an inner harmony, essentially spiritual, which can be translated into outward harmony. I am seeking perhaps what Socrates asked for in the prayer from the Phaedrus when he said, "May the outward and inward man be one." I would like to achieve a state of inner spiritual grace from which I could function and give as I was meant to in the eye of God.” ― Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea
In life there is nothing I want more than harmony and grace. A peaceful state for my mind. I think in another life I could have been a nun. I could pray my day away. I could work for nothing but the satisfaction of doing a good job and being rewarded in Heaven. Not at the job I do today or ever before but to toil in a garden to raise food for the hungry or to help those who need it most in this world.
“My Life cannot implement in action the demands of all the people to whom my heart responds.”
― Anne Morrow Lindbergh
I find this to be so true. If I could only do all the things people expect of me. I know I have no children of my own you do not need to remind me of this fact that does not mean that I do not have my own things to do.
“Only love can be divided endlessly and still not diminish.”
― Anne Morrow Lindbergh
This is priceless. Some people think if you love one person you can not love me. Well love is everlasting and ever changing. It is not fair to the one that shares their love for someone else to limit who they can love.
“One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach. One can only collect a few. One moon shell is more impressive than three. There is only one moon in the sky.”
― Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea
There is nothing more satisfying to me than to walk the beach staring at the sand and wondering what is just out of site. When I finally see that amazing shell so perfect and passed over by so many others I think it must be here just for me.
This also reminds me of a funny story. One evening after a storm Brian and I were walking the beach and I saw a live shell so I picked it up and tossed it into the water out of reach of those that may think it was theirs to take home. Take what you may but if it is still alive toss it back and let it live another day. A few feet more I picked up another and tossed it back and again and again and again. I had not gone very far but I had tossed back a dozen living things and Brian said Jeanne look up. I looked down the beach and there were hundreds of shells just as the ones I had been tossing back into the water. He said, Honey you can not save them all. That made me sad. I have a hard time with the thought that this one should live and that should not but I guess if God wanted them all to live he would get them back to the water safely.
“One writes not to be read but to breathe...one writes to think, to pray, to analyze. One writes to clear one's mind, to dissipate one's fears, to face one's doubts, to look at one's mistakes--in order to retrieve them. One writes to capture and crystallize one's joy, but also to disperse one's gloom. Like prayer--you go to it in sorrow more than joy, for help, a road back to 'grace'."
— Anne Morrow Lindbergh (War Within and Without: Diaries and Letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh 1939-1944)”
― Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Wartime Writings 1939-1944
This quote is from a different book but I think this describes perfectly why I write what I write. It is not that this is a leisure endeavor. Sometimes the things I write will spin around my head until I put them on paper. They come to me at all times of the day and night. Some I ignore but they will not be ignored. If I do not have time now. I will later because they do not go away.
Do not stop here but give yourself a Literary Gift. Take the time to enjoy the quiet and appreciate the here and now. For tomorrow they will be gone.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013
Have you ever been to Cumberland Island?
I start with the question because if you have not you should put it on your list of places to see. Cumberland Island is a National Seashore ironically closed because of the government shutdown. I was reminded of my visit by a segment on CBS Sunday Morning (my favorite show on TV). But I have been there and can take you there today.
I was reminded this morning the island is not just a place to visit but to remember. Some trips you go on to places like this are physical but others are a dream like memory of times gone by. I first visited the island when I was 13 years old. My Aunt Jan took me and my sisters Beth and Tori. I do not remember a lot of the actual trip. I remember the beauty, I remember the ferry and the water and the dark clouds that morning. I remember a submarine in the St. Mary's River from a near by naval base.
My basis for the memories of that day with Aunt Jan was a picture she took of me and my sisters standing on the rail of the ferry heading out to the island. The wind blowing our hair. I was wearing a Clearwater High t-shirt my parents got that year when I finished 8th grade. Of course I still have the shirt. It is full of holes and memories. The ferry ride was great. We have always been a family on the water. Sailing, swimming and going to the beach were some of our favorite activities as kids.
We walked across the island. One side tropical and lush green plants. Then you cross the sand dunes that are higher than a house and you are on the beach on the Atlantic Ocean and you can see shrimp boats. The water is rough and the sand is smooth. Not as white as at home but hard packed down by the waves close to the water. We walked past the ruins of Dungeness the home of the Carnegie Family built in 1884. Tragically burned to ruins in 1950's. They sold or donated most of the island to the Federal Government soon after. There are many ruins and artifacts left untouched and melting back into the ground. Old cars that were ferried over to the island for the family. There are buildings crumbling due to lack of funding that were in disrepair and now will be taken back into the land the same way we will one day. When I was young the cars were still cars just rusted. Now they are piles of parts with a radiator and wheels to remind you of what they once were. There are headstones in a small cemetery for those fortunate enough to die and be buried in paradise. They can spend eternity walking the sand dunes and seeing the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean with the horses that were once domesticated that nature has taken back as well. Originally brought to the island probably when it was a cotton plantation along with slaves.
Brian and I visited the island as well many years ago. Stayed in a Bed and Breakfast in St. Mary's, Georgia.
A nice small town that is the gateway to the island. A short walk to the marina and the ferry. That day there was a double rainbow that we have a picture of to remind me of my second visit to the island. The great thing about a National Treasure like this is that not much changes over time. Buildings may crumble but the grass is still just as green and the sand dunes are just as high as they were 15 years before and will be in another 150 years later.
On the ferry ride to the island a spokes person tells you the rules. Take nothing and leave nothing behind. You can not take the shells and can not leave your garbage. There were no garbage cans, no concession stand on the beach. No life guard. The ferry will be back at 4. Please do not pet the horses they are wild. At the time we were there you could not notify them ferry if you had an emergency you just had to wait until the ferry came back. Brian had to test the do not pet the horse theory. Yes. He almost got kicked in the face. They are serious the horses don't want to be touched. If we would have walked out to the beach and seen a Spanish Galleon approaching I could have believe that it were the mid 1700's and we could have been the first scouting party to the beach. But there are no Indians today. There are no slaves. But the history of all are there for you to discover on your day at the island.
You can stay overnight roughing it in a tent or stay in the Greyfield Inn. The Inn is only operated part of the year. It does not have air condition and is very expensive but probably the closest thing I could ever get to having my own private island get away. Maybe someday
I know we were there prior to September 1996 when JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette got married in a small chapel there. I was impressed to hear that the National Parks Service did not budge on their no motorized vehicle policy and would not let the Kennedy Family drop Jeeps on the grounds to be used to move family members back and forth to the chapel. Nice to know the rules don't just apply to me and you. They apply to Kennedy's as well. The Kennedy's did spend the night at the Greyfield.
So to say the island is fit for kings is shown by the previous residents the Carnegie's and that the Kennedy's found it private and beautiful enough for their royal standards. I can only hope that Carolyn and JFK Jr got to walk the beach and see the wild horses running the sand dunes as I have.
Now you to have been to Cumberland Island. If only in my memories. I hope you enjoyed the trip as much as I did.
I was reminded this morning the island is not just a place to visit but to remember. Some trips you go on to places like this are physical but others are a dream like memory of times gone by. I first visited the island when I was 13 years old. My Aunt Jan took me and my sisters Beth and Tori. I do not remember a lot of the actual trip. I remember the beauty, I remember the ferry and the water and the dark clouds that morning. I remember a submarine in the St. Mary's River from a near by naval base.
My basis for the memories of that day with Aunt Jan was a picture she took of me and my sisters standing on the rail of the ferry heading out to the island. The wind blowing our hair. I was wearing a Clearwater High t-shirt my parents got that year when I finished 8th grade. Of course I still have the shirt. It is full of holes and memories. The ferry ride was great. We have always been a family on the water. Sailing, swimming and going to the beach were some of our favorite activities as kids.
We walked across the island. One side tropical and lush green plants. Then you cross the sand dunes that are higher than a house and you are on the beach on the Atlantic Ocean and you can see shrimp boats. The water is rough and the sand is smooth. Not as white as at home but hard packed down by the waves close to the water. We walked past the ruins of Dungeness the home of the Carnegie Family built in 1884. Tragically burned to ruins in 1950's. They sold or donated most of the island to the Federal Government soon after. There are many ruins and artifacts left untouched and melting back into the ground. Old cars that were ferried over to the island for the family. There are buildings crumbling due to lack of funding that were in disrepair and now will be taken back into the land the same way we will one day. When I was young the cars were still cars just rusted. Now they are piles of parts with a radiator and wheels to remind you of what they once were. There are headstones in a small cemetery for those fortunate enough to die and be buried in paradise. They can spend eternity walking the sand dunes and seeing the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean with the horses that were once domesticated that nature has taken back as well. Originally brought to the island probably when it was a cotton plantation along with slaves.
Brian and I visited the island as well many years ago. Stayed in a Bed and Breakfast in St. Mary's, Georgia.
A nice small town that is the gateway to the island. A short walk to the marina and the ferry. That day there was a double rainbow that we have a picture of to remind me of my second visit to the island. The great thing about a National Treasure like this is that not much changes over time. Buildings may crumble but the grass is still just as green and the sand dunes are just as high as they were 15 years before and will be in another 150 years later.
On the ferry ride to the island a spokes person tells you the rules. Take nothing and leave nothing behind. You can not take the shells and can not leave your garbage. There were no garbage cans, no concession stand on the beach. No life guard. The ferry will be back at 4. Please do not pet the horses they are wild. At the time we were there you could not notify them ferry if you had an emergency you just had to wait until the ferry came back. Brian had to test the do not pet the horse theory. Yes. He almost got kicked in the face. They are serious the horses don't want to be touched. If we would have walked out to the beach and seen a Spanish Galleon approaching I could have believe that it were the mid 1700's and we could have been the first scouting party to the beach. But there are no Indians today. There are no slaves. But the history of all are there for you to discover on your day at the island.
You can stay overnight roughing it in a tent or stay in the Greyfield Inn. The Inn is only operated part of the year. It does not have air condition and is very expensive but probably the closest thing I could ever get to having my own private island get away. Maybe someday
I know we were there prior to September 1996 when JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette got married in a small chapel there. I was impressed to hear that the National Parks Service did not budge on their no motorized vehicle policy and would not let the Kennedy Family drop Jeeps on the grounds to be used to move family members back and forth to the chapel. Nice to know the rules don't just apply to me and you. They apply to Kennedy's as well. The Kennedy's did spend the night at the Greyfield.
So to say the island is fit for kings is shown by the previous residents the Carnegie's and that the Kennedy's found it private and beautiful enough for their royal standards. I can only hope that Carolyn and JFK Jr got to walk the beach and see the wild horses running the sand dunes as I have.
Now you to have been to Cumberland Island. If only in my memories. I hope you enjoyed the trip as much as I did.
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