Entries by Sallie

Lifetime Appointments

Such appointments are usually regarded as special, unique, admirable.  They might include Saint Hood, a seat on the Supreme Court, Nobel Peace Prize laureate.  All represent hard-earned, meaningful, and extraordinary accomplishments. Occasionally, however, there are lifetime appointments that come your way that you never wanted, certainly didn’t strive for, and have tried everything possible to […]

Benign or Malignant

Which one of those options would you prefer?  Benign, obviously. Malignant’s a whole other ball of wax. Let’s look at some situations.  Breast lump?  Colon polyps?  Benign or malignant?  Benign wins every time. Then, there’s language.  Profane language.  I’ve made it clear that I can and do swear like a sailor.   Stub my toe and […]

Ghosts. Past and Present.

It’s been some time since our regular, known, and accepted ghosts have paid us a visit.  I think we both miss them at some level.  If we stop to think about it.  Which we don’t very often. But, lo and behold, a new presence has entered our lives. Normal ghosts (is that an oxymoron?), don’t […]

Christmas Dinner. 2017.

Ten of us.  The Mister and Me.   Two of our sons and their wives.   Four grandchildren, ages 17 to 21. Our sons, their wives and children don’t see each other all that often.  Distance, work and school get in the way. So this year, the Mister posed a question to the table to spark conversation. […]

Traditions

How long does it take for something to make that giant step from repetition to tradition?   A year?  Ten years? Well, I’ve decided that three years is a fine number of years in which to create a tradition so here, on this Christmas Eve, is the third printing of a Christmas memory. Our family […]

How Cats Think

He always does this when we’ve been gone for one or more nights.  We ask ourselves: “Why?”  “Why does he bury (most of) himself under the hall runner?” We’ve decided it’s his message to us: “You left me here in this house all by myself.  Yes, you arranged for me to be fed and watered.  […]

‘Tis the Season

We’re in full shopping mode at this point.  It slowly creeps up on us and then takes over.  I weary of it and I don’t think I’m alone. Our families and friends are so fortunate.  Our well-being doesn’t depend on those things we don’t have.  We’re blessed that way. Still, we feel the pressure, the […]

Coulda Shoulda Woulda ?

I should have written a check. I would have written a check. I could have written a check but I pay on-line. It’s so much easier to do it that way.  Just a couple of clicks and it’s done.  Think of the paper I save.  No long lines at the post office to buy increasingly […]

Priority Mail

  Gotta love Amazon Prime.  When it works, it’s wonderful.  Reliable, fast, next-day delivery. Not always the case where we live, however. Our main thoroughfare (all two lanes of it) is frequently blocked.  No one can get in. Or, in our case, out.   And it’s blocked for the most delightful of reasons. Our town has […]

Once a mouse; always a mouse?

(Please be sure to click on the picture!) Not if you’re a ballet dancer in the Hilton Head Dance Theater’s annual Nutcracker Suite. If you’re at all familiar with the Nutcracker Suite, you’ll know that the Mice appear early in the show, all done up with little spiky ears, pink noses, and tails on their […]

The Time Has Come

    “The time has come,” the Walrus said, To talk of many things. Of shoes and ships and sealing wax Of cabbages and kings, And why the sea is boiling hot And whether pigs have wings.”   The time has also come for Life on the May to take a short hiatus. Children’s stories […]

The Stuff In Between

Uh, Oh, Oreos. Every people-friendly pantry has a package of Oreos.  You never know when you’ll get the urge to dip one in a glass of cold milk, make cookie crumbles for ice cream or twist off those chocolate wafers to get to the yummy stuff “in between.” That’s my personal favorite.  That stuff “in […]

Change

Our favorite television character, Sheldon Cooper of the Big Bang Theory, says: “They say change is good.  But it never is.” Sheldon tends to look at things in black or white so I don’t agree with him all the time but there’s been a change in our neighborhood recently that made me think of him. […]

Hiccups

“A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.” So sings Mary Poppins. I always study the medical column in the New York Times Magazine with its tales of difficult-to-diagnose-cases and their ultimate solutions. Understandably, I’m usually lost until some smart doctor or nurse comes up with the answer and solves the problem. Not so […]

Sign(age)s of Age

No, I’m not talking about wrinkles, creases, sags, and bags. I’m talking about sturdy old houses, acknowledged for their role in Bluffton’s history. The Bluffton Historical Preservation Society has recently finished a sterling and thorough job of identifying and dating all the historical buildings that exist in Old Town Bluffton.   And it has generously awarded […]