September 23, 2026
It’s been a month since we lost the
amazing and truly incomparable Dolly Parton. For those of you who hang back in life
when it comes to participating in anything that might be life changing for others,
who feel as if you’re “not enough” be it smart, wealthy, or educated, I point
to the late Dolly. Not only was she an individual human being, born into a very
humble life she was—as she herself always pointed out—little. That is to
say, small of stature.
I’ve never been what I or anyone else would
call a super fan of Dolly’s. But I watched some of her movies and listened to a
lot of her music. (I just checked. Three of her songs that were first released
in the last century, are on Apple Music’s top 100.) And through the years, I
watched her in several televised interviews that she gave, time after time
after time. The woman rarely said no to an interview, never lost it when the
interviewer asked rude questions, and she was always honest and forthright.
Her intelligence, her humanity and her
deep faith all shone through for all to see. One month on, people are still
celebrating her life. Gee, I guess what “they” have always said is true: one
person can indeed make a difference.
We are not all given to the same causes in
this life. We have all been given talents, but our talents are not identical. I’ve
always believed that our main job in life was twofold: First, to be as kind as
we can and to do as much good as we can for as many people as we can. And
second—and this is key—to discover our own talents and then to use them to the
best of our abilities.
We are not all destined to live large, or to
be famous. But I truly believe we are all destined to be able to be of help to
someone, or several of them, at some point, somewhere. As I look over my life I
know that while I haven’t qualified for any awards or medals on a grand scale,
I have done what I could when I could. And God willing, I’ll move forward with
that philosophy and do more in the years I have left.
Here in Southern Ontario it appears as if
we are done with the triple digit temperatures for now. I only say “for now”
because I have learned that nearly anything is possible. It’s cool in the early
mornings, and warmest just after midday. There’s been no frost on the lawns
yet, but that’s not far off.
Our porch is adorned by various plants,
some of which winter in our upstairs on a rack in front of a sun-framing window.
This weekend there are plans to have some of our great-grandchildren by so they
can carry those plants inside and up.
This week I hope to test out my new
walkway. Everyone else has used it and all have agreed it’s great. I, however,
managed to annoy a muscle in my right knee a week ago and need to wait just a
bit longer for that knee to get just a bit stronger.
We’re also going to measure the walkway
and decide on the railings we want, and that needs to be done in advance of the
second week of October, which is when we’ll have son and grandsons’ assistance
with that part of the project.
I’m also looking forward to “putting down”
some vegetables in the next couple of weeks, so that we’ll have a variety available
during the winter months.
Time marches on. Seasons change. It’s time
to get working on what needs doing.
Love,
Morgan
http://bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury
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