Mrs. Teabody Urges You to Get Out of That Rut

Good Morning from the silent and placid Chez Teabody where the Christmas season is still much in evidence with glittering tree in the corner and fairy lights sparkling along the porch railing. Packages from friends and family nestle beneath the tree as testimony of Christmas fetes far and near and the memories of so many festive occasions  underscore the bounty of coming from a large family and being fortunate enough to have wonderful friends. Whether sitting around a table with friends making egg cartons into  Christmas ornaments, sitting  jam-packed and fun-filled, shoulder to shoulder with family in the ancestral home, sitting in front of a hundreds years old walk-in fireplace enjoying witty repartee with far-flung-home-for-Christmas friends, or sitting in one's own lit-only-by-the-Christmas-tree living room contemplating decades of Christmases past, this season has been delightful. Mrs. Teabody had a day at her little shop, Tickle Your Fancy, that began with a Kristy and ended with a Christy-- the first a dedicated and fruitful scientist, the latter a dedicated and fruitful artist. Mrs. Teabody loves both young women as if they were her own and to enjoy such time with each was among the best of gifts. Friends came with gifts; friends showed up with smiles on their faces in spite of scars from recent surgeries, friends extended invitations; friends offered love. Even Santa showed up!  It has been a memorable season spiritually and emotionally and one to inspire Mrs. Teabody not to sit still, not to get stuck in a rut.

For those of you too young to remember, there was a time when the roads connecting places of small populations were largely made of dirt. Because they were dirt, they were vulnerable to weather--especially rain -- and most folks over the age of sixty have had the experience of being (literally) "stuck in a rut." When this happened, everybody jumped out of the car to witness the spectacle of one wheel's being so firmly entrenched in the mud/mire that the other three wheels were helpless. There was no going forward unless you could get out of the rut. Cell phones were non existent so roadside service was not going to rescue your hiney. You couldn't count on someone else driving by. Getting out of the rut was  up to you.  It still is.

Mrs. Teabody has found the best way to get out of a rut is to have a plan. Maybe that plan is a Bucket List of all the places you wish to see and all the experiences you wish to have before you kick the bucket; maybe it's a set of goals you hope to reach by certain stages of your life;  the worst case may be that you have not given it enough or any thought at all. Shame on you. Why do you think your Creator bothered to put a brain in your head? Imagine yourself in a car (on a paved road) stopped at a four-way intersection. Now, if you don't CARE where you end up, it doesn't matter which road you choose. However, if you do care, then you must put that brain to work and take the road that will get you where you wish to go. Of course you could just sit there not choosing any of the possibilities but don't be surprised when the people around you lose patience and start tooting their horns or trying to pass you. With so many paved roads, with so many cellular phones, with so much roadside assistance now available, the way out of your rut may be as close as your fingertips.

Pictured above is a street in Savannah, Georgia. If you don't notice anything else, please note the "stuff" hanging from the trees. It is Spanish moss -- something you won't find here. Savannah also has twenty-four town squares, a river that leads fairly quickly to an ocean, a lively music scene and  SCAD, a college of art and design. You can't be in a town like Savannah and be in a rut. Well, you CAN be but what a foolish waste of such a vibrant and beautiful city. If Savannah is outside the realm of possible destinations, then cast a smaller circle. Mrs. Teabody is betting that some of you reading this have never been to Cowan's Gap, to the bed of Meadow Grounds Lake, to Harrisonville to stand on the bridge and look at the AMAZING sycamore tree, to McKinleyville, to Saluvia, to Black Bear Road. Sometimes getting out of your rut is as simple as changing your scenery.

A brand new year is in the offing - - a blank page waiting for you to scratch out the next chapters of your story, but your story is going to be lackluster if every chapter has the same title.  You know you won't get out of that rut without some effort on your part. That stuck wheel has to find some traction; you will probably get dirty.  But you CAN get out of that rut. After all, it's only the one wheel that's stuck.