Openess

If you want to paint your house in Charleston, you have to submit a board to the city with three colors of paint on it for the color to be approved. The buildings here are either original or are rebuilt to look exactly the same, which brings a unique beauty to this city that doesn't feel like a city at all.

The pace of life here is slow and friendly. If you ask someone at the grocery store where something is, they lead you to it. Stop to ask directions at a corner store and you end up in a conversation with the person next to you in line.

Bob Rhame, the person in line, turns out to be a writer. His daughter lives in Chicago and is a medium who has written a book titled How to be a Happy Medium. Her name is Morian Rhame. It turns out it runs in the family. Bob comes from a family line of mediums. Before I am out of the store he's given me his daughters home phone number and tells me to call her! His book, I think the one he is working on, is titled Odd Obstreperous Bob. He says it's fiction.

Later, when I ordered a cup of soup from a small cafe, the elderly man behind the counter asks me, "Is that enough? Would you like some bread?" I said, "No," but he brought me a slice anyway for which I ended up feeling grateful. It was the right choice.

I am being tended to and looked after by both strangers and friends on this trip. It's wonderful to be reminded of the goodness and generosity in this world.