Category Archives: current events

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Earlier this month, we wanted to go shopping at one of our local antique shops, so Best Friend and I got ourselves together and first headed out for an early lunch.

We stopped by a little grille, nestled in a shopping mall between a seedy-looking thrift store and a storefront mission.  This grille has some of the best home cooked meals in our town, and we never had a bad meal there.

The lunch crowd was thinning out, and we were able to sit in a corner booth.  Best Friend ordered steak and eggs, and I chose a half tuna sandwich with broccoli soup.  We enjoyed our conversation about this and that, we ate our meals, and soon we were ready to head to the counter to pay our bill.

I caught a glimpse of a lady, perhaps in her late 40s-early 50s, who was at the counter paying her bill.  By the time we got there, she was gone.

Best Friend took out his debit card.

“It’s paid for,” said the cashier.

“I’m sorry,” replied Best Friend.  “What’s that?”

“Your bill is paid for by the lady who was just here.  You owe nothing.”

We both were speechless.  We were so surprised, so shocked at this, that we didn’t know what else to say, except for, “Wow.  You only read about this sort of thing in the newspapers.”

The cashier smiled.  We gave her a large tip (for she was our waitress, too), and we went on our merry way.

There are kind people in this world.

As ever,

Lady Susan Marie Molloy

✿●▬●✿ ©2023 The Oasis at Four Queen Palms ✿●▬●✿

Serenity Before It Shatters.

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The morning began with a heavy fog hanging in the field behind The Oasis at Four Queen Palms.  The air was quiet; not even the mockingbirds’ trills broke the tranquility.  No grinding, mechanical vehicle sounds came from the faraway road that buttresses the neighborhood.  It was a perfectly peaceful morning.

By noon, the fog dissipated.  Life stirred.  The birds chirped.  A brown squirrel ran across the porch screen.  Vehicle sounds could be now heard in the distance.

But it was in those early morning hours when this domain was covered in the thick fog that the world felt serene and at peace.

Life has always been uncertain.  No one can predict with sureness how his life will turn out, what the future will bring, how the cycle of life will progress.  We can only look ahead with hope and optimism.  We can plan all we want, but there are those factors that seem to insist on inserting themselves into our plans.

Our future is now filled with even more uncertainty as war drums are banging with a consistent cadence now.

The trouble is, real war is not as glamorous as the jingoes, belligerents, aggressors, politicians – call them what you will – enjoy portraying.  It will be miraculous if we dodge a hot state of war.

I’d rather the fog I see across the field at The Oasis not be from gunfire . . . .

As ever,

Lady Susan Marie Molloy

✿●▬▬▬●✿ ©2023 The Oasis at Four Queen Palms ✿●▬▬▬●✿ 

Money Doesn’t Make Class.

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I read the news last week that a famous, one-time athlete donated millions of dollars to an organization.  The news was everywhere for a couple of days – just in case you didn’t see it the first day the news was publicized.

There was a time when donors would grant their wealth in a quiet manner, preferring to remain anonymous, and let the glory reflect in the good that their donations created for the recipients – not in the act of them handing over a check.

In an episode of M*A*S*H, “Death Takes a Holiday,” Major Winchester received packages of chocolates from home.  Of course, the other officers were incensed that Charles would not share his chocolates with them.  They were even more infuriated that Charles donated a can of oysters to the orphans, which everyone saw.  Eventually, we learn that Charles had been giving his expensive chocolates to the orphans and insisted on anonymity, according to his family tradition.  It was a selfless gift that was made even better by the anonymity.

You see, there is great merit in doing good without all the “Look at me!  Look at me!” attitudes so prevalent today.  The athlete who broadcasted his donation consciously chose to make his action public, and all that I can surmise is that it was his selfish “Look at me!”  Look what I did!” moment.

I believe that is low class, and distasteful.

As ever,

Lady Susan Marie Molloy

✿●▬▬▬●✿ ©2023 The Oasis at Four Queen Palms ✿●▬▬▬●✿

Darkest Before the Awakening?

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A few nights ago, I watched a performance straight out of Washington, DC that brought me to think once again about how much the world has changed.

There was, once upon a time, a world where people created beauty, and everyone saw that beauty around them, to be celebrated and enjoyed by everyone who appreciated such things.  This beauty came in the form of decorated buildings, attractive fashion, respectful language, comprehensible music, well-made everyday items, and the like.

Yet lately, the world is quite the opposite.  To see beauty, one must search as an archeologist on a dig.

Earlier this week, the Grammys presented a show that featured a quite plump man dressed as a devil in red, bellowing, “Unholy!  Unholy!”  Around him danced more red devils.  Up around him flew pyrotechnics.

Last fall, Jokey the Prez read a gravely malicious speech in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, complete with red lighting on either side of him and he himself shadowed in near total darkness.  His State of the Union Speech this week was steeped in lie after lie, and his twisted, creepy smiles had a luciferian charm about them.

Out in the world, I rarely see people that present themselves well.  I barely see anyone with combed hair, or dressed in anything other than workout clothes or ripped up clothes.

I hear vulgar language everywhere.  I hear it in passing in public.  People I meet feel free to pepper in expletives with nary a second thought.  Sadly, that kind of tasteless language is also prevalent in print.

This isn’t to say that there was nothing ugly about the world before these currently strange times.  Yes, it was there, but the beauty, light, and respect were more prevalent then than today.

I now observe something about people that is really disconcerting:  It appears that people want to be intentionally ugly – slovenly, repulsive, and foul – and thereby to blend in with the intentionally ugly world, to become one with the ugliness enveloped in the darkness of hate, self-loathing, and nihility is to become nothing themselves.

In the current fad of eschewing Our Creator, so many, many people are attempting to take on the role of God.  They fall into idol worship:  They medically and surgically change their sex; they attempt to control climate; they embrace abortion.  They go on to celebrate sexual perversions, and they break up the family unit even further.  They call names, lie to your face, and spew hatred, and if you don’t go along with them, there’s something wrong with you.

They laugh in the face of God.

I read that people believe that we are now in the End Times.  Perhaps we are.  And perhaps we are on our way to the next Great Awakening.

We can only hope and have faith.

As ever,

Lady Susan Marie Molloy

✿●▬▬▬●✿ ©2023 The Oasis at Four Queen Palms ✿●▬▬▬●✿

Carrots, Mothballs, and a Crazy Afghan.

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At this point, 2023 is 1/12th finished.  January went by at a snail’s pace for me, even though there were so many tasks accomplished:

January saw me write four new short stories – “The Jeweled Slippers,” “The Grand Duke and His Valet,” “Cave Justice,” and “Three Scottish Pearls.”  All are now available on Amazon Kindle for your reading pleasure, as found HERE.

Best Friend and I noticed that our local grocery store hasn’t had fresh carrots in stock for about two weeks now.  In fact, many items are missing from the shelves:  oyster crackers, canned tomatoes, many Oriental cooking ingredients, and contact lens solution is out (I took the last bottle, and finding it there was a surprise).

Also, when Best Friend and I stopped by a department store earlier this week, we noticed the unmistakable strong odor of mothballs in the clothing department.  We speculated that the inventory was sitting on the supply ship for months, hence the mothball odor.  It was a turn off, and we soon left the store and headed to another to continue our shopping.

For the past four months, I have been busy crocheting a crazy quilt afghan with the leftover yarn I have.  I am getting close to finishing it, and since I still have a lot of yarn remaining, I’ll most likely make another afghan, but in a different pattern.  The afghans will come in handy for the chilly, yet ideally short, winter months here at The Oasis at Four Queen Palms.

I am toying with the idea of writing a short home economics book with the idea of smart money saving hints and tips for our time.  I have it formulated in jotted down notes and outlined in my thoughts.  If this idea comes to fruition, I may have it ready by late spring this year.  Stay tuned.

And during January, I read two books by Alice Duer Miller, “The Happiest Time of Their Lives” and “Ladies Must Live.”  Both were written at the turn of the century and were enjoyable to read.  I sprinkled in a current magazine, “Taste of Home,” for good measure.

Now, the calendar turned to February – a month of a Saint Valentine’s Day celebration, preparations for Lent, and a bit of yard work and planting planning.  Although this is a short month, it will be packed with activities, which I will be happy to share with you here.

Here’s to optimistic thoughts and good actions on our part.  The world is becoming darker, and we surely need more light and optimism.

As ever,

Lady Susan Marie Molloy

✿●▬▬▬●✿ ©2023 The Oasis at Four Queen Palms ✿●▬▬▬●✿