Good Morning Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Hello World,

So today is Tuesday.  It’s 61 degrees out this morning so I have my front door open so the kitties can enjoy the fresh air and check out the neighborhood even though it’s too dark to see much.  My neighbors leave their front porch light on so it’s not “pitch” dark out there and there are some lights on the street.  A lot of my neighbors have dogs and they get up early to walk them.  Others just walk at this time.  It’s a good time to walk, but I’ve taken to sitting and blogging and drinking coffee instead of doing a walk.  If I got up just a little earlier, I could do both.  Wylie is still off time for breakfast – she gets me up at 3 to feed her.  I keep telling her to leave me alone but she is relentless.  However, I am able to go back to sleep so that works out OK.

I am proud to announce that we now have a new “header” on the Intergroup Website.  SO HAPPY!  Thank you Gary.  It has been something I’ve been concerned about since we moved last month.  I’m not sure anyone would really notice it, but me and Gary, but you never know.  Now it looks like this and shows the new adddress at the 24 Hour Club:

The Website Header is updated!

My next project is to get a “better” picture of the front of the office.  Now Bill has planted plants under the sign so there is a garden growing there.  He is a “constant gardener” so it’s something he can do to liven up the place.  I admire his green thumb.  I don’t have that, but I’ve been lucky enough to have a couple of things continue to grow at my house.  I do have some Swedish Ivy in Honor of Bill W.  Here it is:

Bill W’s Swedish Ivy

I had this out on my front porch at first but it was getting too much sun and really washed out.  I now have it on my table on the back porch and it’s getting better – there is no direct sun there at all.  I think it likes it better there.  So this is the story of the Swedish Ivy:

“As the story goes, these Ivy plants are believed to be descendants of a plant that was in Bill W’s hospital room when he passed away January 24, 1971 in Miami.  Lois Wilson took the plant home to Stepping Stones (the family home in Bedford, NY) where she cared for it until the mid 1980’s.  Bill nicknamed the ivy a “Creeping Charlie” plant, supposedly after a friend of his named Charlie that kept creeping up on his back porch to sleep.  After Bill died, Lois gave the plant to visitors and asked that it be shared with members of the Fellowship in memory of Bill.  Plant cuttings have since been taken all over the World.

The Plant embodies the spirit of the AA injunction to “Pass It On” as every time it is cut to share two new shoots replace the one that was given away, and the remaining plant grows even stronger.  The Plant is very easy to care for as it loves sun and likes to completely dry between watering.  Cut when “leggy”, place cuttings in new soil, and then water (does not have to root in water first).  This cutting is thought to be from the original plant, though it is impossible to know the truth after all this time.  However, it’s the idea of the plant, and sharing of some of the common threads of our AA history, that is important.  We hope that this little ivy plant, like the hopeful message of AA which it represents, will become a cherished possession and that, if ever you have the opportunity to share it, you will “PASS IT ON”. ”

I got this plant from Michelle (Mouse) B. at the Anniversary Dinner of the Serenity Club 2 or 3 years ago.  I had never met her until that night and she was handing the cuttings out to various people.  I’ve since kept it going and now it has grown to the size it is today.  I love that tradition.  Now when you walk into the Intergroup Office, the entrance is surrounded by Swedish Ivy and Bill is going to put up a sign to suggest people take a cutting and “Pass It On”.  That is very cool!  I think I’ll talk about having this tradition available when we set up our table for the Grapevine at various venues (Steve – take note for the agenda this month).  I think Bill has a “bunch more” of the cuttings.  I’m sure he’d give them to me for that if they are available.

This weekend is the Area 15 Service Quarterly.  It’s in Sarasota and I got a call from Heather that they had a room for me at the main hotel for the weekend (I’m just going up on Saturday and spending the night).  I had reserved a room at the “overflow” hotel because the main one was booked.  Well so now I’ve offered my room in the “overflow” hotel to Steve so he can come and have a room to stay in.  Amazing how it works if you work it!

I’ve been busy this week pulling my reports together for the meetings that are happening this month.  I’ve done my web report and I’m happy to report the Header is done – whew!  I’ve done my Grapevine Report for Intergroup and Area.  As Interim Secretary of District 20 I’ve sent out the background material and agenda to the GSR’s for this weekend.  Now looking at the information again, I’ve noticed that the Area Treasurer address is a different PO Box.  It is now in Vero Beach, FL.  So that may explain why the Early Riser’s checks haven’t been deposited.  I’ll need to let Bill know about that so I’m going to close this as he may have finished the Courier and it needs to be updated.

Goodbye for now.  Have a WWW day today!  Thanks for stopping by!