My favorite things

Meditation Garden, Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital, Charleston, S.C.

I park on the other side of this garden each morning and have the option of walking across the parking lot or through the garden. The garden route is a little less direct so I don't take it every day which is really dumb since it is so breathtakingly beautiful.

Most mornings as I enter the hospital from the west Women's Services entrances there will be a young man sitting on the bench by the door. He is rumpled, bleary eyed and talking excitedly into a phone. It's a different man every morning but they all have one thing in common. They aren't patients but they wear thin plastic bracelets around a wrist. The bracelet is the tell tale sign of a new father. They are new fathers who have fallen in love with a precious baby born during the night. It's finally a reasonable hour to wake up friends and loved ones.

That is the moment I walk by and smile to myself. It's not a bad way to begin a day.

Best Place to Give Birth

Duckling Nursery, Charleston, S.C.

Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital has been winning the Best Place to Give Birth award annually since, well..since the Charleston City Paper started giving out the award. Apparently it is still true! This mallard duck in our back pond has thirteen ducklings hidden under her wing. We don't keep our newborns in the nursery - we believe in "rooming in" with mama.

The gentlemen in Engineering have been feeding her with corn and were eager for me to catch a glimpse of the babies but mom was pretty protective. Hopefully I can catch them at swimming lessons on Monday. 

I hope everyone is making the most of their weekend!

Grand Oaks in the Mist

Meditation Garden, Charleston, S.C.

I work in a garden. No doubt about it. On foggy mornings like this I take a detour under the oak trees on my way to the hospital and visit my favorite trees.

It was hard to make myself get up off the couch and go for my walk this evening but I did it late and just got back. It is still foggy and mysterious feeling. I felt like I was Oliver Twist expecting the Artful Dodger to dart out from around a corner. Boo!

You can click the smaller pictures to get the larger view.

Baby in Waiting

Baby in waiting, Charleston, S.C.

If someone you know gives birth at Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital today their baby will be in good company. All week long people have been stopping at the hospital's information desk reporting that Baby Jesus is missing from the manger scene.

He isn't missing - he hasn't been born yet.

At midnight on Christmas Eve, one of the nurses in the Newborn Nursery will take him out of the crib he has been waiting in, call for Security to escort her out and gently lay Him in the manger. It is a sweet tradition that has been going on for as long as I remember. In the olden days the nuns used to do the honor but now it has been passed on to the experts in baby care.

Book 'em, Dannno!

Halloween 2011. Easiest costume ever! I asked our Security Officers to leave a couple of their shirts in my office over the weekend. A retired Charleston Police Officer loaned me his hat (thanks Tom!).  We passed out candy all over the hospital. I work with such great people! Good fun.

Charlie's Angels

Charleston, S.C.



Fun photo, eh! I asked them to come in on Tuesday morning for a picture. Each of these retired business people joined the volunteer team at Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital because they know Charlie Black who is seated in the center.



Either because he simply let them know what he was doing and how much he enjoyed it, or in the case of one of the gentlemen who was a widower, he called him a couple of times encouraging him to explore volunteering. Two of the gentlemen help staff the recovery room desk, two of the women are patient representatives making rounds on patients, one lady works in outpatient, a gentleman works in the pharmacy and another in Ambulatory Surgery.



Charlie Black, retired as director of sales and marketing for Geer Drug Company, staffs the main information desk at the hospital.



The amazing thing, is that because of this one person and his positive influence, this team has served over 18,350 hours at the hospital. It's hard to imagine how many lives they have touched and it all started with one person.



Best part? Not only is Charlie Black a great role model but he has a wicked sense of humor and entertains me with a fresh joke everyday. :)

Happy Birthday Florence!

Florence Nightingale, Sock Monkey, Charleston, S.C.

Blog statistics tell me that one of the most frequently search terms leading folks to Charleston Daily Photo is "Dr. Sock Monkey". Ha! That makes me very proud.

To even things out we had Florence Nightingale pose in front of the hospital for her official birthday portrait last week during Nurses Week. Now I can welcome visitors looking for Nurse Sock Monkey as well.