If you'd like to add any type of seating in your front yard or porch area, let it be practical but also let its materials and design speak to your soul. Think about making a more natural seat out of materials you have on hand or can inexpensively obtain. One of more memorable seats I recall was simply made out of a tree trunk that had been laid down horizontally and placed strategically within owner's landscaping plan for use as a natural log bench.

Windchimes can be a memorable addition to your outdoor decor too because they add both a visual element as well as an auditory memory. The more of our five senses that are activated, more likely we are to remember something. You'll find that sounds of windchimes can vary greatly due to different materials, shapes, and sizes that they are available in.

If you'd like a personalized and memorable novelty for your front yard consider getting a custom engraved rock! You can now personalize stones with an image, your family name engraved within rock, your address and/or an important word or quotation on it. Engraved garden stones, such as these, are among some of newer ways some homeowners are using to decorate their front yard to create memorable first and long-lasting impressions.

Copyright 2003 Elizabeth Hekimian-Williams

Mister Rogers was honestly considering doing a late-night t.v. show in his later years, reading to put people to sleep. Now when you think about it, that man’s incredible authenticity gave him courage to meet a need … do we adults need to be watching violent news before we go to sleep, or cutting comics, hyped-up music, high-voltage super models? Would it not be emotionally intelligent – and good for our wellness – if we had a glass of warm milk and let that incredible voice soothe us on to sleep?

“In a world that prizes macho, he was gentle; in a culture devoted to noise he was quiet; in a country addicted to self-aggrandizement, he was modest,” wrote Bo Emerson, for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “His show was anti-television; slow, calm, predictable.”

“What he tried to do was bring human values to a really unhuman medium,” said Tom Junod, who profiled Rogers several years ago for Esquire magazine. “And he fought tremendous battles to do so.”

Shortly after his death, GPTV broadcast a rerun, a Mister Rogers show on theme “noisy and quiet” that symbolized his lifelong mission. He told his listeners that sometimes they might see television with people shooting and hitting one another, television that was loud and scary.

"Whenever you see scary television you can do something about it," he said, peering intently at camera. "You can turn it off. Then you can show you're strongest of all."

Would that we could, Mister Rogers, would that we could.

“Misser Boggers is dead,” Emily Redmon emailed her brother in Canada … their name for him when they were little. I wonder how many other names he had with children of land.

Vincent Woods remembered Mr. Rogers speaking at his University (NCSU) Graduation in 1996. “He had entire stadium of 40,000 people singing ‘neighborhood.’”

When I read news on computer, I was at my son’s. He’s grown now, father of two, and owns his own business. I stared at computer … “What was name of ti…” “Daniel Striped Tiger,” he said immediately, turning away. I could’ve sworn there were tears in his eyes.

Simone Presley of Dublin Georgia wrote, “I along with millions of others, grew up in his neighborhood…and we all knew him as kindest, gentlest man that we would ever meet…who will replace him? America has been so blessed to have one such as he to care enough for children to give them values that they can rely on forever.”

I join Simone Presley from Dublin, Georgia, in saying, “You are remembered dearly, Mr. Rogers...see you in New neighborhood.... “

©Susan Dunn, The EQ Coach, http://www.susandunn.cc . Emotional intelligence coaching for individuals and businesses, distance learning, and EQ Alive! – a coaching school for emotional intelligence, http://www.eqcoach.net .