I'm Alabama bound! In March I'll be visiting Albertville, Boaz, and Ozark. Hope I'll have a chance to meet you if you're in those areas. Check my itinerary to see where I'll be!
And then there's my blog, where what gets explored is as random as what passes through my brain. I also post occasional blogs with a whole host of fabulous Southern authors over at "A Good Blog is Hard to Find." Click here and then look for my name on the righthand side. We love it when you leave comments!
What fun to discover my poem, "The Boys Club" on the blog of a fellow mother of sons! Click here to read Kim Pfaff's very funny blog posting about "Boyworld!"
I don't know about you, but I am flat out tired of hearing about heroes falling from grace. Politicians, sports stars, celebrities, even everyday good guys: they all seem to be one thing, then turn out to be big ol' fat frauds.
I'm glad I'm not a kid anymore, because it's bad enough to be a parent! Fortunately, my guys are old enough to be over "hero worship" and I'm grateful--because I vividly remember that year when Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire thrilled us all with their dazzling performances, and the conversations we had around our dinner table about working hard, and playing by the rules, and the rewards that come from that. Doesn't anyone play by the rules anymore? Don't these public figures care how many people they let down?
If Roy Rogers and Dale Evans lived a double life, don't tell me; I don't think I could take it. I'd be a cowgirl today if Louisa May Alcott and Little Women hadn't derailed me. I thought Roy and Dale hung the moon and wore a cowboy hat and boots everywhere I went for most of my formative years, convinced that riding the range and roping cows was the life for me. I still love horses and, truth be known, still think a man in a saddle is mighty sexy. And while NOTHING I have done in my adult life indicates I'd have been a successful cowgirl, I still keep a cowboy hat around to whip out once in a while--just in case.
We need heroes. They help us stretch, let us dream, make us strive to be more than we are. I don't know why there aren't as many as there used to be. Maybe we all know too much about each other these days. Maybe the morality gene is deteriorating. Maybe the media figured out fallen heroes get a lot more attention than real ones. In any case, our children are the ones who bear the brunt of this sad development. Without heroes to look up to, life looks mighty mundane.
I challenge you to find a hero this month--in a book, in your church, online, on horseback, wherever. (Well, you might want to avoid looking in Hollywood, Washington, or ballfields--just to up your odds.) They ARE out there; I know they are, and the world deserves to know about them. So when you find your hero, make sure you tell someone about them. In fact, tell ME--just go to my Contact Me page and send me a few details. I'll share some stories on my blog, and here, next month.
Meanwhile, be a hero yourself: whatever you do, do it with joy, creativity, and integrity, and to the best of your ability...because you never know when someone is watching.
Wishing you many blessings as this decade begins to unfold,
Jayne
Welcome to my website! Whether you're here by intention or accident, I invite you to spend a few minutes looking around. Some elements of the site are permanent; others are changed and updated on a regular basis. Feel free to e-mail comments or suggestions. PLEASE NOTE: I'm happy for you to share my work with others, but please contact me for permission--and so I can acknowledge your publication--before including any of my poems in a personal website, church newsletter, etc. Thank you!
