Barrow Journal

“Making the decision to have a child – it’s momentous. It is to decide to forever have your heart go walking around outside your body.”
— Elizabeth Stone

Mother’s Day is a day of mixed cheer for me. It’s happy because I have two wonderful grown children who I wouldn’t change a thing about. They both married people I also wouldn’t change a thing about. Both couples have good jobs, nice homes and happy, full lives. They live close by and visit often. For this mom, it doesn’t get any better than that; I am so blessed and thankful.

The down side of Mother’s Day is that my mom died when I was 19 and she left a hole in my life nothing else has ever filled. I don’t remember what it felt like to have a mother, and even though my dad’s a great guy, the child in me still feels like an orphan on Mother’s Day.

Of all the jobs I’ve had, being a mom was my favorite. It’s the only thing I always knew I wanted to do and one of the things I’ve been really good at. As a child, I toted dolls around taking gentle care of them. And, as a young woman, I couldn’t wait to be a mom. I was in such a hurry I had kids before I figured out what else I wanted to do – a move which had its consequences, but I have no regrets. [Full Story »] 

“When I’m old I will have a goat and feed him pink roses…” – a birthday card

Maybe I’ll have a goat when I’m old or maybe I’ll drive a Jaguar and instead of feeding it pink roses, I’ll feed it a lot of gas. I guess I just got old, because I just got that Jag and while it is a beautiful car, it is causing a bit of a mid/later-in-life crisis for me.

The story of the Jag is my son bought her from her original owner. She is a 1989 XJS with Chevrolet guts inside, which means theoretically she has none of the pesky maintenance issues Jaguars are so well known for. With the exception of her electrical system (which does have a few pesky issues) she is a Chevy through and through, and the combination of Jaguar handling and that 350 V8, suffice it to say she’s a fine ride. [Full Story »] 

“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” – Rumi

Just over three months ago, I fell down the long, narrow, hardwood staircase in our old house and broke my right shoulder. “Shattered” was actually the word the medical people used, which told me it was pretty serious.

My pleas for no surgery fell on deaf ears (thankfully, as there was apparently no healing without such intervention.) So now I’m the proud bearer of a shoulder full of “hardware” as the medical people call it — two plates and nine long screws. The x-ray is scary to look at.

Before this mess with my shoulder, I had never been in the hospital – not even to have my kids. They were born at home with skilled and licensed midwives (this was back in the Hippie days.) There was a doctor standing by, but he was not needed. Due to good health, good habits and germophobic behavior that rivals Howard Hughes’, no one in my family has been to the doctor much. We’re just not “doctor people” and so far, with a few minor exceptions, the Good Lord has blessed us with being able to carry on that way. [Full Story »] 

“Animals are such agreeable friends – they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.” – George Eliot

I am an animal lover, so it’s no surprise that one of my favorite parts of the Christmas manger scene is the animals grouped around Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph on the night of his birth.

There is something so right about the Son of God being welcomed to this often cold, cruel world by gentle creatures the Lord made. I like to think the warm breath of the animals, their soft low night noises and the sweet smell of the hay in the stable comforted the little family as they lie looking at that bright star, wondering about the unknown ahead.

Christmas is a time for giving and our community steps up generously to provide gifts and food for our neighbors in need. Another group that bears remembering at this time of charitable donation is the animals - the many, many unwanted animals in our county. [Full Story »] 

Halloween is upon us which means ghosts and a fascination with all things ghostly. I have never encountered a ghost, but I’ve always been interested in them. Who are these good spirits and bad, inhabiting our world for reasons we cannot know, some to protect and warn, others to share the misery they suffered during their mortal lives?

Winder has its share of ghost tales, so in the spirit of the season, I will share some of the versions I have heard, as I remember them, with you.

My house has a ghost. His name is Pete. We don’t know why he’s here or when he came, but tales of him proceed our family’s 23 years in this drafty old home, which was built in 1903. Pete is a happy-go-lucky sort with the energy of a young man. He mostly appears to young people and seems to have the most “fun” when gaggles of teens hang out here. He likes to hide keys, bang on drum sets and pianos, and occasionally, cast a chill on a guest he doesn’t feel should be here. Other than that, Pete’s very low key, so we are happy to have him here. [Full Story »] 

“There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness and truth.” - Leo Tolstoy

Our dog, Raffi, died a few weeks ago and that made everyone who knew him over the 11 long years of his life sad. There wasn’t much that was special about Raffi.

In fact, it was his lack of “special-ness” that made him great. He was a simple-minded fellow who barked too much, didn’t mind very well and pulled WAY too hard on his leash, in spite of all the training tricks we tried... [Full Story »] 

Is Winder “broke-minded?”

I heard that expression the other day and something about it stuck. A friend said she was talking local politics with her yard man and that’s what he said, adding that what’s “broke-minded” can’t be fixed.

While examples of “broke-minded” are fairly easy to find in our fair city, there are some good things happening, too. And, unlike that yard man, I believe almost anything can be fixed, even the most “broke-minded” of things. So, let’s look at some local good, some local “broke-minded” and do a little “blue sky” thinking about what could be. [Full Story »] 

“To grasp and hold a vision, that is the very essence of successful leadership - not only on the movie set where I learned it, but everywhere.” - Ronald Reagan

The Winder City Council not only showed a remarkable lack of vision at its August 7 meeting, but it also thumbed its nose at the room full of citizens and the nearly 175 constituents whose signatures were on two anti-rezoning petitions the council received prior to the meeting.

At issue was a zoning change at 10 Kimball Street, from residential to neighborhood commercial, and a request for a conditional use on the Broad Street lot where the old First Baptist Church once stood. The owners of the Kimball Street property, which sits behind 122 N. Broad Street in a residential neighborhood, plan to tear the house on the lot down and build a “landscape parking lot.” The conditional use on the Broad Street property was to allow a Hardee’s restaurant considering locating there to have a drive-through.

Both properties are in the city’s historic district and both of the rezones were opposed by a large group of citizens who live and/or operate businesses in that district, (myself included, so yes, I do have a dog in this fight.) [Full Story »]