A Little Poetic Thought or Two about Motherhood

I don't know why there are so many dividing lines.
I, for example, am supposed to be "the mom." This in and of itself is a dividing line. I was supposed to step back when they were old enough to have new heros. Don't hurt, don't think, don't feel.
Sorry, I do all those things. I still remember day one.
I had expectations of sentimentality. I did not ruin them. Neither did my children. It was the ones who wanted what we had. The childless mothers, the angry ones, the greedy ones, the ones who perceived our vulnerabilities and came in for the kill.
They didn't win, though, and we are not ruined. I may not be a hero, but my love has not changed. It will never change. Neither did my children's.

I know way too much. Mom's always do.

Gene Autry and the Big Black Bear

I grew up in North Carolina with an ocean to the east, and mountains to the west. I love both, but in my heart of hearts I'm a mountain girl. My family went to Tweetsie Railroad, Blowing Rock, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Gatlinberg, and I've hiked the Chimney Tops and even chased a bear or two.

The most recent bear chase was this December when I took my son, WillMcJ to see my beloved Smokeys. Okay, we didn't chase the bear, we ran from the bear, but it was a really big bear, and I know you're not supposed to run, but we couldn't seem to get that message to go from our brains to our feet before we were high-tailing it back to the river. We tried to run like we weren't running, you know, the way kids do when you tell them not to run in the house.

We had a Gene Autry souvenir pocket knife with us. Fortunately, the bear did not feel threatened by it in the least. A guitar would have been as helpful, maybe more so. You know what they say about music calming the savage beast.

My friend Dawn tells me they're blasting the tops off of MY mountains, leveling some of them. I'm sure they have good reasons, that there is big money and there are valuable resources involved, but my heart is breaking over it. The means is certainly not worth the end of the many lifetimes cradled by that blue Appalachian glory.

We saw a devastated mountain on our way home from Gatlinberg this December. We were devastated, too. I'm so sorry, WillMcJ, that your children and grandchildren will be left with this horrible lesson in greed and lack of respect for God's creation. I'm going to write to my government officials and ask them to please help. There IS a better way. I promise you, Will, I care enough to learn more about this and do whatever I can to help. Let's check it out together:

Google search: LEAF-mountaintop removal and you can read all about it.

Much Love for ALL of God's creation,
Kim