Sending LoVe......

I know. I know. Isn’t it a little early for talk of Valentine’s Day? Well…not if you’re thinking what I’m thinking. See, every year I try to find a different United States Post Office to send my special greetings to for request of their own personalized post mark for the holiday of LoVe. It’s really kind of fun anticipating the thrill of recognition from the recipients that the card went through a special place designated to stamp their approval of love on the cover of the envelope.

You can google to find a list of participating post offices. Some of the regulars are Loveland Colorado, Romeo Michigan, Loving, Mexico, and Bliss, New York. My personal favorite is Valentine, Texas for the way they go about choosing their stamp. See, they host an annual contest with school kids (7th-12th grades) to see who can come up with the best design. Once the winner is chosen, they make an official Valentine’s Day Post Mark Stamp and utilize it for sending out all those special LoVe requests. Isn’t that great?

Just to make it easy for you, here are a few handy links of LoVe lists…

http://www.squidoo.com/romantic-postmark-valentines-day

http://www.celebratelove.com/valpostmark.htm

http://www.listmyfive.com/d680d127/The-Top-Five-Valentines-Day-Postmarks

I’ve been doing this for years and have sent cards through most all of the ones with special stamps. I’ve sent through Valentine, Texas many times for their annually updated services. But I truly think there needs to be more out there. I mean, let’s face it. LoVe is BIG business, right? Everyone loves LoVe!

So, after consulting http://info.alabama.gov/directory_city_1.aspx , I have determined that Alabama needs to join the ranks of LoVe postmarks and here’s the list I’ve come up with for possibilities. Mind you, this list is not complete…the possibilities are many! And what more fun can be had than offering a contest to the community for a little LoVe action! : D

Gurley, AL for the feminine LoVe expression.
Mentone, AL for some kind of manly LoVe….or man candy! Yum!
Shakespeare, AL…for the poetic LoVe
Dixie, AL… since we ARE the HEART of Dixie!
Hatcheehubbee, AL because…..it’s FUN! They could host a man auction, too!
Sims Chapel, AL or White's Chapel, AL for the wedding bound LoVe!
Hopewell, AL…for the anticipation of LoVe
Ohatchee, AL for the expecting LoVe.
Oneonta, AL or Lenox, AL…again for the wedding bound LoVe.
Excel, AL for the forward thinking LoVeR!
Taledega, AL… for the fast and reckless LoVe!
Wedowee, AL ….for the together LoVe

And my personal favorite is…Choccolocca, AL…for the romantic LoVe we all share!

So what do you think? Will you be sending special LoVe this year? What are your favorite postmarks in the US or internationally? Does Alabama need a LoVe postmark? Which Alabama location would get your vote?

To Golb or Blog, When Things Appear Backwards

Efil, or life, has a way of springing traps. Just when you think you’re hitting a running high, moving past the wall, llaw gets in the way. (Don’t squint, you’re not seeing things.) I’m spelling words backwards. For one, it’s a kick of mine and you can ask my friends about it. I’m sure they are nodding right now or rolling their eyes saying “not again.” Second, it trains the mind to see things differently, besides encouraging brain activity that a person at any age needs to take advantage of. Third, it gets laughs.

Today, under the Tulip Tree, it’s not a time to hgual, or laugh. Alabama, and most of the South, are suffering from the recent surge of tornadic weather, which descended upon us one week ago today. Having lived through practically a one week black-out, I can tell you the newest deluge of information I’m receiving from the news on television has set my heart on edge. While the radio kept us up to date this past week, while we sat clueless in the dark, we now know nothing can convict a heart more than a picture. Pictures say a thousand words and the ones we are now seeing on television gut to the quick.

We live by words. But what are words, really, other than a means to communicate? Words are the fiercest things known to man. Words kill relationships, mend hearts, rip apart friendships, become abrasive, uplift, warp minds and reform sinners. One word can build a church, bond a mother to a child, or seal a convicted felon’s fate. Words. How I love them! How I love to play with them, mangle them, stress them, caress them and… say them backwards.

For instance: Mom is Mom backwards but upside-down it’s wow! You’ve got Mom (shout out Mother’s Day is coming up everybody). She’s the woman most admire, but some have a hard time getting along with, if the glass is seen half empty. And then there’s Mom with a Wow! She’s the woman who can pack a punch, make life worth living, and help us see the glass half full. Turn a situation upside down and something wonderful happens every time. (Make this your mantra!)

There is SOS, which is SOS right side up, backwards and upside-down. This is a word I’ve thought of often these past few weeks here under the Tulip Tree.

First, we lost our beautiful, dedicated wife and mother and ever amazing friend and author, Beverly Barton, nearly two weeks ago. Second, our plans for Heart of Dixie’s annual luncheon were halted by Mother Nature, who packed a whollup no one this side of Dixie, or in history, has ever seen before. Our state was bent upside-down and over backwards just to see what it would look like from the inside out. At one time, nearly a million people were without power after the storms decimated towns, cities and University housing. People’s lives were lost; homes were tumbled across highways and byways, destroyed or left untouched. Those of us lucky to survive must now pick up the pieces. How do we do that? How, when thousands are without homes to live in and young children walk around without any idea where they lived, without knowing if their family is alive, because nothing looks the same and no one can be found, do we go on with our lives as though nothing ever happened? We can’t and we shouldn’t.

Now is the time to pets and yap drawrof, step and pay it forward. Now is the time to etanod, donate, clothing, anything that will benefit the sselemoh, homeless. Now is the time to yarp, pray… pray for those who mourn the loss of loved ones, until now spelled backwards is won.

There are countless ways to reach out and touch someone. Here, below the Mason Dixon line, communities have pulled and will pull together at this our darkest hour, literally the darkest hour in Alabama history. No one should be left behind. Neighbor should shelter neighbor, stranger provide for stranger, until now is won. This is how our dearest friend, Beverly, mentored, and in the process created friends who will carry on her legacy from darkness into light.

I’ve often blogged about overcoming fear. Well… many live in a state of fear now. Fear is real. Like a pine needle thread through a tree trunk, it has pierced our shells. No tornado siren will go unheeded from this moment on. And though we must do the business of mourning our losses, cleaning up the mess and rebuilding our lives, we WILL not be blind. To each dark hour, the dawn must come. Through each gaze into the sun, a bright light will be seen. It is inevitable that we must look inside, draw upon our deepest emotions and guide those feelings to a positive end.

We must translate NOW into WON.

The human spirit has the ability to overcome whatever test it faces. Whether that be getting past a rejection on a literary work, rising above broken friendships or relationships, gleaning the positive out of negative, grieving loss, or having to start all over again. When we take the time to begin, our definitive goal will be won.

It took Alabama nearly one week to overcome darkness, but the light has come and a new day has dawned. We are no longer asleep, but awake. Ready to mentor, step and pay it forward, to overcome fear and race toward our ultimate goal, life.

What do you do when things appear backwards? How have the events of this past week convicted you?

The Almanac Told Me There Would Be Days Like These

Here we are with more snow it Alabama. It has been a crazy winter.

It is the most odd winter so far. There has been snow after snow after snow. It has also been colder here in Alabama at times than it was in in GREENLAND. Greenland for the love of Pete!!

A few months ago in the early fall, one of the members of our great RWA chapter. Heart of Dixie, told some of us that the almanac said we were in for a cold, bad winter. She is the type of person who seems to know this kind of thing so I believed her, but even then I didn't think there would be this much snow. I mean it's Alabama. How much snow could there be.? It turns out there can be inch after beautiful inch!

I mostly embrace the snow; after all, it gets me a Snow Day, at best, and a delayed start at worst. Not a bad choice. I noticed the other day that I am not enjoying this winter as much as I have in the past and turned my thoughts to trying to figure out why. After just a few days it occurred to me what the problem was. I miss my cool shoes. This crazy cold wet winter has meant that I have had to wear boots and "sensible" shoes more often. I am suffering from a strange type of seasonal disorder. I need to be able to wear my pretty shoes. I felt much better right away when I thought about the gorgeous shoes of summer! Now I know that I can give myself the little pick up I need anytime I want by just cranking up the heat and wearing some of my favorite pretty shoes around the house. In fact, I may just do that tomorrow when we have a delayed start.

What do you like to do to give yourself a little pick me up when you get the Winter Blues?

Goodbye, Mr. McElroy: It's Been a Pleasure

Good morning, college football fans—and the rest of you too.

It's nearly over and I am sorry. By the time the BCS Bowl has been played on January 10, there will have been thirty-five bowl games played this year. It wasn't always that way. In the sixties there were eight. By 1970, there were eleven and it has grown from there. Some people think there are too many bowls these days. Not for me. The more the better.

I cut my teeth on Crimson Tide football and I can't remember a year when I've been prouder. Oh, don't get me wrong. I love a National Championship and an undefeated season. Who doesn't? Last year was fabulous. The next one (number 14) will be fabulous.

But the Capital One Bowl on New Year's Day was pretty sweet. My team, who lost with grace three times this season, won their bowl game like gentlemen, with class and humility.

Greg McElroy, who just quarterbacked his last college game, always gave his team credit for successes and took personal blame for mistakes. He made blocks when he needed to and when no one would have expected it of him. I'll miss him. Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson, two of the best running backs in college football, never displayed one iota of personal competition but supported and cheered each other on. These things spell winner.

My favorite moment of the season did not occur on the field but on the bench. Greg McElroy had just suffered a concussion and didn't seem to have a lot of information about his identity and location. He sat on the bench beside star wideout Julio Jones, who had also been injured. Julio sat quietly with his arm draped around Greg's shoulders. I don't know if he was giving or seeking comfort or if he was just trying to stop his quarterback from hunting his helmet and attempting to head back on the field.

But I thought, "There sits a couple of champions and that is why I love this game."

As writers, we've all taken a sack or two and we aren't always able to get up again without help. I am thankful that when I have needed the help, it's always been there for me.

And that is why I love what I do—and all of you.

Happy New Year.