Which is why it took me a few minutes to identify the mechanical noise I heard yesterday afternoon as a LAWN MOWER.  The high here yesterday was 32 degrees, so that means my industrious neighbor was mowing his lawn when it was frickin’ freezing outside. 

Bermuda grass in winter

For those of you who don’t live in northern Georgia I should explain that most people here have a warm-weather-loving variety of grass (like Bermuda) which goes dormant and turns brown in the cold.  Our grass does not grow in the winter, even when the temps are in the 50′s. 

So why in the world was this yahoo mowing his dry, brown lawn on a freezing day in January?!

I mean sure, we plant annuals down here for the winter.  Pansies and decorative cabbage are particularly popular.  And the landscapers still come around every week even if all they do is blow leaves from one yard to another.  I can’t blame them though because they need to get paid and there’s no snow to shovel here like there is up north.

But seriously Mower Man, there will be plenty of time to cut your grass when spring hits in late February.  In the meantime, do like we do up north and enjoy a blessed few months without yard work.

To be honest, before I read about this situation it had never occurred to me that one could be legally discriminated against because of not believing in God. Of course atheists are ostracized regularly in numerous social situations. But I had always assumed that “freedom of religion” included not only the freedom to worship the god of your choice in the manner of your choice but also the freedom to not worship any god at all.

Unfortunately the Faithful assume that atheists are akin to Satan, that they have no morals and are out to destroy all that is good in the world. They assume that in order to be a “good person” you must subscribe to one of the world’s established religions, or at the very least proclaim belief in some kind of nebulous god. For it is only through a god that good is bestowed on any human’s heart.

So my own children are by default “bad”, because I am raising them without belief in any god. They have been taught that people all over the world believe in many different gods, but they have not been taught to worship any one god themselves.

They have been taught though to respect all living things, including plants and insects and people who’s beliefs are different from theirs. They know to say “please” and “thank you”. They love puppies and kittens, donate their old toys to charity, blow kisses when they say goodbye.

In our home we sing together, play a family game every Friday night, sit together daily for dinner. We don’t use curse words or abuse drugs. We never go to sleep without giving hugs or saying “I love you.”

But we don’t pray and we don’t go to church.

And we don’t persecute in the name of God.

Mr. Bardwell’s reasoning for denying interracial couples the right to marry is that he’s talked to many people, both white and black, who have told him that children of mixed race are not easily accepted in society. He paints himself as doing good for these unconceived children by sparing them the pain they would suffer if they were hypothetically born.

What a bunch of crap! I guess this guy must not turn on his TV too often or go to the movies or play a radio. The entertainment world is filled with examples of bi-racial people who have done quite well in this society which supposedly doesn’t accept them. Take Halle Berry, Mariah Carey, James Earl Jones for example. Oh yeah, and our current President, Barack Obama!

I’m sure all these people have stories to tell about discrimination they had to deal with throughout their lives. But should their parents have been denied the right to be together strictly because their skin colors were at opposite ends of the spectrum?

Come on Louisiana, clean up your act. Give the boot to the likes of Keith Bardwell!

photo by Shawn Latta

I have no desire to home school my children, but it looks like I’ll be doing just that when it comes to sex education.  I recently read an editorial in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution that raised all kinds of red flags for me about what my children would be taught during their health classes.  In it a young woman named Ginny McNulty describes an experience she had delivering presentations to her peers here in metro Atlanta to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS.  It seems most of the kids she spoke to had very little knowledge of how the virus is actually spread, however Ms. McNulty could not inform them about protection via condoms due to a prohibitive school policy.  The emphasis in this school system is on abstinence therefore contraceptives are not discussed.

Now I know all about abstinence before marriage.  I attended Catholic school for 13 years.  I also remember what it was like being a romantic high school girl hanging out with the horny high school boys.  And let me tell you, the fear of burning in hell was no deterrent to teenage lust. 

Of course, that was up north.  Maybe kids down here really did study when they got together and also went directly home right after prom.  I can’t figure out how else to explain parents and educators who apparently have no first hand knowledge of what it’s like to be a teenager.

An article on msnbc.msn.com draws some interesting conclusions about the relationship between conservative religious beliefs and teenage pregnancy rates.  Researchers ranked states by their religiousness and their teen birth rates.  It doesn’t surprise me that states ranked as most religious also had the highest teen birth rates.  Unfortunately for me, Georgia along with the other southern states fall into this category.  The northeastern states are at the bottom of the list with the lowest teen birth rates as well as lowest rates of religiousness.

I am pretty certain that kids up in New England have sex just as much their counterparts down here.  The difference is that those kids up north are being taught how to deal with the adult issue of sex in an adult way.  I am sure that they are hearing the “wait until you’re married” and “only have sex with someone you love” mantras, but they are also hearing about consequences and contraceptives.

My kids may grow up as southerners but I will make sure they receive a northern-style sex education!

photo by Jamie Peabody

I can’t believe that I made it through 30+ years living in the Rust Belt without slipping into a coma.  Seriously.  When you live there you just don’t realize how bad you really have it.  According to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), residents of Pittsburgh see sunshine on average only 45% of the year.  That comes out to roughly 164 days.  Most of the rust belt cities see the sun between 45% and 53% of the year.

Here in Atlanta we see the sun about 60% of the year, or 219 days.  That’s 55 extra days of sunshine compared to Pittsburgh, close to two months’ worth! 

I definitely feel the difference, mainly in my attitude.  I’m more positive here and more energetic.  I rarely experience long weeks where I feel like a hermit living in a cave.  (The torrential rains and heavy flooding we just experienced are unusual.)

Whenever I travel north now my eyes see things they never noticed before.  Like rust on bridges, lumpy patches of asphalt on streets, brown sensible shoes on the feet of most women.  I get moody.  I want to eat sausage and put on plaid.

I’m relieved when I return to my new-found home and need to squint for several minutes while my eyes readjust to the bright blue sky.  I’m delighted to see colorful blooming flowers even in January.  My car glides along pristine streets, relaxing my cares away.  I wear flip-flops year round.

Yes my northern friends, a little extra sun is worth the move.

And if I ever get into a Chicago-bluesy funk, I’ll start planning for my next move — 277 days of sun in Key West!

Real Housewives of Atlanta

I love the Real Housewives of Atlanta.  I started watching out of curiosity about which of Atlanta’s locales or personalities I might recognize on the show.  But now I’m hooked because those ladies are just damn entertaining.

My only problem with the show is its name.  Housewives?  Really?

See, I AM a real housewife of Atlanta.  Well, the metro area actually, OTP, not within the city limits of the ATL per se.  But my point is I am the definition of the word “housewife”, which per dictionary.com is “a married woman who manages her own household, esp. as her principal occupation.”  I am a married, stay-at-home mom.  I could be referred to as a housewife, although we will have words if you describe me that way! 

Do any of the Real Housewives of Atlanta fit that definition?  Only two are even married and it seems that neither of them spends too much time at home.  Lisa is busy, busy, busy with all her business endeavors.  I remember her holding a baby during the first season.  I think he was hers.  Whatever happened to that kid?  And NeNe — well, she is a self-proclaimed socialite and proud of it!  She’s always out and about, making sure she’s seen, hobnobbing with the who’s who of Atlanta. 

Kim calls herself a good mom then entrusts the hiring of her children’s nanny to her personal assistant.  Sheree and Kandi are both single parents working to further their careers.

OK, that was a bit generous to Sheree.  She just wants to have a career.  Well, to have the money and fame from the career really.  In last night’s episode Sheree gets into her SUV shouting goodbye to her kids and telling them she’s off to her independence party.  She doesn’t hug or kiss them goodbye, just calls out as she’s getting into the vehicle.  Then we see quick shots of the two disinterested children — although I have to say her son had a curious expression on his face.  Could it be that he’s not 100% in approval of his mom so blatantly celebrating her independence from his father?

Like I said, I love the show.  All of these women are fascinating to watch, just like the three-car crash on the other side of the highway.  But housewives?  Come on!  When was the last time any one of them ran a vacuum cleaner?  Cooked dinner for their kids?  Pulled weeds in the garden?  (To be fair, I do recall Sheree folding laundry on one episode.)

The real housewives of Atlanta live in my neighborhood.  We are hard working women, devoted to our families.  We run our own errands, many times without wearing makeup.  We spend our afternoons helping our kids with their homework and our evenings at baseball practice or attending the school talent show.  We volunteer as room moms for our child’s class and organize fundraisers. 

Guess we might be a little boring to watch on TV.  Most of us have far fewer than eight kids.  Only a handful of us have ever spoken to a celebrity face to face.  We only have about ten minutes to do our own hair in the morning and we’ve worn some of the same clothes for the past five years.

You have to be a lot more glamorous to be one of the Real Housewives of Atlanta!