Who doesn't want to be Miss America?

Is there a little girl out there who didn't, at some point, entertain the idea of being Miss America? I mean, even if only for the crown?  Isn't that why it is so easy to conjure up the tune...."There she is, Miss America......?" 

When I was little, my best friend Sonja and I, would always make a big deal about the Miss America pageant.  Her Mom was sweet enough to build the hype quite a bit as well.  We always had a sleep over and little pads for scoring but mostly I remember during the commercials sashaying up and down their center hallway in what I think might have been her Mother's crinoline from her wedding dress.  It was long and flowing and to two starry eyed little girls, beautiful and just like the gowns the young ladies on TV were wearing!  If only we had a crown and scepter to complete the look!  What fun we had.   

Of course, this was well before today's world of pageants and pageant "systems" run amok. It was a time when it felt glamorous, very exclusive and elegant.   I think the reason I still enjoy the Miss America pageant is that it still holds on to at least a bit of it's original mission and flavor.  So tonight, you will find me watching and pulling for my state's lovely contestant, Suzi Roberts!  I find myself particularly big fans of our Southern girls in general, and love that we are usually well represented in the finals! 

Harvey threw a punch at Texas last week and Irma is making a mess in other parts of the South tonight but I know our beautiful Belles will walk the runway and make us proud because that is what a steel magnolia does when she is on the hunt for a crown.

Miss South Carolina Suzi Roberts

Go Suzi!!!!

Hurricane Irma....

Living an hour inland from the Atlantic, a lot of focus this week has been watching this beast, named Irma, churning in the Atlantic.  The endless guessing (forecasting?) of where she was going to go kept everyone on constant watch.  I can't count the times I have been asked this week if I was going to stay or evacuate. After weathering Matthew last year, who was a baby in comparison, I was more anxious than I would like to admit. Irma had me nervous and not wanting to go through a repeat of last year, and the flooding the year before.  To say our area has had a string of rough weather events over the last couple of years would be an understatement.  Also, seeing the devastation that Texas faced only a week or so ago made it feel even more frightening, not to mention the wild fires burning away the lives and land at a frenetic pace in the West.

For now, we seem to be totally out of the danger zone.  After a week of seeing the forecast track right at us, it is a relief to see it turn...sort of.  Either way, there is devastation coming and lives at risk.  Now it is tracking towards my daughter and son-in-law, my parents, many friends and family and that doesn't feel better.  It feels a lot like holding your breath while you pray a hedge of protection around those in Irma's path. 

A few days ago I did my hurricane prep and already gasoline was running low in some stations, bread was nonexistent and water?  You could forget it...and that was several days ago.  I think I was not the only person planning not to be caught off guard this year. Hotels and dog kennels are filling up now as people who previously never dreamed they would ever need to evacuate towards the beach are coming here.

I will admit, this week is the first time I have thought that maybe moving away from the coast might be worth it...and then Irma shows me it doesn't matter. There is some kind of risk everywhere.  I think the issue of having to ride these storms out alone is more the drive behind my internal debate on just picking up and leaving.  It is tiring.  But, here today....it is a gorgeous, not a cloud in the sky day...who would dream a monster is preparing an attack on the state of Florida at this very moment and heading northward towards Georgia? 

Praying God's protection upon everyone.  Stay safe.