Jennifer B. Duffey's Blog, page 5

Goodbye St. Christopher

Almost every day for the past 20+ years, I’ve worn a simple gold pendant around my neck. I could probably count the number of times I’ve gone without it. It was a petite, oval (though not elongated) St Christopher that I bought from a small independent jeweler who had studied at the Goldschmidtehaus in Hanau […]

Any Given Day

If you’ve been watching any of the Olympic coverage, you know that a lot of unexpected things have happened over the past few days. The Williams sisters, unbeaten in the last three Olympic appearances are out in doubles play and both have been eliminated from the singles tournament. Novak Djokovic, the world’s number one ranked […]

The Olympics and Writing

The Rio Olympics started today. Actually the Opening Ceremony is this coming Friday but they began playing Women’s Soccer today. Team USA is going for their 4th gold medal. Things are kind of epic. And I need to be writing. I know I need to write. I have deadlines that I’ve given myself for projects […]

Would Your Favorites Be Published Today?

I was talking to a gentleman a few weeks ago about my books. (I always talk to anyone who’ll listen about my books!) As inevitably happens during this type of conversation, he began to tell me about his friend who also writes. “But he just self published his book.” He tells me dismissively. This man didn’t […]

RIP Maeve

Today marks four years since the world lost Maeve Binchy. She was one of my favorite writers. I loved picking up one of her novels and delving into the lives of her characters. She could flesh out the minute details of everyday life in a way that was fascinating and totally related to everything I […]

The Most Dangerous Word

“I’ve always wanted to be a writer.” This is the most common phrase I hear when I tell people I’m a novelist. Chances are, if you write, you’ve heard it or some variation of it as well. I get it. It’s what I always used to say before I took the plunge into the murky […]

Procrastination Kills The Best Intentions

Stop!  Don’t rush me! I’m waiting for the last-minute!! That should really be my motto in life. Not my intentional motto of course. That would be something more like, “Happiness is a choice we must make everyday.” (A statement I believe emphatically, by the way.)  That’s the motto I would choose. Unfortunately, procrastination seems, for […]

Happy Memorial Day!

Nothing says bring on the summer like Memorial Day weekend! It’s a great time to spend outdoors with family and friends. The kids are out of school. The days are long. The sun is shining brightly overhead. The smell of charcoal fills the air throughout neighborhoods across the country. It’s a great day to be alive.

But, let’s stop and take a moment to remember the actual reason for the holiday. It’s not a National BBQ day. (Although, I wouldn’t turn down an invitation for a nice juicy steak off the grill.) It’s a day to remember those who have given their lives to our great nation. A day to remember the men and women who will never come home from the horrors of war to spend time with their families and loved ones.

There are those who would argue that this is not an important day to remember, that we shouldn’t spend time thinking about the past atrocities of war, that wars are merely travesties created by politicians, and veterans are the puppets who serve their greedy causes. They have a right to their opinions, however misguided those opinions may be. Ironically, that right to voice opposing opinions is ensured by the very people they reject and ridicule, the veterans who gave their lives to protect the freedoms we enjoy here in this great country.

We are not a perfect country. We have many problems here. I’m not naive enough to dismiss our shortcomings. However, for all the problems we have and all the discontent we have within our borders at the moment, I am humbled by the fact that so many brave men and women made a conscious choice to give their lives if need be to protect my freedom. No one today is drafted into military service. That ended long ago. Today, you willingly and consciously walk into a MEPS station and take the oath of enlistment. You volunteer to lay down your life for your fellow man, a country full of fellow men you will never know or meet. It was an oath I took years ago and one that my daughter recently raised her right hand to recite.

I’m proud to have served. I’m proud that my daughter chose to serve. I’m proud to be in the elite class known as U.S. Veteran. And yet, I know I will never be able to repay the debt of freedom I owe to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Thank you for your sacrifice. May God grant you everlasting peace throughout eternity. And may God bless your families who miss you so very deeply. God Bless the U.S.A!!

Reliving Memories and Creating New Ones

The Squirrel’s Nest!

Last week was Spring Break for my son. He’s 13 and this was the first year we were celebrating without my daughter, who joined the military last fall. He usually tries to spend the week with his dad, but that wasn’t able to happen this year. So, what to do with a teenage son for an entire week out of school?

I decided to take a trip back in time. (Well, for me anyway!)

As a teenager, I took several trips up to the mountains of north Georgia to Unicoi State Park. They have an interesting camping area there known as the Squirrel’s Nest. It is every bit as adventurous as it sounds. I remembered how much I used to enjoy those trips as a youth and thought it would be a great opportunity for some good mother-son bonding time.

In some ways, the place is exactly the same as I remembered from all those years ago. The bathrooms and showers are every bit as (ahem) charmingly rustic as I remember. And the platforms themselves were exactly the same.

However, I noticed some changes that I hadn’t expected. There was now a huge fire pit in the small canyon that hadn’t been there years before. The stairs had been improved over the years. And, there seemed to be more camping areas in the surrounding vicinity which generated more foot traffic. These were changes anyone would have noticed.

But, there were other changes as well. For instance, I didn’t remember the parking lot being five miles away up a painfully steep hill. I didn’t remember the wood flooring of the platform being that hard and unforgiving. I didn’t remember wanting to fall over from exhaustion after unloading the truck. I realized very quickly that I should spend less time thinking about exercise and more time increasing my stamina.

John and I at the base of Anna Ruby Falls.

I also realized how much I missed the tranquility of nature. She definitely offers a healing power like none other. There is something inherently calming about ditching your computer and trekking through the mountain trails for a few days. We’ve already made a list of things to do when we return during the summer. (10 mile Smith Creek Trail at Anna Ruby Falls here we come!)

But the greatest thing of all was spending a few days with my favorite guy. Nothing on earth is better than that!

Wishing everyone a wonderful day,

Cheers!