Friday Night Glory

Friday morning...it's awesome because there's a home game tonight at Fountain Lake. And on Friday mornings when I drive around the school I get to see all the senior high players in the big purple jerseys.  They stand together, they swagger together. The girls bump up against them and everybody laughs. The lights will be turned on this afternoon and the field will glow as the sun sets. The stadium is beautiful and pristine, waiting for the Friday night warriors. Most are sweet boys who hug their moms and their mom's friends. They throw footballs at the little boys who wear jerseys on Fridays too, hoping they will some day be able to take the field when the stands are packed and the home crowd cheers and rings cowbells. They are teen-age boys, all on the verge of becoming men, taking care of business, getting a job done, for their school, for their fans and for a tiny Arkansas community built around the purple and gold Cobras.

I Love My Redneck School District

   I love the Fountain Lake School District for a number of reasons.  First, it keeps getting better.  It's a much finer school now than it was ten years ago. I know this because I've had kids at Fountain Lake for what feels like 103 years. I love FL because high school kids can buy jeans at Wal-Mart and that's ok. Some parents shop at the mall, some at Old Navy and some do the yard sale thing on Saturday mornings and it's all ok. the kids still hang out together, double wide trailer or 5bedroom/3 bath home. Half the students wear camo or ropers most days and that's just fine too. Nobody really cares and it's absolutely not something they are judged for. I love the Friday night football games because everybody loves the team and the band and going to the game is a huge freaken deal. Football players are in the band and the clicks don't generally pick on each other. And when coaches talk about their kids they sometimes get choked up.  I love FL because teachers know your kids and talk to you about them. I'm actually not very redneck and I don't wear camo but Fountain Lake is still a great piece of red, white and blueAmerican pie and there's not much pie left these days.