T Minus Five Seconds and Counting...by Maureen Locher

Without the Internet this wide world of women writers would not grace the pages of Mom Writer’s Literary Magazine. Oh, we may have essays and poems published here and there but the Internet is the glue which holds us together as one cohesive unit.

And I am very proud to be a part of that unit.

Yet another issue of MWLM is launched online. “Launched.” Now how cool a word is that? This word has long implied magnificence to me, remembering NASA rocket launches as a child. To launch implies the beginning of something. The launch of this very issue may well be the inspiration for a mom out there in Timbuktu with three wailing kids. Something in that mom just may ignite as she reads our words upon the pages. A spark of hope may launch her into a whole new realm.

Another thing I love about the Internet is the imaginative language folks have created while navigating. We understand the dual meanings of mouse, cookies and spam, and have embraced Google and blogs. We enjoy the language within a language.

As happens with most good things, bad elements do creep in. Take, for instance, when your cable goes out severing your lifeline to the Internet. My house has been experiencing such problems for over a week. Add to that mix, three of my four young men and one husband who are addicted to cyberspace in their own unique and nerve-wracking ways, jockeying for time on computers and Xbox.

Let me just say that when one guy wants “on” wherever another one is, my men do not politely request, “May I pretty please get on now, dear, sweet, honey brother?” Oh nooo – expletives erupt, a simmering settles, then cool down, followed by apology. This cycle occurs daily like clockwork. The Internet (or lack thereof) does bring out the very worst in my five men. And perhaps, I too, am not the most pleasant when I must share.

So the next time one of my dear darlings holler (and I swear to you on the holy Bible right this very moment two of them are going at it as I write), I will close my eyes and picture that mom in Timbuktu, knowing with my whole heart that the Internet can be one’s saving grace - because it has been mine. Hang on little lady in Timbuktu; we’re all rooting for you.

(Dedicated to my Frank – the bear with the loudest growl. But you don’t scare me!)

Maureen Locher

Copy editor and regular columnist MWLM

Using the Internet click your mouse over to http://maureenlocher.blogspot.com/ ~ To Give God ~ to read more of Maureen’s thoughts.