Guest Post by Beverly McClure, author of Rebel in Blue Jeans

Lucky and Wiggles, Rebel’s puppies, want to say a word or two.

Lucky: Thanks, Ms. Mayra, for letting me visit your blog. My name’s Lucky.

Wiggles: Hey! Don’t forget me. I thank you, too, Ms. Mayra.

Lucky: Oh yeah, this is my friend Wiggles. We know you like dogs, so we hope you like us. Rebel said to tell you our stories and to be polite. We’ll try, won’t we Wiggles?

Wiggles: Yap, yap. We’re always polite, except when Cleo the cat hisses at us. She scratched my nose one time ’cause I got too close to her food. I didn’t want the stuff anyhow. It smelled weird.

Wiggles: Hey, Lucky, Rebel told me she found you, but how did you get lost?

Lucky: That’s an easy question. I didn’t really get lost. I was thrown away.

Wiggles: That’s bad. Why?

Lucky: I don’t know. I guess my family got tired of me. I always acted nice, but I like to chew on socks and shoes and stuff. Maybe they didn’t like holes in their clothes.

Wiggles: I wanted a family, but nobody wanted me.

Lucky: Yeah, Rebel said she rescued you from a pet shop.

Wiggles: Yep. I was in a cage, and it was small. Even though I’m little I couldn’t stretch my legs or run. They even put me in the window sometimes so people could see me as they walked past. Have you ever had someone stare at you and make little kissee sounds? I wagged my tail and laughed at them, but they just kept going. Then Rebel walked by one day, with Will and Sully. I loved her at first sight.

Lucky: So she adopted you and brought you to the ranch. She says you like to round up cattle.

Wiggles: I’m a border collie. My job is to round up anything that walks: the horses, people, you. I tried rounding up a mockingbird one time. It pecked my nose and screeched at me then flew away.

Lucky: Rebel says I’m no special breed just all the best varieties.

Wiggles: Yeah, she likes you a lot. How did your leg get broken?

Lucky: Well, my daddy put me out of the car beside the road and I waited for him to come back, but it was getting dark and I was cold and hungry and scared. I couldn’t wait any longer, so I ran down the road hoping to catch him. But this big car barreled around a curve and hit me.

Wiggles: That’s awful! Did the car stop?

Lucky: No, and I couldn’t move. My leg hurt so bad. I whimpered; no one heard. Then this white truck stopped, and Rebel got out. She picked me up, and I rode to the ranch in her lap.

Wiggles: She put a splint on your leg, and it’s well now.

Lucky: Yup. Rebel’s a good doctor. She mended a hawk’s wing, too. She wants to go to college and become a veterinarian.

Wiggles: I’ll let her be my vet.

Lucky: You know, I was jealous when Rebel adopted you from the pet store.

Wiggles: Now you love me.

Lucky: Except when you yank on my collar to round me up.

Wiggles: Oops! Sorry.

Lucky: Will and Sully said Rebel got in trouble at the pet store. What’d she do?

Wiggles: Hee, hee. It was funny. The store owner banned her from the shop because…. No, no, it’s a secret. I’m not telling.

Lucky: Ah-oh! Here comes Cleo. Her fur is standing on end. Let’s get outta here. Bye, Ms. Mayra. Thanks, again.

Wiggles: Bye, Ms. Mayra. Nice meeting you.

Lucky: Read more about us in Rebel’s book, Rebel in Blue Jeans.

About the author (from her website):

"When Beverly was in eighth grade her teacher sent her poem “Stars” to the National High School Poety Association, and she was soon a published writer in Young America Sings, an anthology of Texas high school poetry. Forty years later, she sent an article on fire safety in the home to Happiness magazine, and it was published. In between she went to high school, played clarinet in the band, was a majorette, and graduated. Then she got married had three sons (one an angel in heaven), and attended Midwestern State University. She graduated cum laude with a teaching certificate and had a fourth son. She taught children in elementary school for twenty-two years. Writing was the farthest thing from her mind.

"Before she knew it, her sons were grown and married. She and hubby have five granddaughters (one also an angel in heaven), two grandsons, two great-grandsons, and one great-granddaughter. She married very young.

"They live in the country, where deer sometimes drink from the pond, skunks prowl the yard for leftover dog food, armadillos dig for bugs, and a roadrunner peeks in the glass doors to see what’s happening. Beverly keeps watch on the hummingbirds that come to her feeders and reports the different kinds to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Count. Black chinned and ruby throats are the most common types she sees.

"To relax she plays the piano, talks to her cats, and tries to make flowers grow under the hot Texas sun and with little water, and has discovered many interesting ancestors in her genealogy search. With her hubby, a former firefighter, she likes to travel. She teaches a woman’s Sunday school class. And she writes most every day.

God Bless."

http://rebelinbluejeans.wordpress.com

http://beverlystowemcclure.wordpress.com