INTRODUCTION

        Hey there!  I am Harriette Jacobs and the author/owner of South of the Gnat Line™.  HereÂ’s a little bit about me:

• May 24, 1961 – Born in Atlanta, Georgia.  Georgia gal and Atlanta native through and through!
• IÂ’ve lived in several counties of metro-Atlanta.  My fondest memories of the real Atlanta are from my childhood spending lots of time with my grandparents and watching Atlanta grow.  Sadly, though, it is not the city it once was.  Oh thereÂ’s lots to do and lots to see, but now thereÂ’s LOTS of traffic, and well, weÂ’ve long, long wanted to live a slower pace and more rural and independent life ~ thus, our move to the dirt road.
• Attended high school in Rome, Georgia.  Graduated 1979.
• During high school, attended GirlsÂ’ State in Cochran, Georgia, served in many, many clubs and was President of the Student Body my senior year.
• Began working at the age of 14 years old: worked at a private golf course in the snack bar, then went to work at WendyÂ’s and later would work “at the mall” in a clothing store.
• Attended college in Jacksonville, Alabama at Jacksonville State University from 1979-1982 studying for a double-major in Art and Clothing design.
• While at JSU, was one of 36 marching Ballerinas under the direction of the Marching Southerners for the 1980/1981 marching season(s).
• During the summer and Christmas breaks of college, I worked anywhere I could to help put myself through college.
• Published in the College Poetry Review while at JSU.
• 1982 – Returned to Atlanta and began working in corporate America (clerical, secretarial, legal secretary, executive admin.).
• February 16, 1991 – married my husband, Alan.
• November 1991 – left corporate America to stay at home and be a Mom.  I have worked from home all these years doing a variety of things to help make ends meet as well as to put away money so that we would be able to one day move to rural Georgia: including delivering phone books, providing secretarial services from a home business, selling jewelry through home hostess parties, providing child care in our home for about eight years and writing a community column in a small local newspaper.
• June 6, 1992 – our first son was born.
• September 23, 1993 – our second son was born.
• February 2000 – May 2000: Successfully led a campaign to prevent a Super Wal-Mart from being built directly behind our subdivision.  One of very few (if not only person) to ever defeat a commercial development of any Wal-Mart in metro-Atlanta.  While the experience ended in the success of preventing the commercial development, I learned a lot – a WHOLE lot.  It was, at times, overwhelming.  Our marriage was challenged with the barrage of publicity and media attention.  I had a glimpse of the behind the scenes wheels at work in a large metropolitan city; trust me, itÂ’s not for the faint of heart.
• May 2000 – we made the decision to withdraw our children from public school and began homeschooling.
• July 2002 – we acquired 10 acres of land here on the dirt road and began our journey to build our family farm.
• December 2003 – we officially moved from metro-Atlanta to Jacobs Farm in rural east central Georgia.
• April 2004 – We received our first flock of 28 chicks in the mail from McMurray Hatchery!  They lived in our garage in a baby pool for about a month!  The boys and I began building our 16X16 chicken house.  We had NEVER built anything before.  While the construction industry need not worry about any competition from us, it was still a great thing for us to do.  It took us F-O-R-E-V-E-R to finish it – but finish it we did – around August ‘04.  It stood through a couple of hurricanes that blew through that same summer, so we feel pretty good about our work!
• August 2004 - Applied to Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, GA as a transfer student.
• November 2004 – FINALLY sold our house back in metro-Atlanta!
• January 2005 – Received acceptance from Georgia College & State University to major in English with a minor in Creative Writing (whew! I did it!)
• January 2005 – acquired additional 26 acres to make Jacobs Farm now a 36 acre family homestead.
• July 4, 2005 – launched South of the Gnat Line™ as my personal blog and online column.

Among other things to know about me: IÂ’m a leftie (but always in my right mindÂ…);  I love that I am born of the South and that I am a Southerner through and through; I love chocolate; I love traveling back roads, going to the beach, collecting shells, sand and dirt from the places weÂ’ve been.  I love photography and capturing what I see that I feel is a view well worth sharing.  I love LIFE!  And unlike most women, I love my birthday.  I consider my birthday to be my personal New Year.  Just like each year and every age of my children, I have enjoyed each year of my life.  Though I will be the first to admit there have been a number of years that werenÂ’t worth highlighting. IÂ’ve always told our sons, we only have 365 days to be each age and we should be sure to live each one to the fullest.  Every year when itÂ’s the night before one of our sonÂ’s birthday, I always put them to bed and tell them, “This is your last night to go to bed as an X-year old.  Did you use all your X-year old days wisely?”  I also ask myself that same question each year on my birthday as well.  I must admit, I am really trying to do better about using all of my 365 days of each personal New Year.

There are lots and lots of experiences between the bulleted highlights including joys, trials, losses and successes.  That is, after all, our journey in this life and what makes this life worth living.

Harriette K. Jacobs

Copyright © 2005

All Rights Reserved.