On June 4, 1970 I was named “Tot of the Week” by the Cherokee Iowa Daily Times. The son of the Rev. and Mrs. John Hargreaves, I was described as a “young charmer” with “mischief-laden eyes” who liked getting into other people’s things and wouldn’t take no for an answer. What can I say? They got their story right.
47 years later, I’m still an ornery preacher’s kid. Ornery being the word that my father used to describe me while I was growing up gay and creative and expressive in conservative, flyover states. I’ve never been without an opinion, and I’m rarely at a loss for words. Neither are my brothers and sisters. We all inherited our father’s loud mouth, which is why he took to fondly calling us his “awnry” kids, pronounced with the remnants of an accent he developed growing up in Younkers, New York – the same way he said “awrnge” instead of “orange.”
Now you know the story behind the name of this blog and how it’s properly pronounced. With ashes swiped in a cross across my forehead, I gave birth to my first-ever blog, Ornery Preacher’s Kid, on the first Wednesday in March 2017. It represents my commitment to give up ranting on Facebook about a certain awrnge man, the deplorable people who support him and anything else that is under my skin at any given moment. Instead, I plan to shift my thoughts and energy to right here and keep Facebook saved for lighter life updates.
While I started the blog five weeks ago on Ash Wednesday, I had some technical issues that took some time and attention to resolve. That’s why you’re seeing my first actual post today. You’ve probably figured out by now that I don’t intend to be disciplined about posting on a regular basis – only when inspiration hits and I have a few minutes to write.
Thanks for giving Ornery Preacher’s Kid a first look! I hope you’ll come back from time to time to check in.