Newspaper Page Text
(Eift Aiiuancg
The ADVANCE, February 10, 2021/Page 5A
OPINIONS
“I honor the man who is willing to sink
Half his repute for the freedom to think,
And when he has thought, be his cause strong or weak,
Will risk t’other half for the freedom to speak.”
—James Russell Lowell
editorials
Highway to Hana
It was a year
ago this week. My
husband and I
splurged and trav
elled to Maui, Ha
waii, to celebrate
thirty years of mar
riage.
We took in a spectacular sunrise high
atop a barren volcano. We dove into the
deep blue Pacific and swam with an an
cient sea turtle. We listened to mama
humpback whales and their babies talk to
one another in their underwater language
and watched them breach — their entire
black and white bodies shooting upward
from the water. We walked barefooted
along scenic beaches, took a hundred or
so postcard-worthy photos, ate fantastic
seafood, sipped on Mai Tais, and didn’t
comb our hair for three or four days.
Midway through our stay, we set off
on a well known island adventure referred
to as, “taking the road to Hana.” Hana is
a peaceful community of about 1,500
residents on the more-remote eastern
side of the island. A curvy 64-mile high
way connects Kahului to Hana by way of
cliffy coastlines cloaked in lush rainforests
boasting dazzling waterfalls of all shapes
and sizes.
The road itself showcases over 500
switchbacks and hairpin turns and crosses
over 59 bridges along the Maui coastline.
The road narrows significantly in several
areas and reduces its width to one lane.
At those points, Hawaiian road etiquette
dictates that the first driver to the curve or
stretch goes first, but some of the curves
are blind, and there is no way to know if
another car is coming or not. On those oc
casions, you hold your breath and punch
it. There were times we decided to “go,”
only to be forced off the road by an on
coming bus barreling down the highway at
a very high speed. Luckily, we didn’t drive
off the cliff and tumble into the crashing
sea, but in my opinion, we had a dozen or
so “close calls.” I’ve navigated Atlanta free
way traffic during rush hour on the Friday
before a major holiday, and I know terror
when I feel it, and the road to Hana was
downright terrifying.
Two or three times, I assumed we
were goners and thought about our poor
family members receiving the sad news
that we had perished in a car accident
while on our dream vacation. My husband
(who insisted on driving) was a nervous
wreck as he held a death grip on the steer
ing wheel the entire day spewing exple
tive after expletive. I navigated, but there
wasn’t much navigating to be done on the
road to Hana, so I pivoted and became my
husband’s personal, motivational coach.
“You are doing a great job,” I said in
the soothing, calm voice of a psychiatrist.
“Just a few more miles to go.”
I was concerned he may have a heart
attack from the pressure, but somehow,
we made it and found the Hana Airbnb
we had rented from a local teacher. We
unlocked the door and collapsed onto the
sofa as we tried to regain our composure.
“Wow! What a contrast,” my husband
finally said. “Up until today, our vacation
was so peaceful and relaxing — ukulele
music and quiet sunsets. That drive was
brutal! Brutal!”
So was riding alongside him in the
passenger seat.
My friends have asked me, “Was the
drive worth it?”
Yes.
We hiked through rain forests and
bamboo jungles and stood at the bottoms
of magnificent waterfalls feeling the misty
spray on our faces. We admired wild or
chids and towering Banyan trees and their
networks of aerial roots. We found a re
mote black sand beach — pristine and va
cant. We found a red sand beach, too. I’m
from the South. I’ve never seen anything
other than white sand, so the colored sand
beaches seemed other-worldly.
We marveled at the Seven Sacred
Pools (the pools of ‘Ohe’o) and hiked
through a long, dark lava tube. We feasted
on fresh pineapple.
Our stay in Hana was grand and
memorable. The drive back to the west
ern coast was as nightmarish as the drive
over had been, but we survived. Indeed, I
bought a tee shirt that reads, “I survived
the road to Hana.” I’m wearing it today
and remembering — not that I’ll ever be
able to forget.
From the Porch
By Amber Nagle
We Can Live With That
We've been here
before.
I've stayed away
from writing to you
about the Covid vi
rus because there is
so much more infor
mation out there and
I don't have anything
scientific to add.
We've all devel
oped new habits and
learned to appreciate
I try to keep in touch with church
friends by telephone and by jotting a few
lines on an old-fashioned postcard. They
are no longer a penny, but at least you
don't have to lick the flap of an envelope
and try to create enough interesting
things to take up a whole sheet of paper.
Most people are learning to read
again and exploring new television chan
nels.
We've learned to shop by phone and
have groceries and meals delivered to our
cars. Some churches have drive-in ser
vices. You have to wear your mask every
where.
Having the vaccine available gives
people something new to fuss about.
Finding a pharmacy or supplier for
the shot has become the modern version
of an old scavenger hunt with a time
limit.
Store clinics either had the vaccine or
will have it in the future, but nobody has
it right now.
The last time we went through some
thing like this, those of us “of a certain
age” were children and the polio epi
demic swept the country in the mid cen
tury.
Polio is caused by a virus, and there is
still no cure, but vaccines are available.
There was so little information on liv
ing safely from polio that our parents
kept us at home and made us take naps.
Polio created some scary summers
because kids were out of school and
wanted to be together, but we couldn't
and didn't understand why.
There were patients with impaired
respiratory systems in “iron lungs.” These
things look like iron coffins with win
dows and worked by creating low air
pressure inside where the patient was ly
ing prone.
Some hospitals had rooms full of the
things, and some were hauled around on
trucks so people could see them in ac
tion. It wasn't pretty, but it wasn't meant
to be. It was meant to be educational.
The similarity between Covid and
Polio is “fear.” You can't tell who is in
fected by looking at them, so you stay
away from everyone.
Georgia was at the point of polio re
habilitation at Warm Springs, where
President Roosevelt built a cottage called
“The Little White House” and died there.
Unlike today, the search for an effec
tive vaccine took decades. Eventually, Dr.
Jonas Salk and his staff at the University
of Pittsburgh started a trial in Virginia in
1954.
I think we all look forward to Covid
going the way of polio. The last number
of polio infections I could find was for
2018 with 33 infections worldwide.
I think we could all live with that.
joenphillips@yahoo.com
By Joe Phillips
Dear Me
staying at home.
<g»o2> per. PKnwes s-&H>czn&
Some Final Harrumphs on Trump’s Grumps
My column
suggesting to
Republicans
that, like it or
not, the
presidential
elections are
over and for
those crying
‘foul’ they
might want to
take out their
anger on the Democrats and not each
other brought some interesting and
some predictable responses.
There was, of course, the “Fergit,
Hell,” group who think they can garner
enough support among Georgia voters
to defeat Gov. Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov.
Geoff Duncan and Secretary of State
Brad Raffensperger in 2022 for not
backing Donald Trump’s claims that
the election results in Georgia were
rigged. They still don’t get it.
In their fantasy world, they will
somehow get the Republican
incumbents defeated and a new crowd
in place and will prevent Democrat
Stacey Abrams from waltzing into the
governor’s office. Not going to happen.
Write it down.
Don’t forget that Republican
incumbent David Perdue and his
cohort Kelly Loeffler were all-in for
Trump and both lost their seats in the
United States Senate to a couple of
political neophytes, Rev. Raphael
Warnock and Jon Ossoff, which
guarantees that Democrats not only
have the White House but both houses
of Congress, as well. How did that work
out for you?
I have a received a number of
responses from conservatives - some
names that might be recognizable to
some of you - who agree that it is time
to move on. They are worried that the
Trump devotees in their quest for
revenge are going to severely hurt the
Republican Party and that the damage
will be long lasting. Some say their vote
in the last election was more a vote
against Hillary Clinton than for Donald
Trump.
The Republican Party is bigger
than Donald Trump. His zealots are
standing on the shoulders of a group of
visionaries who built the Republican
Party in Georgia when the torch-and-
pitchfork crowd were a gleam in their
daddy’s eye. People like Bob Shaw, the
nonagenarian who was around when
Republicans could have held their
conventions in a phone booth; former
U.S. Sens. Johnny Isakson and Mack
Mattingly; the late Sen. Paul Coverdell;
former U.S. Rep. Bo Calloway and
former State Reps. Rodney Cook and
Kil Townsend, among others.
They were compassionate
conservatives who offered a responsible
alternative to a left-leaning Democratic
Party certainly before Donald Trump
came along and before he was doling
out money to Democrats like Chuck
Schumer and John Kerry and Hillary
Clinton. Not to mention $6,000 to
current Vice President Kamala Harris
in her race for California attorney
general ($5,000 in 2011 and $1,000 in
2013.)
For those who have tried to
rationalize the actions of the mob that
By Dick Yarbrough
stormed the U.S. Capitol last month or
who support some paramilitary group
flexing their muscles and talking jive
talk about taking matters into their
own hands because they disagree with
the outcome of the presidential
election, please do not use the word
“patriot” with me when describing
yourselves as though you are and the
rest of us are not.
Webster’s Dictionary defines a
patriot as “one who loves his country
and supports its authority and
interests.” You may claim you love your
country but only if it operates by your
authority and in your interests. Quit
throwing the term around until it loses
its real meaning.
By the way, I am still trying to
figure out why some of the self-styled
patriots showed up that day in
Washington waving Confederate flags.
Correct me if I am wrong, but that war
ended 156 years ago this coming April
and the final score was 1-0. Our side
lost. What is your point?
Most disheartening to me are the
letters I have gotten from readers so
frustrated with how things turned out
in November that they say they are not
going to vote in the future. They have
lost faith in the system. I hope that is
not the case. It is critical that our
legislators closely examine our current
election laws and come up with
solutions that will give us faith that our
vote truly counts.
At another time of crisis in our
country, Abraham Lincoln said, “We
are not enemies, but friends. We must
not be enemies. Though passion may
have strained, it must not break our
bonds of affection. The mystic chords
of memory will swell when again
touched, as surely they will be, by the
better angels of our nature.”
It is time to get this election over
with and to once again find the better
angels of our nature. It is time to move
on.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough at
dick@dickyarbrough.com; at P.O. Box
725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139 or on
Facebook at www.facebook.com/
dickyarb.
“"Abuance
(The Advance Publishing Co., Inc)
PO Box 669, 205 E. First Street,
Vidalia, GA 30475
Telephone: (912) 537-3131 FAX: (912) 537-4899
E-mail: theadvancenews@gmail.com
The Advance, U. S. P. S. #659-000, successor to The Advance and The
Lyons Progress, entered weekly at Vidalia, GA Post Office. Periodical
Postage paid at Vidalia, GA 30474 under Act of Congress, March
4, 1886. P.O. Box 669, East First Street, Wm. F. Ledford, Sr. Publisher.
Subscription Rates per year: $35.00 in county, $50.00 out of 304
zip code. (POSTMASTER: send address changes to The ADVANCE,
P.O. Box 583, Vidalia, GA 30475).
Copyright © 2021, Advance Publishing Co., Inc. All rights reserved. The design,
concept and contents of The Advance are copyrighted and may not be
reproduced in part or whole without written permission from the publisher.
R.E. "LID" LEDFORD, PUBLISHER
1924-1976
WILLIAM F. “BILL" LEDFORD SR., PUBLISHER
1976-2013
Publisher & Managing Editor:
WILLIAM F. LEDFORD JR.
Vice President:
THE LATE ROSE M. LEDFORD
Regional Editor:
DEBORAH CLARK
Pagination/Typography:
LEANNE RICHARDSON
Quality Control
MILLIE PERRY
Graphic Design:
MATTHEW WATERS
Sports Editor/Graphic Design:
MIKE BRANCH
Director of Advertlslng/Sales:
DANIEL FORD
Office Manager:
GAIL WILLETT
Financial Manager:
CINDY SHATTO
Contributing Writers:
JOE PHILLIPS, JOHN CONNER, DICK YARBROUGH & AMBER NAGLE
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
ASSOCIATION
Member of the Georgia Press
Association and the National
Newspaper Association
Winning