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"Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm, ”
- Winston Churchill
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Common Sense
The Progress
Editorial
November 5,2020
From the Staff
A brief encounter with the
spirits of the Jasper parks
By Dan Pool
Editor
On Halloween night I was visited by
three ghosts, each more horrible than the
last. They were the spirts of our Jasper
parks. There was the Park-Present, The
Park of Misfit Design and Park of Irra
tional Dreams.
I first detected a horrible aroma in my
study - like the poop of some fowl from
Hell. The eerie figure was distraught and
said it felt unloved. “Sure they replaced
some playground equipment and even
added a little more and made a dog run
which isn’t used that much, but hey it
was a nice thought.” But this jealous,
angry spectre knew that the big money
(SPLOST $525,000) was being directed
elsewhere.
“What more do I need to do?” this mo
rose spirit implored? “Don’t I tolerate all
manner of use and misuse, from those
foul fowl (do you think I want to be cov
ered in goose poop?); To the kids that
must ride bicycles on my tennis court for
they have no where else to go; To the
people who crowd in every weekend. I
welcome all, yet the bulk of the SPLOST
spending goes not to my needs.”
Seeing this poor creature at wit’s end,
I unburdened my suspicion that the pow-
ers-that-be want a newer, prettier park.
“It’s sad but it happens and they want
something they can show off to out-of-
towners whom they hope to lure here.”
But I urged this poor park to hold its head
high, “You’re the park where families go
on Saturdays, kids swing and slide and
old folks gather to eat fried chicken.” The
spirit, somewhat cheered, departed.
Next showed up a spirit so thin and
misshapen I couldn’t even ascertain that
it was a park at all, just a parking spot in
the woods, with a small gazebo. I de
manded to know what it was, for this ap
parition frightened me. I imagined all
sorts of crimes committed in it presence.
With a whimper, the being spoke say
ing, “I’m that park on Lumber Company
Road, named for a noble councilwoman
but you’ll probably know me only as the
‘raperpark.’ So unfair, so unfair.” it con
tinued. “No crimes have been committed
there [Police records show ‘tis true]. My
woods are not evil, just poorly planned.”
I agreed this wraith had a rough time.
To cheer it up, I pointed out that the ter
rain is quite nice, but who knows what to
do with it? Turns out this park of Misfit
Design is more a mystery than a ghost
story.
Finally as I drifted back to sleep, I
heard loud, loud music coming from an
other dimension and bright lights and
squealing tires. I inquired, “What the
devil are you?” And this creature threw
back it’s mirrored sunglasses, straight
ened its ascot and said, “Back off man.
I’m the future. I am going right down
town and we’ll have an amphitheater,
water jets and tower to look at the moun
tain. I’ll stretch to residential areas and
might even have a nearby dining plaza.
Let a real park show you how it’s done.”
He gestured toward the other departing
spirits with a smirk, “losers,” he called.
But how, how will it get here? With a
diabolical laugh, he said “grants of
course.”
Then I knew that this Park of Irrational
Dreams spake without reason or sound
mind. For its one thing to believe in
ghosts but quite another level of gullibil
ity to wait around on a grant for a third
park when you’ve got two that need at
tention right now.
Right as I fell back asleep a fourth lit
tle spirit entered but recognizing it
quickly as the ghost of the Peace
Park/water park in downtown, I threw a
shoe at it. “You were never a park, just
an empty lot with some stones that now
is just an empty lot. We’ll talk about you
when we discuss streetscapes, not
tonight.”
Tell us your thoughts with a letter to the editor. E-mail to news@pickensprogress.com
See letter submission guidelines on the Letters to the Editor page or call us 706-253-2457.
Ponderings of a Simple Man
By Caleb Smith
Fry Hard with a Vengeance
A dangerous love
triangle between a
man, his wife and
a deep fryer
There’s nothing I love so
much as fried food. Crispy,
golden, greasy hunks of food
rendered unidentifiable by
the frying process.
Grease can make even the
most unpalatable of foods de
licious. Don’t like onions?
Fry them. Hate fish? Fry it.
Not a fan of squash? South
erners learned a long time
ago how to batter and serve it
up.
Even good foods are im
proved by frying. Potatoes,
the most versatile of all veg
etables, taste better fried.
Hash browns, tater tots,
French fries, the list goes on
and on.
I’ve heard rumors of cer
tain county fairs taking
Krispy Kreme donuts and
dunking them in a pot of boil
ing grease. The second I
heard that, I made a solemn
vow to myself. I would
search every county fair,
farmers market, and roadside
stand in north Georgia, until
I found this crispy treat.
As of yet, I have been un
successful in my search, but
I am confident they must
exist.
To a lifelong carnivore
such as myself, even deli
cious meat is improved by a
bath in the bubbling oil.
Porkchops, fish, and shrimp
are all amazing with a golden
coating. And what southerner
can say no to a nice pile of
fried chicken?
Mmm, yippie-ki-yay meat
lovers.
Alas, all good things must
have a down side. While I
could happily go the rest of
my no-doubt truncated life,
subsisting off nothing but
greasy, crispy fried foods,
alas it cannot be. My wife,
for some perverse reason that
anyone with even a passing
relationship with me will find
incomprehensible, wants me
to live past the ripe old age of
40.
Weird, right?
So she insists on forcing
me into eating things that are
‘healthy’ and ‘nutritious’ and
won’t turn me into a ‘walking
cardiac time bomb.’
I say, if the good Lord had
wanted us to live forever, He
wouldn’t have made donuts
so delicious.
It didn’t take long into my
marriage before I learned
what every man since Adam
as known; You eat what your
wife puts in front of you. So
I’m forced to incorporate at
least a few things in my diet
that haven’t gone through the
ring of death (my wife’s
name for the deep fryer).
I know it’s the right thing
to do. One day, when we
have children, they will most
likely prefer it if their father
doesn’t get winded simply
from standing up. Marathons
may be out of my reach, but
I should at least be able to
walk to the mailbox without
taking multiple breaks.
So it’s not unreasonable
for me to eat the occasional
salad. But I have to wonder,
would it be too much to ask
for her to fry it first?
Caleb Smith is a Pickens na
tive. He can be contacted at
jcalebsmith90@yahoo.com.
(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main Street, Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-2457 FAX (706) 253-9738
www.pickensprogressonline.com
DAN POOL
Publisher/Editor
Published each Thursday at Jasper, Pickens County, Georgia. Entered
at the Post Office at Jasper, Georgia. 30143 as Mail Matter of Second
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OTHER VOICES
Living in the moment
By Mary Migliaro
Yesterday is history, to
morrow is a mystery, but
today is a gift, that is why it
is called the present. Eleanor
Roosevelt
Are you living in the mo
ment? In these very uncertain
times, many of us have diffi
culty living in the moment
when worrying about what
the future may bring. The in
ability to live in the moment
can rob us of significant
memories that may be
missed, leaving us with little
history.
Life unfolds in the pres
ent. But so often, we let the
present slip away, allowing
time to rush past, and squan
dering the precious seconds
of our lives as we worry
about the future. "We're liv
ing in a world that con
tributes in a major way to
mental fragmentation, disin
tegration, distraction, deco
herence," says Buddhist
scholar B. Alan Wallace.
We're always doing some
thing, and we allow little
time to practice stillness and
calm.
When we're at work, we
fantasize about being on va
cation; on vacation, we worry
about the work piling up on
our desks. We dwell on mem
ories of the past or fret about
what may or may not happen
in the future. Often many of
the things we worry most
about never happen or even if
they do, they are not nearly
as bad as how we envisioned
them.
We need to live more in
the moment. Living in the
moment—also called mind
fulness—is a state of active,
open, intentional attention on
the present. Mindfulness re
duces stress, boosts immune
functioning, reduces chronic
pain, and even lowers blood
pressure. Mindful people are
happier, more exuberant,
more empathetic, and more
secure.
To avoid worrying about
the future, focus on the pres
ent. In her memoir Eat, Pray,
Love, Elizabeth Gilbert
writes about a friend who,
whenever she sees a beautiful
place, exclaims in a near
panic, "It's so beautiful here!
I want to come back here
someday!" "It takes all my
persuasive powers," writes
Gilbert, "to try to convince
her that she is already here."
Mindfulness boosts your
awareness of how you inter
pret and react to what's hap
pening in your mind. It
increases the gap between
emotional impulse and ac
tion, allowing you to do what
Buddhists call recognizing
the spark before the flame.
Focusing on the present re
boots your mind so you can
respond thoughtfully rather
than automatically. Instead of
lashing out in anger, backing
down in fear, or mindlessly
indulging a passing craving,
you get the opportunity to say
to yourself, "This is the emo
tion I'm feeling. How should
I respond?"
Perhaps the most com
plete way of living in the mo
ment is the state of total
absorption psychologists call
flow. Flow occurs when
you're so engrossed in a task
that you lose track of every
thing else around you. This
might be when you are work
ing on putting a puzzle to
gether or reading a great
book. Any activity that helps
you “lose track of time” will
help you to better live in the
moment.
Living a consistently
mindful life takes effort. But
mindfulness itself is easy.
"People set the goal of being
mindful for the next 20 min
utes or the next two weeks,
then they think mindfulness
is difficult because they have
the wrong yardstick," says
Jay Winner, a California-
based family physician and
author of Take the Stress out
of Your Life. "The correct
yardstick is just for this mo
ment."
Mindfulness isn't a goal,
because goals are about the
future, but you do have to set
the intention of paying atten
tion to what's happening now.
Become aware of being alive.
And breathe. If you're aware
of that feeling right now, as
you're reading this, you're
living in the moment. Noth
ing happens next. It's not a
destination. This is it. You're
already there.
[Mary Migliaro, M.Ed. is
an educator and parent men
tor. She can be reached
maiymigliaro@aol.com.]
If you spot a
mistake,
contact our
editor.
dpool@
pickensprogress.com
706-253-2457
WEATHER
By William Dilbeck
HI LOW RAIN
Oct.
27
72
61
.70
Oct.
28
69
65
2.11
Oct.
29
77
47
.03
Oct.
30
57
37
.00
Oct.
31
60
40
.00
Nov.
01
60
33
.00
Nov..
02
52
32
.00
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