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“Beware the barrenness of a busy life. ” - Socrates
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The Progress
Editorial
November 12,2020
From the Staff
Help with self-help advice
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
I realized last week that the majority of
the fodder you see on the internet is self-
help material. By fodder, I mean e-mails
you didn’t request and the links that pop
up everywhere.
It’s an interesting world, where you can
lose hours studying everything from
which bourbons ought to be in your bar to
how to do a “perfect pushup” as though
regular push ups aren’t enough. And
maybe that is the draw - “What if I could
do the perfect pushup?” Would I suddenly
look like an NFL linebacker?
I worry whether we have the horse or
the cart in front here. Are we in so much
need of help that we are all searching for
the best meditation apps for our iPhone?
Or, are there so many people profiting off
this stuff it is creating an atmosphere
where we feel compelled to read “10 tips
for improving your memory?”
In any event, below is a collection of
various advice that caught my attention in
a trip down the rabbit-hole of self-help
gurus and advice.
• Zen Buddhist guidelines for daily liv
ing from “Moon Journeying Through
Clouds” - Pause before buying and see if
breathing is enough.
• From How to Be Productive. Accord
ing to Ancient Philosophy by Author Dar
ius Foroux - “‘Better a little which is well
done, than a great deal imperfectly. ’-
Plato,” to which the author adds, “We can
achieve a lot in a lifetime. We can achieve
little in a day.”
• From the Drug Market Observer In
telligence Report, for investors not
partiers, “Magic Mushrooms Are The
Next Big Boom (and Legal!)”
• From Blazer.com on dressing sharp
heading into fall, “Fall has always been
the time for smart layering, especially
when it comes to jackets.”
• From Men’s Health - 20 ways to
boost your mental health - Number three
on their list was this gem, “Troubleshoot
pre-trouble - It’s not worrying; it’s strate-
gizing.
• From Digg.com - “Helpful tips to
avoid being tired all the time,” a video that
advises among other things, less caffeine
in the afternoon will help you sleep better.
• From Wired.com, a doctor and “food
archeologist” says we eat meat all wrong
- it’s the innards and blood we should go
for, not the t-bones. And avoid eating meat
where you don’t know the name of the
person who killed and processed it - as in
a local farmer and butcher or hunters.
• Daily Bible Living advises to memo
rize Bible verses that you can fall back on
in trying times. Their recommended verses
were Psalm 29:10-11, Luke 8:43-48, Isa
iah 45:3, 2 Corinthians 1:9-10
• Tim Ferriss, a famous podcaster and
author, had in a recent newsletter: “What
I’m using twice a week — Hand balance
boards for handstands and hand balancing
- I’ve been getting back into spending
time upside down. Specifically, I’m work
ing on hand balancing.”
• Gretchen Rubin, another author/pod
caster who has made a career out of advis
ing others, offers a plentitude of tips at the
The Happiness Project including creating
an “emergency kit for anxiety, worry, and
stress,” which are a bunch of relaxation
techniques.
• But I was more interested in
“Caskers” and their “six spirits you should
try” including - Ardbeg 10 year old - “it’s
not just the peat that comes to the fore
front, it’s the unmistakable scent of salty
sea air, which manages to transport you to
a seaside cliff on Islay.” Now that sounds
like a drink and a emergency kit for stress
all rolled into one.
• According to RealSimple.com, it’s
not Scotch but breakfast that will be big
in 2021. Everyone working from home
has gotten used to more than a bowl of ce
real on the run. They also advise olive oil’s
fad will run its course.
• And finally, for anyone hoping I
would give out the magic formula for
foods that bum belly fat, according
Healthguide.com, tofu and berries are at
the top of the list.
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
Paradise Lost
I have a good life. A sim
ple life. A relatively easy life.
To a lover of knowledge like
myself, the fact that the sum
knowledge of all humanity is
only a click away, is im
mensely comforting. Enter
tainment, whether movies,
TV, music, or audio books,
are easily and readily ac
cessed.
Climate control, the
crowning achievement of hu
manity, is similarly available.
Think about it; simply by
moving a little lever on a tiny
box affixed to my wall, I can
change the climate of my
house.
In short, the modem, mid
dle-class man, lives a life of
comfort heretofore reserved
only for kings or royalty. A
paradise of sorts.
That was all taken away
from me last week.
Florida, a state that has
long had it in for their more
cultured and handsome,
neighbors to the north, de
cided to send one of their
hurricanes our way. In a sin
gle night of roaring winds
and driving rain, the commu
nity of Jasper, as well as the
surrounding county, was sent
hurtling back into the dark
ages.
Literally.
When our power went
out, I didn’t think too much
of it. It had occurred during a
cool fall day, not a worst case
scenario like any of the 350
days of the year when Geor
gia is a natural sauna. It
might even be nice, I rea
soned, to go through an elec
tronics detox for a day or so.
It wasn’t nice. It wasn’t nice
at all.
There’s a reason we’re so
hooked on our phones,
tablets, and TVs.
They’re fun.
I’ll admit, the first few
hours were fun. I read a book
by candle light, feeling like a
founding father as the flick
ering light danced across the
pages. It didn’t take me long
to realize the invention of
lightbulbs are surpassed in
the history of mankind by the
aforementioned creation of
climate control.
Reading by candlelit
looks fun and fancy in the
movies, but in real life it took
only a few hours to feel like
nails were being driven
through my eyes.
Finally, I put the book
aside and picked up the re
mote to watch TV. It only
took me half a dozen increas
ingly angry mashings of the
power button to remember
our power was out. Sighing,
I deciding to listen to an
audio book to give my eyes a
rest.
But I couldn’t listen to my
audio book.
Because we didn’t have
power.
“Argh!” I yelled, throwing
my hands up. “Could this day
get any worse?”
“Aw, it’s not that bad,” my
wife said, reaching over to
pat my knee. “We could al
ways just sit and talk. Maybe
discuss our feelings or maybe
our hopes and ambitions?”
“Argh!” I screamed even
louder.
Authors Note: A special
thanks to the linemen who
worked ceaselessly to return
power to me and thousands
more. You guys are the best.
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
Class. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE PICKENS
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counties; $59.92 out of state.
OTHER VOICES
Atlanta Bookstore Days
By Keith Petty
Bookstores have always
been one place where I can
lose myself. Something about
meandering the aisles of
stacked shelves with their
countless possibilities lifts
any troubles I might be hav
ing, at least for a while. I dis
cover what I consider
treasures.
Recently, on an excursion
through a metro Barnes and
Noble, I picked up Rolling
Stone, Harper s, a season of
Unforgotten, and Tom Petty’s
Wildflowers and All the Rest.
I could have purchased
these bring-homes in several
different places, but some
how, gamering gain from a
bookstore makes such finds
seem more exclusive and
noteworthy. I’m much
prouder to carry them home
in one of the store’s signature
bags than, say, hauling any
one of them in a Walmart
sack. Perhaps that is the
learned elitist shadow that
overwhelms me at times and
that I must be cognizant to
keep in check.
Still, a trip to a bookstore,
be it Barnes and Noble or
Books a Million, makes me
feel whole. It transcends
Amazon.com, with its clini
cal clicks and searches; and it
produces the same visceral
joy I experienced growing up
when the Atlanta News
Agency delivered books and
magazines once a week to
Jasper’s local drugstores.
On this particular trip to
Barnes and Noble, I was feel
ing rather nostalgic; and
combing through novels,
non-fiction, magazines, and
CD’s, I thought of days gone
by, my mind particularly
hinging on the days immedi
ately following high school
and throughout college. It
was during those days that
my uncle, a mutual friend,
and I would load up the car
and head out for Atlanta’s
premier bookstores, Oxford.
The first Oxford Books
opened in 1970 by owner Ru
pert LeCraw graced the cor
ner of the Peachtree Battle
Shopping Center. It assumed
instant appeal with the area's
book lovers and also featured
the Cup and Chaucer, an up
stairs coffee and pastry spot
where readers could leisurely
indulge in both the written
word and a cup of fresh-
brewed java. In the years to
follow, the store’s success
brought forth a series of other
Oxford locations, including
another massive store on
Pharr Road, and Oxford, Too,
Peachtree Road’s used-book
sister.
It was Oxford, Too where
my uncle, our friend, and I
found the most treasure and
the most bibliophilic content
ment.
Within the aged brown
brick and sloppy mortar con
fines of Oxford, Too, unfin
ished hardwood floors
creaked and groaned under
the hefty weight of stacks, ta
bles, displays, and patrons.
A crisscross aroma of sea
soned wood, yellowed pages,
and heady lavender room de
odorizer punctuated the air.
Unhurried customers
scooped up bags full of
books, and clerks announced
trades by customers’ names
over a static-laden intercom
system. Combined, the ele
ments created a pleasing aes
thetic for the senses and
announced to partakers that
they had entered a comer of
the world created just for
them.
We would arrive here on
each book jaunt with worn
paper Piggly Wiggly sacks
filled with our own books,
ready to be scrutinized by
Oxford employees as to the
worthiness of trade.
Our hands itched to be
filled with the cash vouchers
our offerings might return.
Many times, we were lucky;
and we could fill the car with
as many or more books as
those with which we arrived.
Other times, luck did not
smile; but the experience of
the store itself was no less
satisfying.
In faithful obligation, we
would hit the other Oxford
Books locations as well; and
we would then head on to
Decatur to Book Nook.
Book Nook, another Atlanta
institution dating from the
1970s, still offers today a
huge selection of used books,
CD’s, DVD’s, LP’s, comics,
and toys. In addition, as with
Oxford, Too, Book Nook of
fers trade value on all of
these items brought in by
customers. The promise of
trade, however, never seemed
as optimistic with Book
Nook as with Oxford.
On one particular trip, the
owner of the store insisted
some LP’s my buddy brought
in for trade smelled of cat
urine. The guy was known to
us for his particularly abra
sive nature and raucous voice
already; but the stench of the
LP’s as a cat box didn’t set
well. My buddy incensed at
the accusation, we left the
store with his face blazing
red and my laughter uncon
trollable.
Almost invariably, every
bookstore journey ended
with a meal at Franco’s
Pizza. Franco’s was a hole-
in-the-wall pizzeria with
some of the best order-by-
the-slice pizza one might
ever put in his mouth. Thin,
crisp slices loaded with drip
ping mozzarella, onions,
mushrooms, and Italian
sausage were always a per
fect soul-soothing comple
ment to a day of acquiring
reading material before head
ing back to the more limited
literary confines of Jasper
and Talking Rock.
Sadly, Oxford Books no
longer exists save a lone lo
cation that specializes in
comics, toys, and games.
The chain fell on hard times
in the late 1990s under crush
ing debt and mismanage
ment. Book Nook, however,
remains a part of the Decatur
scene and is still the same ba
sically as it has been for some
forty years.
I look back on those trips
to Atlanta with fondness as
they not only provided a cul
tural outlet not available lo
cally but also furthered
friendship and camaraderie
that has extended itself to this
day.
At the end of a trip, a ma
roon Honda Accord would
glide back to the mountains
as Fleetwood Mac’s Gypsy or
Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car
filled the cab, and we perused
our finds of the day, the glow
of near-dusk sunlight illumi
nating just enough to see.
Likewise, those days still
exist in a time capsule of il
luminating glow, offering re
freshing mental travel back to
simpler days and the ease of
youth. More so than books,
those memories are treasures.
[Keith Petty is a native of
Pickens County and a long
time educator, currently at
Pickens High School.]
WEATHER
By William Dilbeck
HI LOW RAIN
Nov.
03
59
32
.00
Nov.
04
67
38
.00
Nov.
05
66
44
.00
Nov.
06
73
50
.00
Nov.
07
70
60
.00
Nov.
08
72
63
.00
Nov.
09
74
63
.00
‘You’re right, son. We should thank them more often;