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‘Any new beginning is forged from the shards of the past, not from the abandonment of the past.’’
- Craig D. Lounsbrough
• Opinions
• Community
Views
• Good Old
Common Sense
The Progress
Editorial
January 5,2023
From the Staff
Take precautions now
with power & water
On the day after Christmas, when
many of us crawled out of our homes to
celebrate temperatures in the relatively
balmy 30s and 40s, the arctic punch had
already become a thing of the past. Pos
sibly a little fodder stored up for future
weather trivia. “Cold? Ha. This is noth
ing. Back in 2022 it got into the single
digits and stayed.”
According to various weather ob
servers, cold of that nature, prolonged
single digits spanning over parts of three
days, hasn’t happened in about 40 years.
It was called Winter Storm Elliott, a gen
erational event (places recorded the cold
est temperatures in a generation) and a
“bomb cyclone” - whatever that is.
Sure we’ve had some cold snaps but a
lot of us saw pipes that had never frozen,
go solid.
The city of Jasper perhaps felt the icy
pain more so than anyone else in Geor
gia. They had ruptured lines and leaks in
all parts of their system. It got so bad that
their water tanks drained, further spread
ing the water woes. The city is working
to upgrade their system but it took
“heroic efforts” of city crews plus some
outside contractors to minimize the out
ages on this one.
You certainly can’t blame city officials
for the fact their system wasn’t ready for
a “generational cold.” But following the
outages, in addition to thanking the
crews, quite a few people have asked on
line and in person whether the water sit
uation is compounded by the growth that
has already forced Jasper to put a mora
torium in place to try and get a grip on
residential demand. As a local service
contractor asked our editor while on a
job, “they have outages all over the place,
are they really thinking about adding the
new subdivisions?”
Fair question we would say. We would
strongly encourage the city to take a full
assessment of the problems that came to
light and inform citizens fully on their ef
forts to shore up the systems. This is a
case where it’s not anyone’s fault, no one
could rightfully prepare for that many
waterline issues but the town does want
some reassurance going forward.
Electricity, however, is another matter
and one where we would encourage all
homeowners to be pro-active. We may
not experience cold like that again for an
other 40 years, but power outages happen
- winter weather events, spring thunder
storms, or a new phenomenon - attacks
on utility substations. Gunshots put a
North Carolina county about our size out
of power for a week at the end of last
year.
For whatever reason, chances are
we’ll see power outages in 2023.
The crews from Amicalola EMC and
Ga. Power do a great job keeping the
lights running and addressing problems
where they did occur.
Power outages remind us each time
they happen is how dependent we are on
the service. No longer is it a case of hud
dling up closer to the fireplace and bring
ing in a few candles. More and more
people require health aids like supple
mental oxygen and our more wired
homes fare poorly when power is inter
rupted. Often with the combination of
wells and cells, we lose water and com
munication when we lose power.
Generators have become a necessity
for many and they are the ultimate an
swer - if you can afford one. Prices are
dropping and more homeowners are
moving to their own backup power.
We encourage everyone to give a little
thought to their plans for future power
outages.
Backup heat sources that are safe,
medical needs and equipment, a spot for
your pets if you have to move to an emer
gency shelter, some way to keep your cell
charged, plus the food on hand. Some
thing simple, like storing a few gallons
of water in the basement now to flush toi
lets or rinse dishes can really make a dif
ference down the road.
Winter Storm Elliott wasn’t any
doomsday event and the response doesn’t
require prepper-level intensity. But it is
worthwhile to take a minute and be sure
you are ready for whatever Mother Na
ture throws at us next.
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.
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Other Voices
2023: Life Continues...
“Through him all things
were made; without him
nothing was made that had
been made. In him was life,
and that life was the light of
all humankind. The light
shines in the darkness, and
the darkness has not over
come it. ’’ John 1:1-5
By Reverend Max Caylor
We have embarked on a
new set of 365 days as we
began 2023. How will the
evolving COVID viruses af
fect us? What will the econ
omy do? How will split
power in the House and Sen
ate shape our laws?
How will the City of
Jasper continue to support
area commerce like Art Walk
and Second Saturdays?
Still more questions? Will
the new School Board work
to support students and teach
ers or let personal politics
guide their agenda? How
will the City and County ad
dress economic development
without being divisive?
What will be done to provide
affordable housing for local
citizens?
These questions are about
the community without re
gard to personal ones like
health, relationships, jobs,
personal growth or conduct.
They all have the same an
swer ... no one knows!
As Christians we have a
particular world view that
helps us not worry or fret
about the future or even per
sonalities. We see life as The
Story, Our Story and My
Story!
The above Scripture from
John’s Gospel tells us we are
part of The Story of God’s
creation. Whether it was my
birth year of 1947, my mar
riage year of 1977, my retire
ment date of 2012 or 2023 to
come... my life is part of
The Story of Creation ... and
yours, too!
The Our Story for me has
been lived and told through
39 years as a pastor experi
encing through life with
Christian believers. My Story
is plural in Our Story as we
shared funerals, weddings,
births, divorces, visiting the
sick, distributing food and
more because we were living
out our faith as a body of be
lievers.
In My Story I realize that
as part of God’s creation I
have sacred meaning and if I
have sacred meaning so does
all creation ... yes, you! C.
S. Lewis wrote in The Weight
of Gloiy, “there are no ordi
nary people.”
Because we are part of
God’s creation and share a
common faith we are to build
each other up, forgive, in
spire , befriend because we
share life together ... the ups
and downs.
Jesus was and continues
to be the Light of the World
for all humankind in 2023.
The promise “the light
shines in the darkness” is the
certainty that we face the un
known future with God’s
light!
2023 will be whatever it
will be! Let’s not worry and
fret about tomorrow as life
continues but work to build
up each other as we express
our faith as part of creation.
Happy God Year.
WEATHER
By William Dilbeck
HI
LOW
RAIN
Dec.
27
47
26
.00
Dec.
28
52
28
.00
Dec.
29
62
45
.00
Dec.
30
58
51
.07
Dec.
31
58
51
.22
Jan.
01
63
45
.13
Jan.
02
61
52
.11
Senior Moments
Tomorrow is another day
By Mary Migliaro
If you have ever watched
the film Gone with the Wind,
you may remember the fa
mous quote, “Tomorrow is
another day.” It was uttered
by Scarlett O’Hara when she
could no longer cope with all
of the tragedy she had en
dured. That quote is now my
mantra.
Since I decided to become
semi-retired, I have found
myself putting tasks from my
“To do” list off for another
day or week or more. After
all, I have no real deadlines
or things I absolutely have to
do unless it is a doctor or
dental appointment, or per
haps a lunch date with a
friend.
When I hit a task that I re
ally don’t want to do, I sim
ply say to myself, “Tomor
row is another day.”
After a while of moving
things forward on my calen
dar, however, I get sick of
looking at it and I do the
dreaded task I’ve been avoid
ing. I get a momentary sense
of satisfaction when I do and
if I’m really motivated, I’ll
look at future tasks and per
haps pick one or two of those
to do that day so I can erase
them from my calendar. That
doesn't happen very often,
though.
The issue soon becomes
one of procrastination, but I
hate being a procrastinator. I
know why I do it because
I’ve come to love having
nothing whatsoever to do.
Just call me lazy.
At some point, however,
there are things I need to do,
and I know I need to stop
avoiding them. The question
is how to get motivated to get
them done.
I decided to do some re
search and here are some tips
I discovered.
One strategy is to pick the
item that you have avoided
doing the most or dislike hav
ing to do, then biting the bul
let and just doing it. It’s not
easy but it is satisfying once
it is done.
If the task you are avoid
ing has several steps, break it
down into manageable por
tions and do one or two a day
until it is done. Think clean
ing out your refrigerator. One
shelf a day and before you
know it, it’s clean.
Limit distractions such as
TV and avoid getting side
tracked. Stay focused on the
original task and don’t wan
der off into beginning an un
related task.
For a larger task, set a
timer and allow a certain
amount of time to the task
then pick it up the next day
and use the timer again until
the entire task is completed.
So, when my list of tasks
finally screams at me to pay
attention to it, I ignore it and
say what Rhett Butler told
Scarlett when he walked out,
“Frankly, my dear, I don’t
give a damn!” Why? Because
I’m semi-retired and after all,
tomorrow is another day!
[Mary’ Migliaro is a
Senior Golden Girl who con
tributes frequently to the
Progress.]
(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main Street, Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-2457
www.pickensprogressonline.com
DAN POOL
Publisher/Editor
Published each Thursday at Jasper, Pickens County, Georgia.
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