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4A ®J)£ lieralti <©a?£tt£ Tuesday, December 28,2021
Opinions
Geiger's Counter: Hoping for a
kinder, gentler COVID world in 2022
Most all of us are
tired of COVID in all of
its manifestations and
variants. That feeling is
so widespread that the
experts have come up
with a term for it: pan
demic fatigue.
Those in govern
ment and Big Pharma
are certainly aware of
this phenomenon. They
are moving away from
using the word COVID.
It started with the Delta
variant and now the virus
is almost always referred
to as just Omicron in
headlines, news stories
and broadcasts.
In the interest of full
disclosure, I am fully vac
cinated but have not yet
had the recommended
booster shot. Omicron
(see there, I did it, too)
has convinced me to get
it soon.
As bad as COVID
is, the hateful rhetoric
that has sprung from
it is even worse, in my
opinion.
Way out on one side
are those who live in ab
solute fear of the disease,
demand that you and I
fear it, too, and hang on
every word uttered by
Dr. Fauci as if he guarded
the gates to
heaven. These
are the fear-
mongers and
they are vocal.
On the other
fringe are those
who refer to
the vaccinated
as ‘pin cush
ions’. Some
believe COVID
is just a souped
up version of
the flu. Some
would rather
die than be vaccinated. I
personally know of two
who have.
They believe the virus
was created in
a Chinese lab
and deliber
ately released
as a biological
weapon to end
the Trump presi
dency. They are
equally vocal.
Strung out
along the middle
of the spectrum
of opinion are
those of us who
just want COVID
to disappear
from the face of the Earth
never to reappear. Most
of us are vaccinated.
Some are not. Most tired
quickly of masks and no
longer wear them where
they are not required.
We want to get back
to or continue going
to work or in-person
classes, running our
businesses and going to
sporting events and con
certs, etc. where there
are large crowds.
I wonder how much
farther along we would
be in the battle against
the virus if those on the
fringes had turned all
that hateful energy to
ward solving the problem
rather than adding fuel to
the rhetorical fire.
A united citizenry
would be much more
likely to gain significant
wins in the war against
COVID than the divided
group we have now.
That is my hope for
the new year - a kinder
gentler COVID world.
I know there is little
chance of this happening
but a man can dream,
can’t he?
Happy New Year!
Walter Geiger is editor and publisher
of The Herald-Gazette and Pike
County Journal Reporter. He can
be reached at 770-358-NEWS or
news@barnesville.com.
*
/o* -iSi
■* ~ S
V &
■
GEIGER’S
COUNTER
Walter Geiger
Editor & Publisher
Kudzu & Clay:
An exclusive club
There will be
a time that the
city of Atlanta
stretches all
the way from
Blue Ridge to
the Okefenokee.
I’d give it a few
years. All the
farms will be
gone. All the
farmhouses
demolished,
replaced with
stucco McMan-
sions built over
the course of a week.
There will be nothing left
to identify where you are
in relation to one end or
the other. It will all be
Atlanta. Except for one
small pocket in the At
lanta suburbs of Lilburn,
a few blocks away from
my house.
The place that I’m
talking about is a very
small horse farm that has
somehow managed to
not be swallowed up by
the large housing devel
opments that are so pro
lific in this area. The land
around it was bought up
and sold off long, long
ago. From the looks of
the horse farm, it has
been there since folks
started clearing trees to
make fields for agricul
ture way back when. It is
about four acres. There
is a barn with a tin roof
and a couple of sheds full
of unimaginable treasure.
At any given time one
can walk over to the
property, bordered by a
fairly busy road, and ob
serve about a dozen or
so horses munching on
grass and lazily walking
around. At the entrance
to this farm is a dirty old
house with a large oak
tree in front. The house
doesn’t look abandoned
but it doesn’t look like
anyone lives there either,
but there are always doz
ens of cars. They come
and go. I can’t imagine
they are from people that
work there and nobody
ever rides the horses.
No. These cars belong
to members of an exclu
sive club of gentlemen
that I quietly refer to
as The Cowboys, even
though they dress more
like any other casual,
middle-aged man, per
haps slightly rougher
around the edges. No
cowboy boots or bolo
ties to speak of. Just
ripped jeans and white
tennis shoes. Rugged
baseball caps. Flannel.
There is a large shop
on the property, close
to the road, where the
cowboys sometimes like
to congregate. They work
on old cars and tractors
and talk amongst them
selves. Sometimes they
stand around the corral
and drink beer and watch
the horses, but never
ride them. Now and again
they can be
observed stand
ing around the
barn, quietly
speaking, but
never, ever
noticing any
passer-by. Ever.
No eye contact.
Nothing.
As you grow
older you
learn that it is
not so easy to
make friends
as it once was.
Sure you got your work
buddies, but you talk to
them all day. You want
someone close. Some
one, you can hang out
and complain about your
dismal future with. If you
don’t belong to a church
or some other group the
only option you have is
your neighbors, and in
the suburbs of Atlanta,
you’re lucky if you ever
see them, much less talk
to them.
Every day I walk past
this horse farm and this
exclusive club. Watch
ing. Waiting. I look at all
the manly stuff they are
doing. Standing around,
looking at car parts,
discussing what’s wrong
with them. I don’t know
anything about car parts,
but I don’t know anything
about sports either and
that’s never stopped me
from faking it. Honestly,
I don’t know that much
about anything except
maybe art and kudzu.
Thing is, I will never
make it into this exclu
sive club because I can
never get these guys to
make eye contact with
me for long enough to
give them that initial
head nod. That nod that
sends out a telekinetic
signal and response that
lets people know if they
can be friends. All I need
is the nod. I would be
in. And I’ve tried. I’ve
walked my son over to
the horses when they’re
close to the cowboys,
thinking they’d see a kin
dred soul in my fatherli
ness. No. They are not
concerned with those
kinds of things. I’ve even
considered just popping
over and asking them a
random question about
my broken lawnmower,
but you can’t do that.
That’s not a way into this
club. I used to think if I
bought a horse and took
it over that would work,
but anymore I doubt it.
This club and this land
will be there until Atlanta
reaches north to Canada
and west to Hawaii.
There will not be one
horse farm or field left
in this country, except
for on the outskirts of
the Atlanta suburbs in
Lilburn, Georgia. It won’t
be because people didn’t
SEE AN EXCLUSIVE CLUB 5A
KUDZU &
CLAY
Chris Walter
Along Life's Road
BY QUIMBY MELTON
Toast to New Year
(or to graduation, a funeral or other major
change in life)
Now raise your cup; it’s bottoms up
to all past cheer and sorrow;
Thus shed your tear for yesteryear
And go on to tomorrow.
Dec. 26-Jan. 1
CALENDAR ITEM;
Email news@barnes-
ville.com or call 770.358.
NEWS to have an event
published as a calen
dar item in The Herald
Gazette.
• Volunteers Needed:
Milner Friends of the
Library meeting 5 p.m.
Tuesday, January 4 at
Milner Library Commu
nity Room.
• The Middle Georgia
Community Action Agen
cy is offering heating
assistance for Lamar and
surrounding counties. To
be eligible for assistance,
households must have
an income at or below 60
percent of the state me
dian income level. As of
November 1, households
where all members are 65
years of age and older or
homebound households
may contact the sched
uling system at 1-844-
588-1552 or go online to
https://mgcaa.appoint-
ment.works/ea/home
for an appointment. All
other income eligible
households may contact
the scheduling system
to schedule an appoint
ment or be placed on a
wait list on December 1.
Appointments are made
by call in or online only.
No walk-ins. The follow
ing items are required to
verify eligibility for as
sistance: Social Security
cards for every person in
the household, ID, recent
heating bill and water bill
with service address and
account number printed
on each.
• The Martin-Moore
American Legion Post
25, is now meeting again
at the newly remodeled
Women’s Club House
on Stafford Avenue, the
fourth Thursday of each
month at 5 p.m. for the
winter months. Returns
to 6 p.m. in April 2022. All
veterans are invited.
• Rent and Utility As
sistance Services: Avail
able to local residents
through the Salvation
Army in Griffin. Info:
770.412.6561.
• The State of Geor
gia received $552 mil
lion under ERA1 and an
additional $437 million
under ERA2 from the U.S.
Treasury’s Federal Emer
gency Rental Assistance
Program. The funds, are
used to provide relief to
individuals, families and
landlords whose finances
have been negatively
impacted during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
These statewide funds,
administered through the
Georgia Department of
Community Affairs, will
be used to bring past-due
rent and utility payments
current up to 18 months.
The household income
must be below 80% of
the Area Median Income,
with priority given to
household below 50% of
the AMI. Applicants must
show a COVID-19 hard
ship or risk of homeless
ness or housing instabil
ity through an eviction
notice or a past-due rent
statement. To submit an
application, visit Georgia-
RentalAssistance.ga.gov.
For questions regarding
your application, email
rentalassistance@dca.
ga.gov.
10 years ago
Dr. Neil Boumpani of
the Gordon College fac
ulty was constructing
‘Big Moe’, a huge bass
drum for the University
of Missouri Marching Ti
ger Band. The drum was
nine feet in diameter.
25 years ago
Harold Lloyd McLen
don, 56, died at his Hoyt
Road home after being
kicked in the chest by a
horse. He was the father
of well-known investi
gator David McLendon
of the Lamar County
sheriff’s office.
50 years ago
Multiple people were
killed in three different
auto accidents over the
holidays. One wreck at
the intersection of Hwy.
341 and Hwy. 18 killed
Freddie Worthy, Mary
Worthy and Lucille God
dard. Little Miss Cecil
Renee Smith, daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Vernon
Smith, Jr., was in an
accident in Forsyth and
later died in a Macon
hospital.
100 years ago
The big ginnery of
Messrs: J.J. Moore &
Sons at Topeka burned
down Monday night
about 3 o’clock, result
ing in total loss of the
building and machinery.
Mr. Moore stated he
had no idea how the fire
started. He expected to
rebuild by next season.
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Street, Barnesville.
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