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Page 4A - Pike County Journal Reporter - Wednesday, July 14, 2021
Opinions
So many good things about Pike - keep it up!
KAY S. PEDROTTI
kayspedrotti@gmail.com
Looking back to the
long ago, 1 recall being
very impressed with the
folks in Pike County: my
first assignment with
the newspapers was
to handle the Journal
Reporter coverage while
my friend Rachel McDan
iel went and had a baby.
All went well, with a lot
of help from people “in
the know,” and Rachel
and I have grown truly
fond of each other as
time goes on.
She keeps me in
formed on things in Pike.
I’m still impressed with
the people, the down
town look, the schools
and more.
It seems now that so
many people are discov
ering the Pike County
jewel, and wanting to
move here, that the
county could be in dan
ger of good growth - but
happening too fast.
As a reporter in Clay
ton and Henry Counties
years ago, 1 observed
how the basics of good
growth - roads, wa
ter lines, sewer lines,
adequate fire and police
coverage - could quickly
be overwhelmed by “too
many subdivisions too
fast.”
It would behoove the
powers-that-be in Pike
to take lessons
from the coun
ties which are
still trying to
catch up with
their growing
populations.
1 know that
expertise and
good intentions
are plus-factors
for the govern
ing bodies - but
the lure of a fast buck,
and the possibility
increasing the tax base,
could well impact deci
sions insidiously.
My husband and 1
often take advantage of
what Pike has to offer -
good restaurants, a large
well-stocked grocery, fun
events, lovely
downtown
stores to ex
plore. It’s fun
for us to ride
around the
area and find
new things.
We have
learned by liv
ing in Clayton
and by observ
ing Henry Coun
ty that the worst factor
of overgrowth may be
the traffic. That situation
ran us out of Clayton
into Lamar County, and
now 1 can hardly drag
myself to Jonesboro
Road or Highway 20 in
McDonough for “major
shopping.”
1 sometimes poke
fun at “what passes for
rush hour” in downtown
Barnesville, but traf
fic problems can sneak
up anytime, anywhere,
without warning. Ad
equate parking also gets
to be a problem when
businesses and hous
ing developments pop
up too fast. Best to get
good parameters set for
controlled growth before
the worst can take hold:
a good variety in house
sizes (young people
need starter homes too),
ingress and egress for
fire equipment, numer
ous fire hydrants to
help homeowners with
insurance costs, ad
equate water (with good
pressure) and sewer
lines, side setbacks big
enough not to have folks
in each other’s bedroom
windows. Patience in
development pays big
dividends.
Meanwhile, as all of
us watch the progress,
continue to enjoy your
residence in or visits
to Pike County. It’s all
worth your time and
energy.
Kay S. Pedrotti has spent some
50 years writing for newspapers.
She is active in the Lamar County
community and currently serves as
the president of Lamar Arts. She
lives in Milner with her husband Bob
Pedrotti.
Kudzu & Clay:
Lightning Bugs
in the Microwave
When it comes to
pancakes and waffles,
there are some people
that put syrup in the
refrigerator and others
that just leave it out.
There are also people
that heat up syrup
before they put it on
something and others
that put it on
freezing cold
or at room
temperature.
My mother
was one of
those that
kept the
syrup in the
refrigerator
and then
heated it
up, because
nothing is
better on a
burnt waffle
than a half-cup scoop
of margarine and pip
ing hot ‘butter’-flavored
syrup.
In a formal setting,
if someone is serving
warm syrup, one usu
ally does so in a cup or
special carafe. At the
very least a measur
ing cup with a spout
will suffice. My family
just liked to throw the
syrup bottle right into
the microwave, mash a
few buttons, and hope
it was warm enough. If
it wasn’t, too bad.
One Saturday morn
ing as the waffles were
charbroiling in the
toaster, my mother did
just this. Did she hit
one minute or 10? Ju
ry’s still out. All I know
is I turned around and
noticed it looked like
lightning bugs were
flying around in the
microwave. I yelled
out because I didn’t
want the poor things to
be zapped, but it was
too late, and it wasn’t
lightning bugs that
got zapped. It was the
entire innards of the
microwave. Mom had
failed to take off the
foil from the brand-
new bottle of syrup,
thus showing me what
happens when you put
metal in a microwave
before I ever had the
chance to experiment
myself.
When the
smoke cleared,
the damage
was pretty
incredible.
There was a
hole that went
straight up to
the top of the
metal casing
and the plastic
sides were
completely
melted. The
syrup didn’t
sustain any damage
though. So after we ate
our waffles with boiling
hot syrup, we loaded
up in my dad’s big, red
utility van and headed
off in search of a
replacement. We were
like a ragtag group of
settlers searching for
bison on the Oregon
Trail. At our house, to
be without a micro-
wave would mean to be
without food.
I now have some
thing of a phobia of
microwaves. Since
leaving the familial
nest, I have now lived
without a microwave
for 25 years, and it
still shocks any older
relative I have. I have
to say that witnessing
what those machines
are capable of with just
a small piece of foil at
such a tender age was
enough to turn me to
conventional ovens
for good. I’m just fine
waiting the extra time
if it means not having
lightning bugs in my
food.
KUDZU
& CLAY
Chris Walter
THINKING FOR A CHANGE
The truth is out there
BY ANTHONY VINSON
advkdv@att.net
Head
line from
the July 8,
1947 edi
tion of the
Roswell
[New
Mexico]
Daily Record: RAAF Cap
tures Flying Saucer on
Ranch in Roswell Region.
The RAAF (Roswell Army
Airfield) quickly issued a
retraction and clarifica
tion. The item recovered
was not a flying saucer
after all; it was a crashed
weather balloon.
Except for a small
group of dedicated ufolo
gists - yes, my friends,
there’s such a thing - the
incident was largely for
gotten for 35 years.
In the early 1980s,
the Roswell story was
resurrected after the
“discovery” of classified
documents supporting
the original narrative
and insisting that the
weather balloon was a
false flag.
Within a few short
years, a complex mythol
ogy, part science fiction
double feature, and
part pure paranoia was
crafted involving govern
ment conspiracy and
alien technology.
The narrative grew
like mushrooms in a
cow pasture following a
rainstorm. In the 1990s,
Chris Carter mined the
mythology for the suc
cessful television series,
The X-Files.
Now here, at least for
me, is where the story
gets interesting: It turns
out that the evidence
for a secret government
conspiracy is quite
strong. Those classified
documents? Well, there
is considerable evidence
that they were manufac
tured and disseminated
by government agen
cies to provide cover
for advanced weapons
testing - think stealth
technology - in the west
ern deserts of Nevada,
Arizona, Utah and New
Mexico. The conspiracy
narrative itself was born
of a conspiracy based on
an alleged conspiracy.
Talk about meta.
Belief is never a
choice. We either believe
or we do not, and once
we believe it is difficult
to change our minds.
Our cognitive biases act
as filters, allowing only
that which supports our
beliefs through and dis
missing the rest. We jus
tify our beliefs using all
manner of mental magic,
tenaciously clinging to
them despite evidence
to the contrary. Try too
hard to change some
one’s mind and some
thing called the backfire
effect kicks in. They dig
in their heels and cling
even more tightly to
their beliefs.
The only antidote
of which I am aware
for irrational beliefs is
critical, rational thinking
combined with an open-
minded curiosity and
a willingness to modify
beliefs based on credible
evidence. In short, scien
tific skepticism.
Consider irrational
beliefs that you find ri
diculous. Chemtrails, the
flat earth assertion, the
moon as a manufactured
satellite from which alien
intelligence observes the
earth, miniature magnet
ic microchip mind-con
trol technology delivered
through vaccination ...
the Big Lie. The list is
long, but trust me, yours
is on their somewhere.
So is mine. And that
speaks volumes.
Every irrational belief
may be refuted through
the application of the
antidote, but few are
willing to mix up a batch
and take a swig. And who
could blame them?
Irrational beliefs have
a certain charm, an al
most irresistible appeal
that tickles our brain’s
dopamine receptors and
provides a sweet sugar-
rush of self-righteous
certainty that we, and
we alone, are right,
and that everyone else
is deluded and dead
wrong. And that, too,
speaks volumes. Are you
listening?
Think about it!
Anthony Vinson is a freelance
writer, speaker and humorist for hire.
He lives in Williamson, GA, and can be
reached at advkdv@att.net.
Pike County Journal Reporter's letter printing guidelines
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nal Reporter welcomes
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Drop letters by the
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For additional
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Pike County
Journal
Reporter
www.pikecountygeorgia.com
P.O. Box 789
16026 Barnesville St.
Zebulon, Ga. 30295
770.567.3446
The Pike County Journal
Reporter is the official
organ of Pike County, the
cities of Zebulon, Moiena,
Meansville, Williamson
and Concord. It is
published weekly by
Hometown Newspapers
Inc. Second class
postage is paid at the
Zebulon, Ga Post Office.
Publishers: Walter and
Laura Geiger; staff:
Jennifer Taylor,
Brenda Sanchez and
Rachel McDaniel.
AT PIKE
BY DWAIN W. PENN
100 YEARS AGO
July 15, 1921: Pike County farmers read of the
recent creation of a Georgia Farm Bureau mar
ket exchange. Success was guaranteed through
diversification of crops combined with use of the
exchange to easily market those crops.
75 YEARS AGO
July 18, 1946: The 36th annual session of the
Mt. Gap camp meeting began on Thursday, July 18.
The workers for the event were Rev. James Taylor
from South Carolina, Mrs. James Taylor, pianist,
and singer J.L. Carey of Athens.
50 YEARS AGO
July 15, 1971: Rev. Calvin Reese Ward Jr., a
Macon native, was welcomed as the new pastor of
the Zebulon United Methodist Church. Ward was
married to the former June Trollings of Aiken, S.C.
and they had five children ages 5 to 19.
25 YEARS AGO
July 17, 1996: Pike County voters made their
voices heard as all but one incumbent candidates,
were defeated. Sheriff James Gibson survived but
would face opposition in the November general
election.