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The True Citizen, Wednesday, January 13, 2010 — Page 5
Dixie Divas
THE ANGEL AND THE POET
By Ronda Rich
It wasn’t intended to be a long
conversation but I should have
known bet-
ter than that.
No call to
Poet is ever
abbreviated.
I called
out to Mis
sissippi to
remind him
of the the
ater tickets I had and of our
agreement to attend together.
“Oh yes, I recall completely,”
he said. “You’re an angel.”
“That’s right.” Our local the
ater survives from the help of
benefactors and I had contrib
uted enough to buy my wings
and become an Angel. With the
thus purchased wings, also
came two season tickets.
“I’m thinking of buying my
way up to Patron Saint,” I
mused.
“If I were you, that’s exactly
what I’d do.” Poet’s always full
of encouragement. “Now, since
I’ll be attending this glorious
event with an angel, will I be
expected to be attired in black
tie?”
Poet comes from a family of
old money. So old, claims a
mutual friend, that it was printed
by the Confederacy. Not so,
Poet denies. All that, he said,
was captured by the enemy.
I, though, am just a simple
country girl. I come from people
who buried their coins in old
Maxwell House coffee tins out
next to the barn and hoped there
would be enough there to pay
the preacher when they died.
That is to say we both proudly
represent the diverse cultures of
the South we both so love.
“Poet, I’m afraid this isn’t
going to be up to your normal
level of cultural activity. We’re
just plain people here. But I
hope you’ll come anyway.”
He guffawed and claimed as
to how he was looking mightily
forward to it. Then something
was said about his father and his
place of abode in Oxford.
“I didn’t know your father
still lived there. I figured he had
taken his fortunes and left Mis
sissippi.”
“Oh no,” he replied. “You
don’t take your fortune and
leave. You keep your fortune
where you live and you circu
late there. That way, there’s a
good chance it’ll come back
around to you.”
He paused while I laughed
then continued. “That’s why I
do my gaming here at home. If
I go down to Biloxi and lose,
my money goes in a vault. I’ll
never see that again. But the
money I lost at poker last night,
there’s a chance I’ll see that
money again.”
Poet’s full of pontifications
and philosophies that, quite
frankly, I revel in. I may be an
angel, albeit a bought one, but
he’s a joy. I wish all my friends
were like him. A couple of them
are joyless and a few, at best,
only minimally bring joy. In
fact. I’ve got one or two who
are so hateful that I’m about to
fire them from my life. Don’t
you agree that friends should
bring joy into your life rather
than take it?
I lamented this to Poet who
quickly replied with a scholarly
drawl, “You can always judge a
man by the fierceness of his
enemies.”
Though it did not pertain to
my lament, I saw the value in
those words. "That’s a good
quote. Who said that?”
“Aw, some Indian in a
movie.”
“Are you sure that’s where it
came from?”
“Of course. The cowboy sure
didn’t say it.” With Poet, there’s
always a punch line.
See why conversations with
Poet are never short? They’re
much too entertaining.
He did attend the play with
me and to my amazement, he
enjoyed it tremendously.
“Of course I did!” he replied
enthusiastically when I com
mented on it. “And, don’t for
get: I had the place of honor
next to an angel.”
“One who bought her wings,”
I reminded him.
He shrugged. “I have always
said that money has an impor
tant place in society. It is the
substance of all things hoped for
in life.”
That began another hour of
his pontifications and, like the
angel I paid to be, I listened
sweetly.
Ronda Rich is the best-selling
author of What Southern Women
Know About Faith. Visit
www.rondarich.com to sign up
for Ronda’s weekly newsletter.
Other Voices
BRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!
By F. Leslie Jenkins Jr.
Burke Banter Boy
Mark Twain said, "Everyone
talks about the weather, but no
one does anything about it.”
Lots of times I wish there was
something I could do about the
weather. Like the past ten or
twelve days of freezing tem
peratures we have experienced.
Of course, if I had the ability to
control the weather, I know my
idea of the perfect temperature
would not suit a goodly num
ber of folk. Even the Lord our
God is unable to give us weather
that suits everyone, so why
would I presume to think that I
could.
During my long life, I have
seen much colder temperatures
here in our beloved South.
Once, I remember, it dropped to
Zero, or maybe below, but I
have never remembered it be
ing this cold for such an ex
tended period of time.
This is just unexceptable
weather for Burke County. I
know that “in Dixie Land where
I was bom early on one frosty
morn,” even then after my
birthing cry, the weather soon
moderated to warm balmy de
grees.
We Southerners sometimes
hanker for a little snow. We
want just enough to make a
snowman or snowball. Any
more than that, and we are un
able to maneuver our cars or
stand upright. For a short while
we like a lovely white land
scape. We like to talk about the
“Big Snow,” but down deep we
long for the warm Summer sun.
Now, I am aware of the folks
who love this cold weather.
They show it by going around
in T-Shirts and shorts, while I
am bundled up in all the clothes
my poor old body will carry.
Could it be a macho thing or
do they dislike wearing outer
garments? Even in my younger
days, I don’t remember going
around in cold weather half na
ked. My Mama would have
whopped me side the head. But
times have changed, so one can
go without shoes or a coat, even
in weather like we are having
now.
Over the years, I have been
happy to be the owner of sev
eral heavy coats with which to
encase my shivering body.
When I was about 11 or 12
one of my uncles passed down
to me a Mackinaw he wore as a
lad. It was wool, it was grey
plaid, it was warm. I wore it for
several years and passed it on
to a cousin.
Wonder where it is now???
Probably the warmest coat I
Letters to the Editor
Laws for illegal
dumping need
to be re-enforced
Editor:
I would like to express my
appreciation to the Burke
County workers who labor to
clean up after the careless citi
zens who cannot seem to get
their trash squarely into the
County dumpsters.
Taking out the garbage is an
unpleasant task by itself and
thus does not need to be made
more aggravating by having to
negotiate around piles of other
folks’ errant trash.
I am always glad to see that
five-man county crew out there
with their pitch forks and rakes
in hand working to restore some
level of order to “my”
dumpsters on Hadden Pond
Road. They often have to em
ploy a back-hoe to clean up
larger messes left behind. It is a
shame that we have to spend
County resources that way.
As I recall, a couple of years
ago the Sheriff’s Officer and the
Magistrate judge cracked down
on illegal dumping and abuses
to the county’s dumpster sites.
I believe it is time once again
for these laws to be strictly en
forced.
Just the other day, I came
upon two men preparing to ille
gally dump an old washing ma
chine at Hadden Pond Road site.
They waited until I left to com
plete their crime but I saw that
old washer perched atop one of
the dumpsters later that same
afternoon.
In retrospect, I should have
written down their license plate
number. Next time I will.
Jon Hollingsworth
Waynesboro
‘I pledge allegiance’
Editor:
One Nation Under God?
Did you know that in South
Carolina it is ILLEGAL to have
the words “I Believe,” or even
a cross on your license plate?
What ever happened to freedom
of religion?
Adam Lambert, runner-up of
American Idol last year, can
stand on stage at the 2009
American Music Awards show
and kiss another guy, and yet we
can’t express our religion. What
kind of freedom is that? Is our
world beginning to say “Do
what you want, it doesn’t mat
ter?”
Have we all forgotten what
this country was founded on?
Have we all forgotten that the
reason this country was even
formed was so that we may have
freedom of religion?
Whatever happened to “One
nation under God?” We all
know the pledge. We listen to it
daily at school, but we don’t
understand the meaning.
“I pledge allegiance to the
flag of the United States of
America and to the republic for
which it stands, one nation, un
der God, indivisible, with lib
erty and justice for all.”
Here’s what this means: I
promise to be true to the sym-
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
Monday and Friday at 7 p.m. at the Wimberly House at
S21 S. Liberty St., Waynesboro. These meetings are
open and anyone can attend. AA already has...
Step Study: Tuesdays (Open Meetings) 8:00 p.m.
Thursdays (ClosedMeetings) 8:00 p.m.
at Sacred Heart Catholic Church
Hwy. 24 South - Waynesboro
AL-ANON
Open Meeting-Monday 8 p.m.
at Wimberly House
S21 S. Liberty St., Waynesboro
bol of our country and each state
that has joined to make our
country where the people
choose others to make laws “of,
by and for” the people. A single
country united together that
can’t be split into parts, a coun
try under God with freedom and
fairness for each person. That is
what it really means.
People are so judgmental it’s
ridiculous! You’re not supposed
to be judgmental. Now don’t get
me wrong, nobody is perfect,
but at least give the person a
chance. Just because they may
be a different race than you, or
hang out with different kind of
people than you do doesn’t
mean you may not even like the
person. For all you know, they
could become your new, life
long friend.
Prejudice is just as wrong. It
separates us as a community, a
state and a country. Like I stated
earlier, there’s a part in the
pledge that says “One nation,
under God, indivisible...” That
means for us to be one single
country, under God, that cannot
be split into parts. Does that
sound like our country at the
current moment? I think not.
I think that what our country
needs is Jesus. We all need him.
Through him all things are pos
sible, and without him all else
fails. That is one nation under
God. This, our country now, is
it not?
The Pledge of Allegiance is
like a promise, and so far we
haven’t kept that promise. I
think it is time to start keeping
that promise. Without God,
nothing is going to go as you
planned. Even with God things
won’t always go as YOU
planned, but how GOD plans.
Don’t blame him for how the
economy is now, because we
haven’t allowed him to have
anything to do with it. We have
been in control, and look where
it has gotten us.
If you don’t believe that this
country needs God, then look
around. We need God every
where, especially in schools. We
need to start keeping our prom
ise.
“I pledge allegiance to the
flag of the United States of
America and to the republic for
which it stands, one nation un
der God, indivisible, with lib
erty and justice for all.”
Kaitlyn Skinner
Screven County
REWARD
$500 reward offered for
information leading to the
arrest of persons involved
in the Jan, 8 theft of two
cast iron syrup boilers on
Roberts Road in Alexander.
Call
(706) 437-2011
ever possessed was my Pea Coat
that was issued to me by the U.
S. Navy. It is a navy blue wool
coat that comes down to mid
thigh. I still have it today though
it is a very tight fit, so I just let
it hang in the closet. Maybe I’ll
dress up my grandson in it one
cold winter day when he is a
little older. But then again
maybe I won’t. He hates to wear
shoes and coats.
I have lived in colder climes
from time to time. I have wit
nessed rivers frozen over and
snow piled high upon the
ground.
I have slid on the wet frozen
stuff, and for a short time en
joyed the newness of the expe
rience; but soon the “Call Of
The Warm South” has fallen
upon my ears.
Getting back to the weather
here, I hear by the latest fore
cast that it will warm up later
this week. I will rejoice.
However, there are three more
weeks of January, and then cold
February to look forward to. But
eventually Spring will spring,
the trees will green, the birds
will sing, and this ole Southern
boy will ‘show’ be glad.
There is no greater sensation
than to wiggle ones bare toes in
warm sand and feel the deli
cious rays of old Sol thawing
out and tanning the skin of ones
back.
So my dear friends, take heart
and stay warm. Soon our Maker
will close the Artie doors and we
will be basking in the warmth
of a Spring sun.
You can reach F. Leslie
Jenkins Jr., Burke Banter Boy,
by email at: f291@bellsouth.net
‘After Christmas Safe!
January 6th thru January 13th!
All
Jewelry
50% off!
All in-stock merchandise
20% OFF!
Now is the
time to buy
your floor
covering
20%
OFF!
tHe warehouse
681-4465 • Mon-Sat 9-5:30 • 8550 Hwy. 301 S.
No Lay-A-Ways, No Charges, - Cash, Check or Credit Card Only!
CPA Notes
Incentives for Businesses
Tax breaks for businesses include extended bonus first year
depreciation with a one-year optional extension to forego bonus
depreciation for otherwise deferred credits,
increased section 179 expensing, and tax-
deferred debt forgiveness income on
repurchase of qualifying debt.
Refundable Credits
Instead of taking bonus depreciation,
businesses can now monetize accumulated
AMT and R&D credits. Originally, this election
applied to 2008 only; however, the new law
extends the option to property that qualifies for
bonus depreciation and was placed in service through 2009.
Section 179 Expensing
The 2008 Economic Stimulus Act increased the section 179
expensing amount to $250,000 and increased to $800,000 the
threshold for reducing the deduction. Under the new law, these
amounts will remain the same. (Without the extension, the
expensing amount would have been limited to $125,000, and
the maximum deduction threshold $500,000.)
If I can be of assistance to you, please contact my office at
706-437-1042 or at lfulcher@ 1040.com.
My office is across from the Dairy Queen and next door to
the Lake Restaurant or at the forks of Highways 24 and 25.
John “Lee” Fulcher, CPA
706-437-1042
South Liberty Street across from the Dairy Queen