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PAGE 4A THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2008 Editor: Angela Gary Phone: 706-367-2490 E-mail: AngieEditor@aol.com Website: www.mainstreetnews.com Opinions “Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.” — Thomas Jefferson angela gary Memories of Quincy W hen I woke up on a recent Saturday morning, Quincy was curled up on my chest. He had one paw around each side of my neck and his head was lying next to my face. Quincy has always slept with me and cuddled as close as possible, but I didn’t recall him every doing that before. Later that afternoon, I told some friends about how close to me Quincy was when I woke up that morning. I have shared many stories about Quincy since I adopted him from the Athens Humane Society in December of 1994. There was the “arrival notice” that I wrote in my column after I adopted him. I wrote it as if we had a new baby in the family, which we really did. I remember when I first saw his photograph in an Athens newspaper as part of a feature on animals available for adoption. I had seen many similar photos, but something about Quincy touched me. I just knew he was meant to become a part of our family. Another column told of the time a photograph I sent in of him was selected to appear in a very popular national cat calendar. There were also the stories about how he woke me up every morning wanting his break fast and how he comforted me during times of loss and sorrow. And, of course, there were the annual Christmas cards. I posed Quincy each year for a photo on my cards and sent out hundreds of them. Sitting in a bas ket, curled up under the Christmas tree and sitting in a wrapped package are just a few of the poses I put him in each year. He always cooperated with me. I guess he knew I wouldn’t stop until I had the perfect photo. I adopted Quincy 13 years ago and he was a full- grown cat when he joined our family. I figured he was at least 15-years-old — maybe even a few years older. He was such a big, healthy cat when I adopted him — over 20 pounds. That was no longer the case in recent years. He was really skinny and had other health prob lems that older cats get. I still hoped we would have at least another year or so together. That wasn’t to be. Quincy died as I was petting him and talking to him on Dec. 22. It was the same day that I woke up with his arms around me. I guess he was telling me goodbye. Quincy was fine when I left the house that day. He had jumped in a box of T-shirts in the hallway and curled up. We had just brought the box in the house and he always checked out anything new. When I left to go to have dinner with friends, he had jumped up on my bed and was taking a nap. When I returned home, Quincy was standing in a corner at an odd angle. Jake was eating on the couch and he didn’t even try to get any of the food from him. I knew then that something was wrong. I picked Quincy up and put him on a blanket on the couch. Before my mother could find the number and call the vet’s office, he just stopped breathing. My nephew, Jake, and I were petting Quincy as he stopped breathing. I was in shock and still find it hard to believe that he is gone. I find myself looking for him when I get home from work and calling out, “Q, buddy, where are you?” It was several days before I could even talk about losing Quincy. On Christmas Eve, I sat alone in my living room. Amanda and her family had just left. Dad was in the hospital with chest pains and Mom was staying overnight with him. I felt so alone sitting on the couch without Quincy by my side. It will be a while before I stop looking for him and missing him. At least I have so many wonderful memories of him. Angela Gary is editor of The Banks County News and associate editor of The Jackson Herald. She can be reached at AngieEditor@aol.com. The Banks County News Founded 1968 The official legal organ of Banks County, Ga. Mike Buffington. . Scott Buffington . . Angela Gary Chris Bridges . . . . Sharon Hogan. . . . Anelia Chambers . April Reese Sorrow Co-Publisher Co-Publisher /Ad. Manager Editor Sports Editor Reporter Receptionist Church News Phones (all 706 area code): Angela Gary Phone Angela Gary Fax Homer Office PL„. Homer Office Advertising P Sports News Sports Fax: . Member 367-2490 .367-9355 677-3491 677-3263 .367-5233 .367-2745 367-9355 Assocication National Newspaper Association Georgia Sports Writers Association www.mainstreetnews.com (SCED 547160) Published weekly by MainStreet Newspapers, Inc., P.O. Box 908, Jefferson, Ga. 30549 Homegrown Civil War: South Georgia should secede T he great water crisis proves at least one thing. Georgia should be divided into two states. The present single-Georgia system is not working. If our senators and congressmen were in tune with the pressing needs of their South Georgia constituents, they would start pushing a charter for the state of South Georgia. Time is running out. Metro Atlanta and North Georgia have become giant vampires, intent on draining South Georgia of its lifeblood and leaving little more than a dried-out wasteland. Look what Portugal did to Mozambique. Or how Great Britain drew the boundaries of Kenya and Iraq. Our British cousins forced peo ple who didn’t jibe with each other to live in the same state. Inevitably, one side exploited the other — and civil war erupted. If the state of Georgia (another dastardly English-created polyglot) goes through with its present, hast ily drawn “water conservation” plan, you’ll see the same cycle begin. Under the cash-scented influence of gigantic Atlanta-centric develop ers, Gov. Sonny and his pals are working on a plan that would allow metro interests to tap into South Georgia’s bountiful water supply. They would transfer the liquid gold meant for the plains into North Georgia so that developers could keep on developing. Alabama and Florida have already made it clear: They want Georgia to quit slurping up more than its share of their common water resources. If Georgia can’t prey on neighbor ing states, why not do it right here at home? Georgia government can skip all that interstate legal hassling. We’ll just take the water from our own hapless citizens below the Fall Line. Of course, a few palms in the Gold Dome may have to be greased to get the proper laws passed, but the guys in shiny suits know how easily that can be done. Then the Atlanta barons can start piping the cool, clear water northward. Just think, Buckhead groundskeepers can get back to work. Developers can tear up more mountains and build more McMansions, this time with two swimming pools instead of just one. Economic developers might even lure a new brewery or two into the moun tains. Good times will roll again, right along with the flow of South Georgia water. Our feckless state leaders could then stop frowning and begin smiling again. They will be rich, rich. Sonny can stop dabbling in real estate and take it easy. Romeo Richardson can float away to Club Med and forget other matters. This will only happen if we let it, friends, but there is another way. Call Sen. Saxby Chambliss. Let’s get the ball rolling for a brand-new state of South Georgia. Saxby under stands the problem. Being from Moultrie, he’ll be delighted to help. Tell him to draw up a petition to create the 51st state, South Georgia. Let’s re-establish our first capital at Savannah or, better still, build a new one in Valdosta or Statesboro or Albany. In no time, the new state of South Georgia, having escaped the clutches of Atlanta interests, could become a bustling commercial center rivaling parts of Florida. South Georgia could make its own water rules instead of having to kow-tow to those white- shoe lawyers in Buckhead. Tifton could be the new Atlanta. Oops, I take that back. Tifton could become the shining city we always dreamed about on the Coastal Plains. This is not a new idea. In the 1980s, several professors at the University of Georgia conducted extensive research on the disparities between North and South Georgia. As I recall, Gov. Joe Frank Harris of Cartersville was not impressed. He fired Dr. Talmadge Duvall, the main author of the Two Georgias scenario, a fellow who will undoubtedly be recognized one day as the George Washington of the great state of South Georgia. Do not misunderstand. I do not advocate revolution. I simply sub scribe to a peaceable and sensible revision of state lines to group people with similar interests and goals into their own province. And, of course, to prevent predatory legislative prac tices. As things stand now, North Georgia and South Georgia are as different as toad frogs and hoot owls. People move from Atlanta to South Georgia all the time because, it is said, they “can’t stand Atlanta any more.” The idea of a state of South Georgia is so appealing that, if it caught on, I might even move from Acworth to Bonaire, to spend the rest of my golden years helping Gov. Sonny with his memoirs. Of course, I would have to be invited. You can reach award-winning political columnist Bill Shipp at P.O. Box 2520, Kennesaw, GA 30156, or e-mail: shipp1@bellsouth.net. bill shipp Letters to the Editor policy given The Banks County News has estab lished a policy on printing Letters to the Editor. We must have an original copy of all letters that are submitted to us for publication. Members of our staff will not type out or hand-write letters for people who stop by the office and ask them to do so. Letters to the Editor must also be signed with the address and phone number of the person who wrote them. The address and phone number will be for our verification purposes only and will not be printed unless the writer requests it. Mail to, The Banks County News, P.O. Box 920, Homer, Ga. 30547. E-mailed letters will be accepted, but we must have a contact phone number and address. Letters that are libelous will not be printed. Letters may also be edited to meet space requirements. Anyone with questions on the policy is asked to contact editor Angela Gary at AngieEditor@aol.com or by calling 706-367-2490. News department contact numbers Anyone with general story ideas, complaints or comments about the news department is asked to call edi tor Angela Gary at 706-367-2490. She can also be reached by e-mail at AngieEditor@aol.com. Anyone with comments, ques tions or suggestions relating to the county board of commissioners, county government, county board of education, Maysville City Council and crime and courts is asked to contact staff member Chris Bridges at 706-367-2745 or by e-mail at chris@mainstreetnews.com. Bridges also is sports edi tor of the paper and covers local high school, middle school and recreation sports. Anyone with comments, ques tions or suggestions relating to Alto, Lula, Baldwin and Gillsville, should contact Sharon Hogan at 706-367-5233 or by e-mail at sharon@mainstreetnews.com. Calls for information about the church page should go to April Reese Sorrow at 706-677-3491. Church news may also be e-mailed to asorrow@mainstreetnews.com. The Banks County News website can be accessed at www.mainstreet.news.com. Looking at the brighter side of winter months C an we put in a request to have spring hurry up and get here? How many more weeks of winter must we endure? I know the official start of winter was not that long ago, but already I’m tired of it. Perhaps it’s the fact the temperatures refused to climb above the freezing mark during the middle of last week as I struggled with a nasty stomach virus. With it taking all the strength I had to simply get out of bed to take care of necessary business, Old Man Winter had a firm grasp on us. My heater couldn’t catch its breath as it struggled to keep my house warm. I had to unfreeze the water in my pets’ drinking bowls several times all the while strug gling to stand for even a few min utes because of the illness which knocked me out like a ton of bricks. (My better half said my sickness came from another season of watching the hapless Atlanta Falcons play each week, a true case of Falcon Fever if you will). By Sunday, I was feeling somewhat better and the weather had managed to escape its freezing pattern, Still, I thought, how I long for spring and the warmth of the Georgia sunshine with clear blue sky. I still long for a day at the local baseball field watching the Diamond Leopards compete and I still long for color to return to the landscape. The bareness of the trees gives off an almost haunting display, one which backs up the knowledge that spring is still a long way off. Can winter really be that bad? Is win ter the evil, green-eyed monster that I make it out to be each year? I decided to try and find a few positive things about winter, hard as it might be. With that in mind, I suppose the arriv al of winter makes me thankful because during this time of year: •we don’t have to worry about cutting the grass. •we don’t have to worry about sting ing insects. •we don’t have to worry about break ing out in a sweat after walking from the front door to the mailbox, which are only a few feet apart. •we don’t have to worry about getting too much sun. •we don’t have to worry about bat tling fire ants. •we don’t have to worry about the air conditioner putting a strain on our car. •we don’t have to worry about the temperature being stifling when you first walk out the door in the morning. •we don’t have to worry about water ing the outside plants every couple of days because of the extreme heat. •we don’t have to worry about clean ing bugs off our windshield several times each week. •we don’t have to worry about remembering to take a hat with us to keep the sun from causing damage to our skin. •we don’t have to worry about becom ing dehydrated when we spend the day doing yard work. •we don’t have to worry about our CDs getting too hot if we leave them inside the player in our car. •we don’t have to worry about the house getting too warm if we open a few window blinds. •we don’t have to worry about suffo cating from the heat if we decide to grill out for supper. •we don’t have to worry about finding a pair of shorts that fit. •we don’t have to worry about hang ing one of those bug zappers on the front porch when we want to enjoy the sunset. •we don’t have to worry about trying to convince ourselves that winter really isn’t all that bad. Bring on spring. 4 h chris bridges Chris Bridges is a reporter for The Banks County News. Contact him at 706-367-2745 or e-mail comments to chris@mainstreetnews.com.