Grooving

Have you ever had one of those weeks where nothing special really happened, but really a lot of special things happened? I spent part of this week chauffeuring my son around. The old Mercury has been acting up, so he got me to take him to work and take him home every day. I had to get up before daylight and drive through the dark to pick him up. He'd usually make me wait a little while before we loaded up the car and blasted off to Bob's. By then, daylight made it possible to see.

The other day, I picked Scout up in Sugar Valley, and we headed on back to Resaca. The sky was blue, and everything was clear around us. We drove east past the river down highway 136 and turned right to cut across the backroads to Bob's house in Red Bud. Gordon county is a particularly beautiful place. There are farms along the way. It is hilly and pastoral. We ran into blankets of fog as far as the eye could see all the way to Bob's. I wonder if that is what the hills of Scotland look like in the morning.

Bob's driveway had hay strewn all over it. Scout explained it had fallen off as they brought hay to the farm. There was a huge stack of big round hay bales covered with a giant tarp. Scout pointed out a stack of rafters Bob had for his new barn. His other barn had burned down. That's why all the hay is under the tarp.

I usually pulled up close to the house and let Scout unload the car. Every day he carried a coat and a square pink Igloo cooler*, compliments of me, and his lunch. Scout doesn't usually eat out but he eats outside. They aren't usually close to any restaurants. They were putting up a fence in Murray county this week. Scout said he had fun putting a fence across a creek. I don't know if he was serious or not. He got his boots wet so that probably wasn't comfortable. 

This morning I dropped Scout off for work and headed back home. When I got to Resaca, instead of turning right to go home, I hung a left at highway 41 and drove the extra mile or so down the road, past the new Gordon County jail, to Hardee's for one of my favorite breakfasts. That's a treat.

Only, this time, I noticed they were awfully skimpy on the bacon and egg. It was mostly biscuit, and I sure didn't need that. I get plenty of starch daily, thank you very much. When I fork over money for food, I'd like to have some sustenance. Ya know what I mean? Anyway, I brought breakfast home for me and my baby. Baby, being the operative word.

Colt comes home on the weekend so 'momma' can do his laundry and give him a little tender loving care like nobody but momma can do. Ain't I right, ladies?

On a similar note I was talking to my cousin the other day and mentioned that I saw Scout with a roll of my paper towels under his arm as he was getting ready to leave. She said, "Yeah, isn't it nice when they come shopping like it's Walmart?" Yeah, really! Now the shoe is on the other foot, I understand what a nuisance I was when I was young.

Nothing much else happened except Donny's birthday was this week. Now we will be the same age for half a year. That always makes me smile a little.

In closing, all I can say is ...

AS ALWAYS

PIO

* I think the pink cooler adds a degree of  joie de vivre to the day.

An Update

Thursday I went to my dental implant dentist and had my teeth cleaned. They gave me a clean bill of health and want me to come back in six months. They have been so nice to me that I took them a bag of greens. 

Our turnip greens have taken over the garden. Donny likes to cook a 'big mess' of them on weekends. We've got so many that we've been sharing them with some of our friends and family. I like having something to eat out of the garden this time of year. This is only the second time that we ever had a late garden. I wouldn't mind making it a tradition.

After I got out of the dentist's office I stopped at Momma's and Daddy's to see what Momma had been doing with Scout's couch. Momma hasn't been able to resist working on their couch. It's coming along nicely.


I went back to the upholstery shop today and helped Momma work on the couch. We worked on the cushions and scrapped the first plan and are now on to the second. I'll take some pictures after we get it together. Momma and I are on a roll.


Speaking of being on a roll, wonder what's up with that 'tree'? Maybe it's one of those politically correct type Christmas trees designed to appeal to the masses. Maybe it's an antenna that will get signals from Mars. Maybe it's a big old squirrel cage for them to play on. Welcome to the 21st century in the south. 


Good old Gordon County. Last winter a dump truck with a scraper blade. loaded with gravel fell through the parking deck at the court house. Maybe they took the insurance money and used it to buy this beautiful (cough, cough) holiday decoration. I don't know. I only know I wish I could vote on the commissioners but I can't because I live in the county. I can't even vote for Resaca's commissioners because we don't live in the city limits. That's just downright annoying.

Watch out for the Grinch.

Everybody look lively out there. Home invasions and daytime burglaries are on the rise. My sister-in-law was robbed this week. My cousin told about a couple of strangers showing up at her house late at night, up to no good. The thieves and lowlifes are cranking up their business for the holiday season. Don't be caught unaware.


I just wanted to thank the people who commented on my previous post. Since no one guessed what PIO stands for, and only one person commented, I guess Jerry won by default. Thank you Jerry for kindly guessing. I'll contact you soon about your pepper.

I'll be back when I'm feeling better. I think I've caught a bug.

AS ALWAYS

PIO

Up A Tree

The thing that attracted me to Don when I first met him was the fact that he could "do things". He wasn't afraid to work on his own car or get dirty and work hard. He was a man's man. He wasn't big and flashy but he was focused and determined. No matter what the job, Don proved himself more than capable of the challenge.

He built a small shelf out of old oak boards from a pallet and produced an attractive place to display his stuffed raccoons. He had two young raccoons mounted on a tree limb. He also displayed a huge mule deer he had shot in Colorado hanging on the living room wall. He even built a seven by ten foot shelf for our books and TV. He never ceased to amaze me at what he was able to accomplish.

We bought a home in Gordon County and Don has done everything around here that has improved the place. He landscaped the yard so that it doesn't flood under the house when it rains. He put all the gutters on the house without any help. He even put a six foot high fence around the yard for the kids when they were little. Our whole backyard is enclosed.

We had an old dilapidated building that we use for storage. There is a huge old pine tree that grows beside the old barn. Don worried that the limbs would fall off the tree and crash through the barn. This began to really worry him over a long period of time until he finally decided to climb up the tree and cut some precariously loose limbs.

Don had a good chain saw and an extension ladder. He got an early start and climbed up the tree to begin to discard weak branches. The boys and I went somewhere and were gone for a long time. After we came back home we found out that Don had been cutting tree limbs when a big pine limb hit the ladder and knocked it down. He had been standing on another big limb way up high and he couldn't figure any way to get out of the tree or how to retrieve the ladder. He was stuck up a tree!

Don said he sat on the tree limb for a long time yelling for anybody to come and help him down. Our neighbor, Jay, finally heard him calling and came down to see what was wrong. She had a good laugh when she got here and saw him sitting on a tree limb. It was a good thing he had left the fence open or she wouldn't have been able to get in the backyard to help him. She came over and put the extension ladder back up for him so that he could finally come down. He decided to tie a rope to the ladder so that he could pull the ladder back up if he knocked the ladder down again. He didn't want to be stuck again.

That's my Paul Bunyon story about Don.

AS ALWAYS PIO

Why Everybody Needs Health Care

I've been going though some dental problems for the last couple of years and it's not cheap. I was diagnosed with periodontal disease. First they planed and scaled my teeth close at the gums. My teeth started getting loose and backing out so I had to go to a specialist. He had to do a bone graft. My teeth were finally healed enough for him to do reconstructive surgery on my gums. I am having trouble with them and don't know what he will do next. We don't have dental insurance so the entire cost is on us. My hygenist said that periodontal disease has been linked to heart disease so the health of my teeth is very important to me.

When we need glasses or contacts we have to pay the entire cost for those, too, because the insurance we have doesn't cover it. My son's have to have a special prescription because their eyes are so bad and the contacts have never been cheap. I don't know how people can afford to go to the doctor and the dentist and the eye doctor and take every member in their family to make sure everyone is healthy and their needs are provided for when it costs so much for glasses and everything. The economy is bad and people have lost their jobs and can't afford to pay that COBRA (or whatever it is) to keep their insurance and they can't even get proper medical care.

I know someone who looks as healthy as a horse but he developed diabetes and has had to be admitted to the hospital because his sugar was so high. He has never had a good job with benefits so he doesn't have insurance. He would never even qualify for insurance if the government hadn't approved the health care act. He doesn't check his sugar every day because he can't afford the test strips. Never mind the fact that he should be on insulin. His blood sugar has spiked over 600 and it is destroying his body. He can't keep it down. He should be able to go to the doctor and get proper attention and medicine to regulate his body but he can't. He is probably just one of millions of people who really do need to go to the doctor, whether they can afford to or not.

I dread it when my husband retires because we won't be able to afford insurance. I can remember my grandmother sitting at the table writing payments for her insurance and it was ridiculous. The cost of health care is outrageous and insurance is sky-rocketing. If everyone had yearly health exams people could be monitored and treated for any unforseen health problems. Fewer people would develope chronic diseases before they were out of control. That should cut down on health cost and provide a healthier nation. It shouldn't be too expensive to go to your GP or gynecologist or dentist.

I don't know how many times I have to say that. "Everybody should be able to go to the doctor." No doctor or dentist, no matter what their specialty, should be able to refuse service to you because you are poor or don't have insurance. Lower income people should have government supplements, if that is what it takes, to make doctors care for patients.

I can remember when being a doctor was a noble profession and doctors didn't turn you away because you didn't have insurance. I doubt many people had insurance years ago. Dear old Doctor Rosen had a first come, first serve service. You went into the waiting room and gave the receptionist your name and she put you on the list. After everyone  who came before you had their turn you was led into the exam room and got the doctor's full attention. I can even remember the last time I saw Doctor Rosen make the last house call in our family. He would come to the house with his little black bag and take care of you if you was too sick to go to his office. He even came to the house when there was a death in the family and he gave my aunt a sedative. You won't find any doctors doing things like that in this day and age. They're in too much of a hurry and aren't willing to go that extra mile. They're probably afraid of law suits, too.

I don't understand why the general public is so against universal health care. Most people don't go to the doctor because they want to; they go because they are sick. It would be a lot cheaper for everyone to have their own doctor than to have to run to the emergency room whenever they are sick. I hate to go to the doctor so I wouldn't go to the hospital unless I thought it was a real emergency. If people had a regular doctor he could monitor their medicines and make sure they weren't mixing medicines or overdosing or taking something that wasn't good for them. He could educate them on how to care for themselves and help them feel empowered about their own health.

I also know someone who had little kids and didn't know better than to let them sleep with a bottle in their mouths and these gorgeous little kid's teeth started rotting at the gum line. Nobody had bothered to teach them not to do this to protect the kid' teeth. I made the horrible accident of giving one some candy and he started screaming in pain. I was so sorry that I had given him candy. If they had of had a caring doctor he should have taught the young parents how to care for their kid's teeth.

As we grow older our bodies start falling apart and you can be healthy one day and falling apart the next. My sons, who are young, think I am kidding but it happens to everyone.

We live in one of the greatest countries in the world in this 21st century. We believe in freedom for all and that includes all men and women and all races and ethnicities. We like to pride ourselves on our generous and humanitarian attitude. As one of the greatest democracies ever established we should extend the protection of LIFE to everyone, not the least of these being the poor and regular people.

I am perplexed with people who are adament that the government shouldn't be involved in health care. Insurance companies aren't going to voluntarily cover people who are sick and need coverage. They hunt for every loop hole they can find to cancel a policy if they can, especially if someone is running up thousands of dollars with a long term illness. Lobbist's work to protect the insurance companies. Nobody is working to protect the people.

Gordon County has a man with a cancer that has eaten up his face. He is one of about 16 people who have contracted this disease and the only one who has survived so long. He had reconstructive surgery and was beginning to look normal again until his face started to split and he is back to living with a hole in his face. He is pitiful but, thank God, he is still optimistic. The doctors are going to try to reconstruct his face again. His family has to be facing millions of dollars in doctor and hospital and surgical bills but the community has had some fund raisers for him. Nobody should have to face such a devastating medical condition and also have to worry about paying his medical bills. He and his wife need all their energy to fight this disease and not worry about money. His name is Donnie Fritts.

I know some people who contracted Tuberculosis in this community and they had to be treated at the county health center for the disease. Since it is a potentially contagious disease the health department treated everyone without charge. One or two people refused to take the medicine on schedule so they were given some shot, I think. I don't know if this would qualify them as having a pre-existing condition but if it does they wouldn't qualify for insurance without the changes that have been enacted in the congress.

Health care isn't a luxury. Health care is a primary need. It is as important as clean water, sanitation, and safe food. We shouldn't differenciate between rich people and poor people. We shouldn't point fingers and blame others. We should be our brothers keeper.

If America can afford to spend billions of dollars for two wars and borrow money from a communist country, China, to pay for it, surely we can afford to make sure every American man, woman, and child has health care. We have poured millions of dollars into rebuilding Iraq after we blew it up and yet we refuse to make sure our own citizens have health care. I am ashamed that people are so callous and uncaring towards their fellow men. I am doubly ashamed that Christians think this is right. All I can say is "What would Jesus do?"

PIO

My Community

Resaca is a small town in northwest Georgia between Dalton and Calhoun. When we first moved here there was an old general store and a small post office and an old house used for council meetings. Resaca has an elementary school and numerous churches of different denominations. For a while the Calhoun Times printed stories about Resaca's council in power struggles and clashes between members. I enjoyed their antics and wished many times I could have voted in the elections. Unfortunately since I live outside of the city limits I could only watch on the sidelines. One of my favorite council members was Miss Julia Baker who lived to be 94 years old. She passed away last April.

Miss Julia stopped by the house one time when we were selling honey. She pulled up into our driveway and started honking the horn until I went outside to see what she wanted. She told me that she wanted to buy some honey and started telling me who she was. She said that she was on the Resaca council and she had even carried the torch in the Olympics when they came through Georgia on the way to Atlanta. Miss Julia had been a very tall woman when she was young but she was stooped over with osteoperosis and used a cane when I saw her. I thought she was delightful and seemed like a jolly old soul but I didn't believe a word she said until I started reading her name in the paper when there was an article about all the fighting between the councilmen. Miss Julia wasn't afraid to stand up to the men in the council and fight for what she believed in.

Today we have a Dollar General Store and the new Gordon County Jail was built next to the new Gordon County Fire Department on Highway 41 in Resaca. The Resaca Council voted to create a police department and even hired a chief and several deputies but when the Sheriff's department was relocated so close to Resaca they voted to abolish it and contract the Sheriff's department to patrol Resaca for them.

I haven't seen a lot of crime in Resaca but I have witnessed several high speed chases up and down the highway in front of our house. Sometimes the chase would be coming from Whitfield County and other times the chase would come from Gordon County. I have seen one high speed chase go in one direction and later they came flying back down the road in the other direction. I'd still like to know how they were able to turn around and go in the other direction without being stopped. I'd also like to know what happened to them but it seems I never see anything about them in our local paper.

When we moved to Resaca from Whitfield County I felt like I had stepped back in time. The first time I noticed a difference was when I went to the Gordon County Courthouse. I had become jaded to the rude and impersonal clerks at the Dalton courthouse who made you feel like you was wasting their time. When I had to go to the courthouse in Gordon County everyone was helpful and friendly.

Resaca is a nice place to live. It is a slow paced little community that is steeped in history and beautiful countryside. Over the years we have seen some strange and incredible and funny things. Resaca means "dry river bed" or "drunk". But I prefer to believe the story of the man waiting for the train who ordered the mail order bride and when he saw how ugly she was he said "Resack 'er, boys, and send her back!" Now that sounds like something that would happen in Resaca.


PIO