Reaching 70 a milestone of a lifetime I reached a milestone last month that literally took my entire life to achieve. Furthermore, it is one that I will never achieve again. I turned 70. 70? More like 70!!! As the Sicilian says in the Princess Bride, "Inconceivable!" Like the Braves leading the NL East inconceivable. It is not that I didn't think I would live this long. It is just that living this long is hard to conceive until you do it. But it is only a measure of how many times the Earth has completed a circuit of the sun anyway. However, it did lead me to some musings. After all, a lot changes in seven decades. I was born at the edge of an era now gone. In those days there were houses without indoor plumbing, or telephones, or televisions, especially in the rural South. My paternal grandmother, who died the year before I was born, never lived in a house with electricity. Power lines were run to her house two weeks after she died. One aspect of living this long is all the things that once existed that are now gone. Take the house my parents lived in when I was born. Not
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By Ted Smith Marion T. "Ted" Smith is the author of a new book, “Life in the Park: A Novel.” It is available on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble. only does it not exist but the ground beneath it doesn't either. When they straightened Highway 140 they cut through the hillside it sat on. You can literally drive beneath where it sat. We were very poor. It took my father several years after serving in World War II to get his feet under him. As a result, for instance, I was 7 before we had indoor plumbing. If you have never used an outhouse, I can tell you it is an interesting experience, not only with yellow jackets flying around beneath you in summer but also with a cold North wind chilling your backside in winter. Needless to say, you don't mess around
Marinela Reka: “Being a daddy’s girl is like having a permanent armor for the rest of your life.”
in an outhouse. But by the time I was 7 my father had attained a good job and we entered the 20th century even though more than half of it was already gone. We got our first television, a black and white cabinet model. In those days there were only three channels: 2, 5, and 11. I remember anticipating new episodes of several programs but losing all interest when they went into reruns. Boy has that changed. The exception was the Wizard of Oz. It was only shown once a year (no kidding) which made it a big event. We also got our first telephone. It was on an eight party line. For those who don't know what that means, there were eight different households who literally shared one line to the telephone switchboard. I think there was a requirement that any eight party line must include one nosy person who would listen in on conversations or would seem to be using the phone all the time. Sometimes they were the same person. Some of the changes have been cultural. When I was in elementary school, we would have a "sock hop" each year. A sock hop was a dance in the gym in which you took off your shoes because they would scuff the hardwood floor. There was not much danger of that anyway because the boys sat on one side and the girls on the other for most of the night. There were no home computers then, or Wi Fi, and the iPhone was still just a twinkle in Steve Jobs' eye. I have tried to stay current with technology, but I will say one thing about the old days. We didn't have all these ways to entertain ourselves, and so we had to do it on our own. That generally meant playing outside winter and summer, and I believe I am the better for it. At the risk of sounding like the proverbial old man shouting for kids to get off his lawn, I think there is potential harm in all this technology. It seems to separate us - particularly iPhones - not only from the world around us but more importantly from each other. There is something eerie about seeing a group of people sitting together, each living in a separate reality via their phones. And the idea that soon we will all be connected electronically 24/7/365 I find very disturbing. Maybe it is just me, but I place a lot of importance on being able to disconnect from this fabricated electronic world, to take a walk, to garden, to look at the beautiful things in this world without taking a picture of them so I can post it on Facebook. Some, particularly the young, might dismiss all this as the quaint grumblings of a crazy old man, but I say that when you get to the age of 70 you are allowed to rant and rave. It is one of the few pleasures you have left. Oh, and I am legally obligated to tell you to take care of your teeth. It's the law.
There is something eerie about seeing a group of people sitting together, each living in a separate reality via their phones.
Bindi Irwin: “Dad is and always will be my living, breathing superhero.�
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very natural to me. I’m a born entertainer. Lora: What kind of, if any, creative routines or rituals do you have? Shane: I need all five senses involved to be able to write. I need music for sound. I also seek out smell, taste and touch. For a visual I want to be where people are. I go to piano bars, coffee shops, and restaurants so I need activity going on around me Lora: If you could do a reading anywhere where would it be? Shane: I think since my next novel Die by The Sword is set in England I would love to do a reading at Oxford University where my main character is a professor. I spent time at Oxford University doing research for this novel. Lora: What is your favorite creation of yours? Shane: Your most recent or last book should be your favorite because it’s most on my mind, but also writing improves every day even from the beginning of a book to the end of the same book. So with that said you can see how your best work would be the thing you just finished or are currently working on. Lora: Who is your biggest writer inspiration? Shane: Until recently I would have said Stephen King, but in the last month I’ve decided it’s JK Rowling because for her to create what she did with Harry Potter such as the relationships, the good and evil, and surprises throughout each novel is just amazing.
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Lora: What, if anything, are you trying to create with your books? Shane: I am creating a universe kind of like Game of Thrones. The first three are dwellers, and the second set is part of the dwellers universe. They are all connected to the first three books. Even if it is by one sentence or a dream sequence, they will all tie up. I am creating a universe. They will all stand alone, but they will also be tied to each other as well. Lora: Where can we find your books? Shane: Amazon is the best place to find them, and then I know I can also collect my royalties. Lora: Tell me about why you love writing. Shane: It’s just the output of my creative side. I knew I had it somewhere in me but did not always have the outlet for it. Lora: What do you see in the future for yourself? Shane: I think although I never planned or intended it, my style lends itself to movies. In my opinion any and all of my books would make good movies. That is what I would like to see. Since Georgia is now number one and has passed Hollywood in movie making there is no better place to be a writer than right here in Georgia right now. Lora: What is something you would like to pursue but haven’t? Shane: I’ve done most of what I’ve wanted to do, but I think I could like to write song lyrics so I would like to try my hand at that one day.
Harper Lee, Go Set a Watchman: “She did not stand alone, but what stood behind her, the most potent moral force in her life, was the love of her father.”
was born. Some I just know, and some are an incident like this. Brain in Third Person came from my stroke and me always talking about my brain in third person. I was in a bar one night telling someone about my brain and I not agreeing on things and realized I do talk about my brain in third person and someone said that would be a great name for the book. I decided to write a book based on the character suffering a brain injury and becoming a serial killer. Lora: What book are you reading now? Shane: Obscura by Joe Hart who is Stephen King’s son. He is more like the older and more authentic Stephen King writing style with his horror. Lora: What are your current projects? Shane: Die by the Sword which is the one set at Oxford University is my current project. The main character has been killing for 40 years with a sword concealed in his walking stick. Lora: Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members. Shane: That one is easy. It was the Southern Collective Experience hands down. I am the prose editor for our cultural journal The Blue Mountain Review. Lora: Do you have to travel much concerning your book(s)? Shane: I will and do travel for research for the contents of my novels
and the characters. Lora: Who designed the cover of your book(s)? Shane: My publisher does this, but I do get input into the decisions. I’ve been known to veto a few before we agree and settle on one. Lora: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it? Shane: Doing research is the most important thing so I learn a lot with each book through doing research. Lora: Is there anything new and exciting coming up that you want to share? Shane: I am getting some film interest on one of my books, and hopefully I will be able to make an official announcement sometime in the near future. In the conclusion of the interview I asked Shane if there was anything he would like the public and his fans to know about him that I had not yet touched on, and this is what he had to say: “My biggest pet peeve is when people call me an author. I can’t stand it, well in reality I hate it, because you can publish a geometry textbook and it makes you an author. I call myself a writer or a novelist or an absurdly brilliant writer I say with tongue firmly planted in cheek.” It was truly a pleasure hearing the story of how the writer Shane Etter came to be.
Hedy Lamar: “I am not ashamed to say that no man I ever met was my father’s equal, and I never loved any other man as much.”
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most of all collect and recycle. These things were going to war! Can you imagine collecting grease for bullets? What about scrap rubber, aluminum cans and even foil off of chewing gum. We saved paper, scrap metal and probably lots of other things. Then in addition to volunteer saving and recycling, the government had a vast number of things rationed. Yes, you could not go to the store as we do today and buy whatever you needed. It was only if you had a ration book with stamps which limited your family purchasing certain items. The Ration Board issued books for various things for each member of the family, and when they were used up, that was all until the next issue. These contained certain valued stamps which were torn out at time of purchase. People were into this war effort, and we went along with this as part of the fight. Merchants had to keep up with the rationed stamps and had to give an account to the OPA - Office of Price Administration. I remember all of this because my Daddy quoted it all the time and was so very strict. Food was among things to which we had to adapt. Rationed were sugar, coffee, canned foods, meat and margarine, and probably some other foods. I remember margarine came wrapped in a onepound block with no color. This white “stuff” looked like lard to me! Included in the package was a small capsule of color which could be worked into the pound, or to cook, Mama used it plain white. My daddy was most interested in the gas rationing. Each person had to present to the Board the estimated number of miles to be driven that month – only to work, church, hospital, or other vital trips. You were issued gas stamps for this amount only. If you needed a car part, forget it! They, too, had gone to war along with tires and oil. If you wanted a new car, you could almost forget it! You had to sign up with a dealer and wait your turn for one to come in which was many months sometimes. Then most everyone had to deal with a worn out pair of shoes, and
the ladies had no nylon hose, for the nylon was now making parachutes. These, too, were rationed and had to be purchased with your little ration books. Of course, we heard of folks buying and selling items on the black market, but oh, no, not my daddy! If this were today, we would probably see protest groups, but then we had all gone to war! The most vital part of my war experiences, and the most memorable one was the buying of War Bonds and Stamps. Children saved their nickels and dimes and bought a little stamp for small change and licked it into a stamp book. When this book of stamps amounted to $18.75, you could buy a War Bond which when matured would give you $25. Most adults would just buy the bond, but kids were taught to save and get a stamp. I remember counting my change my folks would occasionally give me and maybe it would not be too long until I could get another stamp! The bottom line in all of this is that through these war years I had enough stamps to obtain two – yes, two – War Bonds. These went safely into the bank and through the years I forgot about them. After I was grown and married with one child, our church was building an educational building. Those families just starting out could not afford an additional offering for the building fund. It worried me until it finally dawned on me that I had in the bank two War Bonds! When I cashed them, I had the great sum of $62. Not much of an investment, but it was a war effort and a special payoff at this time. Not all of our war year experiences were so bad. Somehow we got enough gas to visit my daddy's parents in middle Georgia. When you got below Atlanta the highways were filled with soldiers and sailors going home on leave. Naturally, they were hitch-hiking. We knew daddy would pick one up, but we always began to beg him. He would talk
Unknown: “A daughter may outgrow your lap, but she will never outgrow your heart.”
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them to death about their military experience. My sister and I were too young to flirt, but we were always excited. When they got to their destination, daddy would stop and let them out. As a thank you, when the car started to pull out, they would stand at attention and salute until we were out of sight. Is it any wonder I was patriotic? As the years rolled on, I became a young teenager, and the news was that the war was about to be over and won as well! Everybody was celebrating when the news came that the United States was the victor! I have always regretted that I did not ask and insist that daddy take me into town for folks were in the streets celebrating. Had I been there, I would have been the most patriotic of all! Daddy kept the newspapers on the end of the war. It would have taken warehouses to have kept all the war stories. April 1945, Atlanta Constitution – “750 BOMBERS POUND BERLIN” “B-29s POUR MORE ON TOKYO” “WILD CELEBRATION IN NATION” “PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT DIES' May 8, 1945 Chattanooga Times – “SURRENDER ENDS WAR IN EUROPE” “WILD CELEBRATION IN NATION” August, 1945, Atlanta Constitution –
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“WAR WEARY WORLD AT PEACE AS BEATEN JAPS SURRENDER” “ALLIED WORLD GLAD IN MAD JUBLIATION” After the war there were many adjustments that had to be made in our country, which included our little spot on earth. Everything got back in the swing with servicemen coming home, families united, rationing over, and multiple other blessings. Then there were the families who had to manage their lives without a husband and father. In the middle of McCaysville is a war memorial monument containing the names of those killed in the war. All four sides are engraved memorials. The city keeps this area groomed with the grass always mowed. Also there are flags and proper wreaths placed there from time to time. This monument stands remembering those who have fallen. Our nation has not always been so jubilant through the years, as we have continued to have wars and rumors of wars. I, along with others, remain still that patriotic kid who believes in this nation. I am reminded of an incident with my oldest daughter when she was only 4 years old. She had learned the pledge to the flag at church. Whenever she would see a flag she would stop and say the pledge – with one exception. When she got to “with liberty and justice for all,” she would say, “with liberty and just fine for all.” Sorry, but things are not “just fine” for her generation and some to follow, but most are still patriotic. All that can be said is “GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
Linda Poindexter: “When my father didn’t have my hand, he had my back.”
FREEDOM IS NOT FREE (EDITOR’S NOTE: As a newspaperman in Calhoun for more than three decades, one of the joys of my life came whenever I received an envelope full of stories written by my good friend Vernon Brookshire. He had been my uncle Grover Dinsmore’s boss at the old Echota Cotton Mill in Calhoun for years, so I always knew of him as I was growing up. But it was as an adult that I grew to appreciate what he and other veterans of World War II had done for our country, preserving the freedoms we sometimes take for granted these days. I’m so grateful that Mr. Brookshire took the time in his later years to write down his experiences during and after the war. He passed away at age 90 a decade ago, but a few days ago, I ran across a box full of those envelopes and decided that he would be thrilled to know that a new audience was waiting for him to share his memories in The Best of the North Georgia Mountains. Each issue, we will include his reminiscences for our readers and hope you enjoy them as much as we have. The following story was first sent to me on June 16, 2000 in advance of the Fourth of July, which he called “the most important holiday in the history of our nation to celebrate our heritage and commemorate how we won our freedom, and the ensu-
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ing many hard-fought wars to keep our freedom.”)
By VERNON BROOKSHIRE I visited the Minute Man National Historical Park, the Minute Man Statue, and the rebuilt Bridge at Concord, Mass., where the “Embattled Farmers” began the American Revolution on April 19, 1775. By the rude bridge that arched the flood Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled. Here once the Embattled Farmers stood And fired the shot heard around the world. This poem was the first stanza of a hymn written by Ralph Waldo Emerson – a poet and patriot – and sung at the completion of the Concord Monument on April 19, 1836. Only the first stanza is inscribed on a stone near the edge of the rebuilt bridge, but the other little known stanzas are worth remembering to complete the story: The foe long in silence slept; Alike the conqueror silent sleeps; And Time the ruined bridge has swept Down the stream which seaward creeps.
Unknown: “A daughter needs a dad to be the standard against she will judge all men.”
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By JOE COBB CRAWFORD
HOW YA DOIN’?
(EDITOR’S NOTE: We’re glad to have Joe Cobb Crawford join the writing staff of The Best of the North Georgia Mountains today.) He said, “I’ve seen better days. But, you know what? I’ve seen worse days too. With the Good Lord’s help, I got through those bad days and He’ll see me through these days too.” The old man was responding to my question, “How are you doing?” It’s a salutation question people of the South do out of habit. His response made me stop and think. I recalled another’s response to that question that was nothing like the wise old man’s response… I was a young project engineer back then. My manager was eager to make his mark on the corporate wall. He had flown south to survey the progress on a project he was tasked with completing on time and under budget. Knowing just a smidgen about southern civility, our customs, and mannerisms, he asked my co-worker for the project: “How are you doing?” My co-worker responded: “Well, really, not so good. My wife is taking chemo, I lost my Dad a month ago, and my son has diabetes. Every morning before work I get up and get his food for the day and give him his shot. The wheels seem to be falling off and there doesn’t seem to be enough hours in my days anymore.” The manager faked a smile, looked away, and perfunctorily said: “That’s great. That’s nice. That’s nice. Glad to hear it, now let me tell you about this other project I need you to do for me.” He then proceeded to go over with us a project schedule, complete with benchmarks and deadlines. I do not recall if the manager’s project was completed as he had planned. I simply lost interest in his project. I do recall how I felt about his priorities and his inability to listen. Poet Maya Angelou was right. “…people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” nJoe Cobb Crawford is a southern author of six books and numerous essays, poems and short stories. A Blue Ridge, Georgia based murder mystery entitled, The LIES We BURY, gained him recognition as an Author of the Year nominee by the Georgia Writers Association. His next book, an anthology entitled SIT A SPELL, was released on Memorial Day, 2018.
Satchel Paige: “Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching.”
H. Jackson Brown Jr.: “Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye.”
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An old man and a dog What is it about old men and dogs? I really didn’t learn what they are good for until I was nearly 60. Oh I had had dogs before, but I was raised with a farmer’s mentality. Dogs were only pets of a sort. Mostly they were kept because they could be used in hunting and because they were good guardians. And they always stayed outside. It is not that I hunted or needed guards, but like a lot of things in life I just didn’t question my own attitude. But all that changed in 2004 when I got Darwin. He was a beagle and Boston terrier mix. That whole dogs-stayoutside thing went out the window the first night. He was only a little over 5 weeks old. And when I put him in a box beside my bed, he whimpered so plaintively that I put him in bed with me. And so it began. For the next 12 years he was my friend and constant companion. He had many nicknames: the mutant wonder dog, turkey butt, sirbarks-a-lot, sir poops-a-lot, old man, and the old bastard. The latter name came courtesy of my daughter, who took care of him while I was hospitalized with a stroke. One day she said, “I kind of like the old bastard” and it stuck. Over time I came to understand a lot about him. He was not overly affectionate and could be irascible, especially when he was overstressed. He never backed down from anything, and he had an independent spirit. I always liked that about him. And he had a problem with females - dogs, horses, donkeys - they would attack him for no reason. And on occasion he even had issues with women. While I was hospitalized, my daughter and granddaughter decided to trim his nails. In order to keep him from biting, they taped his mouth shut. When they finished and untaped him, he walked a few feet away then turned and came back to bite my daughter on the hand. It was not a vicious bite but more of a statement, like he was saying, “Don’t do that.” He turned and walked away, then turned back and bit her again, then did it one more time just to make sure she got the message. Once while on a camping trip he was attacked by a fellow camper’s dog, a female, and got stepped on as we separated them. He lay down at my feet and I could sense that he was in pain. After a few minutes I said, “Are you ready to go to bed?” He got up and limped toward our tent. I tucked him in, and he promptly went to sleep. In 2015 he had a neurological event and began to lose his sight. Then he began to struggle to walk and could not hear. Stumbling
By Ted Smith
Marion T. "Ted" Smith is the author of a new book, “Life in the Park: A Novel.” It is available on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble.
through life blind and deaf is no life for a dog, so I had him euthanized. It was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. My granddaughter Chessie, a vet tech, had the unwelcome task of handling Darwin’s euthanasia. She took him to the animal hospital where she works in the ER. When they arrived the place was slammed so she started an IV, gave him a healthy dose of Valium, and let him sleep in a crate. The vet said his symptoms were consistent with those of a brain tumor. Darwin and Chessie always had a somewhat contentious relationship. Chessie has a remarkable ability to deal with animals. They recognize her as the alpha female. She was once in a stall alone with a Clydesdale who was refusing to cooperate. She grabbed him by his harness, pulled his head down so she could look him in the eye, and told him to stop. He stopped. But Darwin simply would not back down. I saw him attacked several times by larger dogs, and I had to pull him away because he refused to quit the fray. So he never took kindly to Chessie asserting her dominance. When it came time to euthanize him she placed him on the examination table and partly held him in her arms while the vet administered the medicine. As the drug began to take hold, he quietly laid his head on her shoulder and then died. Tears began to well up in her eyes. Then he pooped all over her. “Don’t take it personally,” the vet said. “They relax their muscles when they die.” “Oh, no,” Chessie said wryly, “this is a perfect summation of our relationship.” Please don’t feel sorry for Darwin. He had a good life. And in the process he made my life better, so don’t feel sorry for me either. The measure of what is lost only reflects the measure of what was gained.
George Herbert: “One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters.”
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“As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big.” - Donald Trump
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Is that snake a?
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“A person can succeed at almost anything for which they have unlimited enthusiasm.� - Charles M. Schwab
“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.� - Albert Einstein
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