June 19, 2010

The past several days made me think of a song recorded by Hank Williams, Jr. called Country State of Mind and its opening line that goes "that old hot ole summer sun will make you beg for your next breath." It was blistering hot all week and getting into the car in the afternoon is kind of like climbing into a pizza oven. It made me recall a time when people cooled the car off by rolling down the window and going 60 miles an hour. I didn't own a car that was air conditioned until I came to Atlanta a good 15 years after high school. Do you remember when folks cooled off their houses by big window fans? My Uncle Henry had a huge fan in his kitchen that came from a cotton gin and it had the velocity of a Delta 767 jet. I am going to sign over my next check to Georgia Power because I'm sure I'll owe them that much trying to keep the house in the comfortable range. I remember how much my grandmother enjoyed the columns of Frances Greene who edited these pages for decades. She worked deligently to make sure the paper got out and delivered on time. She had her finger on the pulse of our community she was a marvelous person. Her father Dr. Harry Bible Forrester taught me chords on the tenor banjo when I was in high school and Doc Forrester served as a biology teacher at Tallapoosa High School for a while after serving as a college professor at Piedmont College and North Georgia College. I enjoy hearing from readers of the Tallapoosa Journal. Several days back I heard from Larry Cash who is a reader from Buchanan. He and I had a nice phone conversation about his life growing up in Haralson County, graduating from Buchanan High School in 1965 and going to Vietnam to serve his country. From his voice weakened over the years due to service related health problems I could tell he genuinely loved America. He did voice concerns and frustrations in dealing with the Veterans Administration and the miles of red tape he had to go through to get treatment at a V A hospital. I got to thinking that if the President of the United States is wanting to expand government, he could channel some resources to the Veterans Administration and try to cut the complicated mess for the people that put their lives on the line for our freedom. In a couple of weeks we celebrate the 234th birthday of our country. We wouldn't have that day to celebrate had it not been for people that served in the armed forces. I'm just saying. The situation in the Gulf of Mexico has been so frustrating. Did you all get really tired of the song and dance we got on television newscasts on who is at fault and who should clean it up? We KNOW who should clean it up. If I ever made a mess growing up, my mama made sure I had to clean it up. All I know is our plans for a beach vacation are on hold for a while. The only beach that I know of that is oil free is the one at Tanner State Park. We are inching closer and closer to the 150th anniversary of our town and I for one am excited about the fun we are all going to have in the celebration. I hope you have emailed, called, texted, Twittered, or Facebooked everyone and invited them to come to Tallapoosa the weekend before Labor Day.

Rhubarb Jones is a Tallapoosa native and serves on the administrative faculty at Kennesaw State University. He can be reached via email at rhubarbjones@aol.com or professorrhubarb@gmail.com

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