Two By Two

I like to take pictures. When I worked for the Athens newspaper doing features and photography I went to a lot of events and I took a lot of pictures. In reviewing these, I noticed I tend to take photos of twos. Two things, two people...etc. Here is a photo essay of local people enjoying life, two by two.

At Carlton GA music fest

Two girls getting candy at Comer GA Christmas parade

At Farm Day, Mobile Dairy Exhibit for field trip elementary students

Two gentlemen catching up at Comer (GA) Fair

At a Lowery Gallery Art opening, Danielsville GA

Eastport ME 4th of July parade, USS McFaul Captain(l) and 2nd in Command

Gray ME, friends restoring Old Post Office historic building

Comer Farm Market, impromptu violin lesson

Danielsville GA, two Madison County High School football players recollecting a great play

Comer GA farmer's market, watermelon farmers talking

Working the polls

I mentioned that I worked the polls in the primary races this July. The district in which I worked, only 4 miles from my place, has a whopping 199 registered voters in it. We rent the old fellowship hall of an even older church as the polling place. New Hope Presbyterian Church, established in 1788, is Georgia's third oldest church and the area around it is still likely as rural (almost) as the day it was established in 1788. I arrived at the polling station at 6 am to crowing roosters and dewy mist.

And because it was a fellowship hall, the picture of Jesus dominates the view, even over the polling station :)

Another friend's backyard!

I had a nice visit with a friend yesterday. We ate lunch, a grilled cheese with potato salad and juice and tea. It was a hot day but the inside was cool, and we chatted and laughed. I got there just a few minutes before she arrived and contented myself with taking a few photos of the backyard while I waited.

There's a Corvette Stingray under the shelter out back. The license plate motto says "I'd rather be flying." LOL!

The odometer's measuring how fast the weeds are growing. Speedy weeds!

Former glory

Shadows and light

Shiny drums

Lucky door

Parade then snack

I had such a nice day today. The weather forecast was predicting a "wintry mix" of snow and rain, so many people were worried that the annual Christmas parade would be canceled or otherwise adversely affected. It is a large parade, and along with the participants there's also a with live nativity, vendors selling boiled peanuts and biscuit sandwiches and donuts, the annual Craft Fair over at the school, the 5K run, and children's choral performances. That's a lot of people who would be affected! But the day's dawned clouds quickly turned to sun. The sunshine warmed the temps a bit and the rain never came.

By 1:00 the day was warm if you stayed out of the wind and if you were in the wind it was still warm-ish. The crowd was relaxed and smiling, the animals at the live nativity were placid, the sun was high and all was well. I took lots and lots of photos, which can be viewed here. After a couple of hours outside and walking and walking, I headed home when the last horse passed by and the parade was officially done.

Mmm, 3:00 and time for a mid-afternoon snack. How about a toasted mini-muffin and a slice of lemon pound cake with fresh blueberries? Hot tea with milk completed the picture. So this is the real me: Formica fifties table oh-so-cute, snack with tea, and laptop. Mmm, life is good.

Slideshow of the Comer Fair, 2009

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Morning in Colbert

I attended an all-day training for the Good News Club today and we needed to leave early. I was driving through the rural countryside here in northeast GA this morning at 7:00 and was astounded again at how beautiful God's creation is. I arrived at the collecting point, Colbert Baptist Church, and snapped these two pictures as I waited for the rest of the team. At left is the garden across the street from the church, inside of which is a small labyrinth-like hedge and a leafy overhang where we have Easter sunrise service.

The second picture is of the crossroads street where the church is located, Fifth and Church Streets. Like any crossroads, one leads to a meandering way, and the other leads to salvation.

As we piled into the car and headed out across the county, we traveled one of the best and prettiest routes in the entire area. The morning fog (mist, really) was lifting but a heavy dew remained. We passed a pertly sitting black cat wearing a red ribbon with a bell, under a leafy tree. We rode by Crow Holler Farm. We rolled past a handmade sign advertising "Okra! cut daily." A work truck promoting "Specific Window Cleaning" sat idling in the driveway. Meanwhile the dew was drying and the sun was peeking over the greening hills. The rain we received last night perked up all the greenery and the cows were let out to pasture and happily munching.

All too soon we arrived at our destination and as I went up the brick steps into the training place I turned for one last glance. I looked out over the fields, fields that are alive with growing things that will be harvested soon. I praised the Lord that He sent me to such a beautiful place, and went inside to learn how to better harvest souls for Him.

Summer shots backyard

Is your bank safe and sound?

There have been five north GA banks that have failed last quarter or are on the problem list with cease and desist orders

• Freedom Bank, Commerce, has entered into a “cease and desist order” with state and federal regulators to overhaul the bank’s operations, December 27, 2008
• Haven Trust Bank, Duluth, GA, December 12, 2008
• First Georgia Community Bank, Jackson, GA, December 5, 2008
• The Community Bank, Loganville, GA, November 21, 2008
• Alpha Bank & Trust, Alpharetta, GA, October 24, 2008

The FDIC maintains a list of failed banks here. They also maintain a "watchlist" but refuse to make that list public but say that there are about 117 banks on the list of problems.

In addition, since, "[The FDIC is] fully expecting, over the course of the next 12 to 18 months, [that] there is going to be a rash of failures," said Nick Ketcha Jr., a former director of supervision at the FDIC who now serves as a managing director at the New Jersey-based financial services consulting firm FinPro," they are currently advertising for Bank Failure Specialists.

In our neck of the woods, the employment outlook is dim. Unemployment rate increases to 25-year high, so Madison Countians reluctantly asking for government aid.

With all that in mind, how can you be sure your own bank is stable? It is bad enough to have lost an average of 30% in retirement savings, to have lost or may lose a job, worries about the safety of the banking institution you use should not ad fuel to the anxiety fire. Bankrate.com has a Safe & Sound rating system that is widely accepted as a standard for determining if a bank is stable. Five stars is highest.

Merchant's and Farmer's Bank: **** "Sound."
BB&T (Branch Banking and Trust) *** "Performing"
First Madison Bank & Trust: *** "Performing"

The Bankrate system also rates credit unions. I didn't check banks in Athens or Commerce, but they are available to check by either bank name, city, or zip code.

Nobody can spell any more

Or maybe it's the proofreading that's gone downhill. Either way, it's a shame. The sign below fronts a nifty new historic-looking brick complex in Comer. The developer did a spectacular job with it, right down to the awnings. But the devil is in the details, and the misspelled word sort of breaks the spell. For me, anyway.



This one is in Danielsville, on the front of a window on another new development that is another great case of care and thoughtfulness in design. But the spelling...maybe not so much.

"A Good Life" at the ranch

I was briefly waiting for a friend to pick me up. We were going to the play "A Good Life" at the High School, a locally written and produced play based on the history and stories of local people. More on the play later. While I was waiting I snapped a few pictures. It was 7:30 in the evening and the sun had just gone down below the tree line.