Middle Georgia

The sky is clear tonight and the temperature is supposed to get down to the low teens tonight. I went upstairs, dodging the Kate crap as I went, and pulled my Icelandic Wool sweater out of the blanket chest. I can only wear it when the temperature is very cold. I bought it when I was living in Toccoa. I stopped at the Sautee Store on my way to Helen and saw it on a shelf in the back. I loved it and had to buy it. Unfortunately, the wool is so tough and warm that if it is not just totally frigid, it makes me sweat and itch. Tonight, the temperature got to Icelandic Wool Level.

Tomorrow, I get to drive up to Clayton County for a change. I wonder if the AJC
sells papers in Clayton County. They don't in Spalding County anymore. Apparently, we are beyond the pale in the world of Atlanta papers.

In the old days, the land around Dublin was considered under control. Anything outside Dublin and its environs was considered "beyond the pale." Now, we are beyond the pale. The uncivilized, wild rural lands.

I know there is an attitude about rural life in Georgia. Atlanta extends further north than it does south. That is sad, because this part of the state used to be in charge for a long time. Talmadge, Caldwell, Flynt, Bolton. Now, the political and cultural pull goes elsewhere.

Even artistically, this part of the state was once king. Sydney Lanier, Lena Horne, Ferroll Sams, Erskine Caldwell, Joel Chandler Harris, Flannery O'Conner and Margaret Mitchell, Vic Chesnutt, Otis Redding, Little Richard.

Even Martin Luther King, Sr. was from Henry County.

This was fertile ground. Perhaps, it still is.