April 24, 2005

Back from a little two-month hiatus…let me pour you a cup of nice expresso and we will chat a while. My computer is lucky it’s not consigned to the closet after gagging up on me so many times. What frustration! But, I think we are back in business.

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Folks in Peachtree Corners, Lilburn, and Norcross are moaning over being dumped by the Gwinnett Daily Post, supposedly our county newspaper and legal organ. Subscribers were not notified that their newspaper home delivery was stopped; one day we just didn’t get a newspaper. At my address, we thought the carrier just skipped us yet again and it took about five days for the true scoop to come out. With gasoline prices as high as they are, carriers can’t make too much money doing paper motor routes. It seems we were on a route that was 78 miles long, if you can believe that.

This situation makes me quite sad. This is the section of the county that does not receive a free Gwinnett Daily Post along with the cable bill. We were paid subscribers, but that did not matter. It seems that the Post management has whacked off loyal readers in this situation as we were no longer cost effective. They offered us delivery by mail, but who wants old news? We have yet to punch it up online as we are busy reading the three other newspapers we get in our driveway. Goodbye, Post.

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Congratulations and heartfelt thanks to Rick O’Brien and Technology Park/Atlanta for sinking thousands of dollars into the beautification and refurbishment of the Peachtree Parkway highway medians that bisect the Technology Park properties over here in Peachtree Corners. TP/A has cared for these three long medians for about thirty years or so, keeping them mowed, planted and looking quite nice. They have refurbished them this Spring, adding crape myrtles, Knockout roses, and beautiful river rock in the low places, as these are uncurbed highway drainage medians. If more people were as community conscious as Rick O’Brien, we’d all be the better for it.

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Now, if we can just get the selfish and ignorant folks to quit thoughtlessly flinging trash and cigarette butts out of their vehicles while driving along Peachtree Parkway , which is the main thoroughfare through Peachtree Corners, we would look even better all of the time. The United Peachtree Corners Civic Association (UPCCA), through its Peachtree Parkway Improvement Project, has contracted with Piedmont Landscape to mow all of the 16 medians and pick up trash on a weekly basis. This is a voluntary project to keep approximately four miles of parkway looking as good as possible. We want folks to know they are in Peachtree Corners!

UPCCA is participating in the cleanup of the parkway on April 30, 2005, from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful is providing the trash bags and bright vests for volunteers. Meet at The Forum. Come join us!

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Let me pass along the title of a wonderful book, my friends. “Ecology of a Cracker Childhood” by Janisse Ray is a must-read for people who think our natural world is important. I was really knocked back by this book and left sadly wondering what of our natural environment will be left for our grandchildren’s grandchildren. Ray writes about her formative years in the longleaf pine flats off Highway 1 in South Georgia and intersperses her narrative with rich descriptions of the flora and fauna of the area. I learned a lot from her, not the least of which is that the Southern hognose snake is proposed for endangered status. I fondly remember those shy little hognose snakes from years ago when my sons were youngsters. If spotted, the hognose would try to make you think he was a cobra, then he would literally roll over and try to make you think he was dead. He had a funny little turned up snout, hence his name. Now he is fighting for the life of his kind.

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I saw a beautiful baby ringneck snake in my yard a couple of weeks ago. They are quite shy also and rarely seen. In fact, I had to research just what he was as I’d never seen one before. He was velvety black with a yellow band around his neck, a non-poisonous species. There is a family of hawks, which have nested around here for about four years. On any given day the neighbors can hear the hawks screeching as they dive from the tall trees. They are quite good snake catchers so we really do not see all that many snakes. Everything in nature has a place in the web of life, a job to do. Read Janisse Ray’s book.

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The Tour de Georgia was quite something. I saw the peloton fly down Washington Street in Clarkesville , Georgia …and then they were gone! A one-minute thrill! We were standing on the balcony of the Baron York Café on the square, having just had owner Dea Irby’s fabulous Lance Armstrong quiche (cheesy ham and spinach—how’s that for a chuckle?) for lunch. The Baron York Café is one of my favorite places to visit and if you ever travel to Clarkesville, up in Habersham County , you MUST go visit Dea. Her homemade Brunswick stew is some of the best you’ll ever eat. Everybody gets her homemade Baron bread when they sit down; my husband loves it so much he always asks Dea if he can just have the rest of the loaf. All this and tablecloths, too! You will love the Baron York Café. You will love Dea Irby.

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We are having an unusual cold snap and are expecting frost tonight so I have brought in all of the ferns and Ruby Begonias and geraniums that were just set on the hanging stakes or in the stone pots. The ones that are already in dirt will have to weather the cold as I am not digging anything up! My fingers are crossed for their survival. I cannot remember having the furnace on at the end of April! Usually we are heating up in Georgia at this time, and I mean really heating up!

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Hope all is well. Thanks for reading and sticking with me.

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