Georgia Magazine - June 2012 - (Page 34)

A collection of readers’ favorite ‘Viewpoint’ columns from GEORGIA Magazine Back flap 3.15 Spine .8125 It’s My View U.S. $19.98 Chasing ﬁreﬂies BY BILLY TOUCHBERRY a. a. It’s My View A collection of readers’ favorite ‘Viewpoin columns from GEORGIA Magazine t’ Order W your copy now ' life hen Paul Wood writes about modern for in his monthly “Viewpoint” column GEORGIA Magazine, his plainspoken to reflections are often laced with references up in the small lessons he learned while growing town of Natchitoches, La. columns to One has only to read a couple of a life grounded in family, gain an appreciation for faith and education. distinction: Small towns in the 1950s had one was often The character of the town’s youth their mission shaped by adults who accepted, as to responsible in life, putting every child on a path a time when and successful citizenship. It was mantra of every “Remember who you are” was the to be small-town mother, a cautionary warning out the on your best behavior when you walked never forgot door to meet the world. A teenager “put you on that anyone in the community could report.” you’ll In Wood’s column, “Good vibrations,” ‘n’ roll was remember growing up when rock not always born, perhaps with parents who did I should get a understand it. In “My mother says sense of raise,” you’ll discover Paul’s purposeful and “What’s humor. In “The parade of our time” about the it all about,” he waxes philosophical friends and tough meaning of life. In “Good stood by you times,” you’ll think of someone who has plenty of when the going was rough. He also job, patriots advice for graduates looking for a families seeking celebrating the Fourth of July and their children. a more meaningful Christmas for on how elected There is also considerable comment better at all officials could make government work the considered levels. Hardly any subject escapes opinion of Paul Wood. columns This collection of readers’ favorite past; it is a is more than a nostalgic look at the lessons Wood reminder that many of those early as they were learned are just as applicable today believes in mid-20th-century America. Wood that, when every person possesses a unique gift capacity to discovered and cultivated, has the the reader change the world. At the very least, light is apt to find Wood’s insights a helpful vex our for understanding the problems that America. complicated world in early 21st-century on back flap) (Contined L a. in Ga. Ga. Ga. Ga. 2011 Membership Corp. President/CEO, Georgia Electric By Paul Wood More than 100 of Paul Wood’s top “Viewpoint” columns in a 6-by-9-inch hardcover book of 200-plus pages! Copies are available for $19.98, including shipping. Mail your check for $19.98 per copy to: GEORGIA Magazine/Viewpoint, P Box 1707, Tucker, GA 30085, or go .O. online to www.georgiamagazine.org to place your order and be billed. Order your copy now! My order/“Bill me address”: Name Address (No P.O. Boxes) City / State / ZIP Email Address Phone County Send gift copy to: Name Address (No P.O. Boxes) City / State / ZIP (Use additional sheet for more gifts.) Total Copies Ordered: Total Payment Enclosed: Make check payable to and mail to: GEORGIA Magazine/Viewpoint, P.O. Box 1707, Tucker, GA 30085 ike most adults these days, the responsibilities of my daily routine keep me running just about every minute of every day. Even Saturdays seem hectic. In between work, church and the kids’ activities is the never-ending list of household chores. I just don’t seem to have time for everything. It wasn’t always so. And there are moments when something will take me back in time with a rush of childhood memories. Sometimes it is a song, other times the mention of a name, but sometimes it is something completely unexpected, like the sight of a magic beetle. Here in Georgia the winter is mild, spring and fall are short, and summer is long, hot and humid. This climate that I love, and sometimes love to hate, has left us with no shortage of bugs. The windshield of my truck after a short July evening drive attests to that! Many of our little “friends,” like mosquitoes, deer ﬂies and gnats, I would rather do without. Sometimes they are so abundant, I can’t help but think, “Bring back the DDT.” Then, there are the ﬁreﬂies or, as we once called them, “lightning bugs.” I don’t see them as often as I used to, but when I do, it always transports me back in time to childhood evenings when school was out for the summer. I’d play in the backyard at our home in Dublin with the other kids from the neighborhood until well past dark. The ﬁreﬂies were plentiful back then, and my parents, Ed and Martha Touchberry, never seemed to mind all those Mason jar lids with ice-pick holes in them. I remember thinking that if I More online at www.georgiamagazine.org could just put enough of them in the jar, my bedroom would glow all night. Lots of times we’d start catching the little beetles way before sunset. We’d scour the bark of the oak trees and shrubs looking for those tiny black wings with their red markings. I bet I caught hundreds of the poor creatures in my youth—and fed thousands of mosquitoes in the process. I rarely see a lightning bug anymore. And I hope I am not partly to blame because I caught so many as a youngster. However, it could also be that, as adults, we don’t slow down enough to enjoy God’s creation like It’s My View ' By Paul Wood Growing up in the 1970s, Billy Touchberry, back row, left, standing next to his grandmother Jimmie Mae Peyton, chased ﬁreﬂies after dark with, front row, from left, siblings Jimmy and Tracey Touchberry, and cousin Jon Peyton; and, center row, from left, cousins Jeff and Jim Peyton. GEORGIA MAGAZINE 34 http://www.georgiamagazine.org/ViewPointBook.aspx http://www.georgiamagazine.org/ViewPointBook.aspx http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - June 2012

Georgia Magazine - June 2012
Table of Contents
Viewpoint
Mailbox
Liberty Notes
Picture This?
Georgia News
Calendar of Events
Currents
Georgia’s Energy Outlook
Wholesome Fun and Shaping Winners
Where to Stay and Eat When Visiting the Rock Ranch in the Rock, and Winshape Retreat in Rome
Take to the Road
Travel Guide
My Georgia
Georgia Gardens
Georgia Cooks
Second Helping: Fish
Snapshot
Bonus Snapshot Submissions
Plant of the Month; Liberty Notes
Energy-efficiency Tips
June’s Online Trivia Contest

Georgia Magazine - June 2012