Georgia Magazine - December 2009 - (Page 5)

GEMC ® M A G A Z I N E www.georgiamagazine.org (800) 544-4362, in Georgia; (770) 270-6950 GEORGIA Magazine, the largest-circulation monthly magazine in the state, is published by Georgia Electric Membership Corp. (GEMC), the trade association for Georgia’s 42 consumer-owned electric utilities. On average, more than 500,000 members welcome the magazine into their homes each month. Georgia’s not-for-profit electric cooperatives provide reliable, safe and affordable electric service to more than 73 percent of the state’s land area serving 4.5 million residents. For more information, visit www.georgiaemc.com. EDITOR Ann Orowski, CCC MANAGING EDITOR Jennifer Hewett, CCC ASSOCIATE EDITOR Victoria Scharf DeCastro ASSISTANT EDITOR Clay Narron PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Steve Jacobs STAFF ASSISTANT Sonya Devereaux EDITORIAL INTERNS Emily Allen, Andrew Widener CONTRIBUTING WRITERS The parade of our time BY PAUL WOOD President/CEO, Georgia Electric Membership Corporation T Lynn Coulter, Virginia Davis, Deborah Geering, Jackie Kennedy, Roy Mitchell CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Greg Brooks, Steve Chalker, Brenda Cooper, Mike Dyche, Ed Giddens, Keith Johnson, Brian Rickmond, Ben Rose, Ellen Silverman, Ed Thompson, Kelly Trapnell, Kathy Waites Laurel George, Laine Kirby Wood, ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE (404) 541-0628 ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE (770) 289-5700 DESIGNERS Trudie Thibodeaux, Kerstin Weis Mary Wellman, (770) 270-6981 SUBSCRIPTIONS 2009 ADVISORY BOARD Larry Chadwick, Ken Cook, Greg Crowder, Stacey Fields, Jane F. Garvey, Rick Gaston, Charlie Gatlin, Linda Harris, Emmett Harrod, Linda Jordan, Sandy McClurd, Jeff Murphy, Terri Statham, Jere Thorne, James White GEORGIA EMC OFFICERS CHAIRMAN Tim Garrett, Jefferson Energy VICE CHAIRMAN Neal Talton, Flint Energies SEC.-TREASURER Randy Crenshaw, Irwin EMC PRESIDENT/CEO, GEMC A. Paul Wood georgia Magazine (USPS-473120, ISSN 10615822) is published monthly by Georgia Electric Membership Corp., P.O. Box 1707, 2100 East Exchange Place, Tucker, GA 30085. Periodicals postage paid at Thomaston, GA, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to GEORGIA Magazine, P.O. Box 1707, Tucker, GA 30085. Printed in Georgia by Quad/Graphics. Acceptance of advertising by GEORGIA Magazine does not imply endorsement by the publisher or Georgia’s electric membership corporations of the product or services advertised. GEORGIA Magazine’s LIABILITY FOR ERRORS IN, OR OMISSIONS OF, ADVERTISEMENTS, WHETHER IN CONTRACT OR IN TORT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO DAMAGES TO THE ADVERTISER’S BUSINESS, SHALL IN NO EVENT EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF CHARGES FOR THE ADVERTISEMENT THAT WAS OMITTED OR IN WHICH THE ERROR OCCURRED. ime and weather, we learned in school, were two things beyond our control. Well, scratch weather from that list because, under certain conditions, we know clouds can be seeded to produce rain. Thus weather over a dry and thirsty field can be changed—at least for a short period of time—but we have never been able to slow or alter the hands of time. New revelations have made time even more mysterious. Along the space-time continuum, scientists tell us moving objects experience time more slowly than objects standing still. In other words, time is relative. I don’t know about moving objects on the space-time continuum, but I do know time seems to move at speeds relative to your age. For example, if you are of a certain, ahem, mature age, December passes rather hastily. However, if you are very young and waiting for Christmas, December passes with agonizing slowness. And then there is the physical world touched by the passage of time. Each new year begins with the bone-chilling cold of winter. Before you know it, azaleas are blooming. Turn around and it’s Memorial Day. By the time you are used to the sweat running down your back, it’s Labor Day. Soon, that chill in the air says it’s fall again and time to chop wood for the winter just ahead—again. For me, time is moving at a www.georgiamagazine.org breakneck pace. We go to class reunions and wonder, “Why does everyone look so old?” Maybe it’s because we see the world through eyes that think they are still 18 years old. These eyes do not hesitate to tell us the world hasn’t changed one minute. “Whatever happened to vivacious Vivian?” The eyes should be arrested for delivering such an obvious deception to the brain. Then we turn and look at our reflection in the mirror, and the reality hits us: time has not overlooked anyone—especially, that one. Perhaps it is the finality of time that fascinates us so. Omar Khayyam was right when he wrote, “The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.” One thing is equal for all—24 hours in a day—the time given to each of us to leave our mark on the parade of time. It makes no difference how fast or slow time may seem to pass, it does make a difference what we decide to do with our time. If we set aside a small amount of time each day for improving the world we share with others, we can step back as the calendar changes and admire the procession of time instead of regretting it. Each moment in time is undeniably singular in our experience of it. And the whole of all the moments we experience in our lives is but a single parade. I hope you will make yours a spectacular parade. December 2009 http://www.georgiamagazine.org http://www.georgiaemc.com http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - December 2009

Georgia Magazine - December 2009
Contents
Viewpoint
Picture This?
Georgia News
Calendar
Currents
A Victorian Christmas
It’s a holiday tradition!
Around Georgia
My Georgia
Georgia Gardens
Georgia Cooks
Snapshot

Georgia Magazine - December 2009