Georgia Magazine - February 2010 - (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 INTERN Emily Allen CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jane F. Garvey, Stephanie Green, Jackie Kennedy, John J. Lesjack, Matthew O’Connor, Kathleen Walls CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS ‘What’s it all about?’ BY PAUL WOOD President/CEO, Georgia Electric Membership Corporation M Dwayne Bass, Chuck Cutler, Bill Durden, Matt Elliott, Stephanie Green, Ray Herbert, Jonathan Hillyer, James Holland, Jeff Lemons, Tracy D. McCutchion, Kevin C. Rose, Ed Thompson, Jay Town, Kathleen Walls, Eddie Weigle 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 2010 ADVISORY BOARD Christy Chewning, Jeffrey Ferguson, Tony Griffin, Stacey Fields, Johnnie B. Hall, Pamela Keene, Doyle Medders, Jeff Pierce, Donnie Prince, Steve Rawl, Brandon Reece, Romeo Reyes, Tony Sinclair, Jere Thorne GEORGIA EMC OFFICERS CHAIRMAN Neal Talton, Flint Energies VICE CHAIRMAN Alice Mallory, Coweta-Fayette EMC 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. any years ago, an elderly woman, known for the wisdom she gleaned from living nearly 90 years, gave me an interesting answer to a very simple question: “What’s it all about?” Such questions were usually followed by a long pause as she considered and chose carefully the words she would offer in response. I was surprised, therefore, when she did not hesitate before stating emphatically just one word: “Love.” “Is that it?” That was the shortest answer she had ever given anyone. “Yes, of course,” she said. “Love is the most compelling force known to man.” She gave me an incredulous look before adding, “And it’s the most difficult to define.” I relate this to you because February is the month during which a day has been set aside unofficially to exchange greeting cards with those for whom we feel some degree of affection. Most of us have been doing it since elementary school. The tradition dates back to the Roman Empire when a priest, Father Valentine, was put to death for marrying couples against the emperor’s wishes. At the risk of stepping into water far above my head, my observation has been that only poets are qualified to define love, and even they often do so in the most oblique way. To talk about what it is, therefore, is to step in where, as the song says, “angels fear to tread.” This unseen force draws humans to it as if caught www.georgiamagazine.org in one of those “Star Trek” tractor beams. You remember the story. Once caught in the beam, there is no escape. Love just is. It is the most powerful of elixirs, the most intoxicating of drugs, and the most desirable of emotions to have and to give away. No wonder we devote a whole day to it. No other emotion has its very own day. Those of us who have suffered the pain of a love lost know love does not die when relationships end, love endures; it lives. Love is, indeed, a powerful force. Wrapped up in that one word is the universal lesson of respect and care for others we may not know. We learn from a young age to love our neighbor as ourselves. Most religious texts teach that we should “love one another from the heart earnestly.” So, this Valentine’s Day, when you send a card to someone you care about deeply, take a moment in the spirit of the day to also send a note to someone you know whose heart may not be as full as yours and say, “Just thinking of you this day.” There is no one who will not receive that message well. Maybe the founders should have added another phrase to that nowfamous first paragraph in the Declaration of Independence, and have it read, among our unalienable rights are life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and the sharing of love. Happy Valentine’s Day. February 2010 http://www.georgiamagazine.org http://www.georgiaemc.com http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - February 2010

Georgia Magazine - February 2010
Contents
Viewpoint
Mailbox
Picture This?
Calendar
Currents
Oh, Atlanta!
Good Stewards
My Georgia
Georgia Gardens
Georgia Cooks
Snapshot

Georgia Magazine - February 2010