PHOTO BY BILL FAVER
NAMED FOR ROMAN EMPEROR AUGUSTUS, August is the month of summer flowers and va
cations.
'Sweet August Doth Appear'
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BY BILL FAVER
One of the signs of growing older (I am told) is that
the time passes swiftly. Here it is August and it hardly
seems to me summer has begun, except for the temper
atures and the crowds of people.
August has always been special as that last month
before school starts again, though
most places begin now in mid- to
late August. It is the last chance
for families with children to travel
and spend vacation time together.
In August the flowers arc
blooming, peaches arc ripe and
watermelons arc plentiful. Corn on
the cob is a favorite with backyard
cookouts.
Summer birds arc active in early
morning and late afternoon but
take it easy in the mid-day sun. Some birds begin to
migrate southward, but most will wait a little later to
begin that journey. People, too, seem to want to take it
easy in August. In most countries in Europe, August is
FAVER
the month for vacation.
R. Cambc Miller has written some lines about Au
gust:
Fairest of Months! Ripe Summer's Queen
The hey-day of the year
With robes that gleam with sunny sheen,
Sweet August doth appear.
This little poem reminds us we're in the midst of
summer and all it has to offer us. I've not thought of
August as the "hey-day of the year" exactly, personally
reserving that for April or October, but 1 can under
stand the meaning. It is somewhat of a milestone, a
richness of fruiting, a lull before the harvests of fall
and the changing of another season.
Robert Bums gives us some good advice about
August and any other month:
Come, let us stray our gladsome way
And view the charms of nature.
The rustling corn; the fruited thorn.
And every happy creature.
What better time to take his advicc than the month
in which "sweet August doth appear"?
Ramos & Lewis
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N.C. LEGISLATURE. 1993
An Entertaining Session Ends
i?r re, i kk iiann
It's Friday, July 23, 1993. As the
final 24 hours of the 1993 legislature
session turned from morning to af
ternoon to evening and back to
morning again, a surreal atmosphere
enveloped the Legislative Building.
Tousled hair, loosened nccktics,
popcorn spills, fraternal friendliness,
and snoozing on the yellow couches
were the norm. When the sun rose,
many legislators had already left in
search of airplane flights or decent
slumber. Major pieces of legislation
had been passed during the night,
often with little or no debate, as the
products of last-minute deals and
power posturing. Somehow this
strange scene really isn't out of the
ordinary ? if you consider it in the
proper context.
Legislators, just like the out-of
state business "buffaloes" so popular
with headline-hunting governors
these days, respond to incentives. In
the case of the 1993 "long" session
of the General Assembly, wide
spread fatigue and even a bit of
homesickness didn't seem to suffice.
Despite attempts to wrap up legisla
tive business by the first of July, the
end of the month came amidst seem
ingly endless wrangling about a host
of important issues.
Only the prospect of jetting off to
San Diego, for a confcrcncc of state
legislators, finally motivated law
makers to adjourn. That's why the
1993 session might best be charac
terized as "hurry up and wait" ? or,
perhaps more accurately, "wail and
hurry up."
You can only understand the N.C.
legislature by knowing its personali
ties. Issues matter, of coursc, but this
is politics and you can't follow the
game without a scorccard:
?The freshman class. Fifty-three
legislators entered the hallowed
halls this year, nearly onc-Uurd of
the 170-mcmbcr body. Some first
tcrmcrs adopted the deferential "sit
hcrc-and-don't-spcak" mindset of
stereotypical freshmen. Others were
more vocal, such as Sen. Leslie
Winner (D-Meeklcnburg), Rep.
Richard Moore (D-Vance), Rep.
Robin Hayes (R-Cabarrus) and Rep.
Gene Arnold (R-Nash).
? Mouse Speaker Dan Blue (I)
Wake). Now here is a man who
makes up his mind. Blue suffered
early from bad press when he gave
two of his staff members 25 percent
pay raises but recovered in time to
file gubernatorial veto in the round
basket despite Gov. Jim Hunt's best
lobbying efforts. He demonstrated a
similar stonewall resolve on the. lot
tery (against) and universal health
carc (for), a characteristic cither to
be admired or maligned depending
on your point of view.
?Senate President Pro Tern
Marc Basnight (l)-Dare). Blue's
counterpart across the hall fared
well by most standards. He won ac
colades for his behind-the-scenes
push to review campaign finance
statutes, expand the open meetings
law and lower die blood-alcohol dri
ving limit.
?Sen. George Daniel (D-Cas
well). Basnight's profile was some
what overshadowed by statewide-as
pirant Daniel. He seemed to spark a
controversy-of-thc-wcck and over
extended himself by sponsoring a
health carc bill, the lottery, workers'
comp reform, and a costly new judi
cial district for his home county all
while chairing the Senate Appro
priations committee. Daniel's ene
mies began predicting his demise,
but in the words of one senator,
"anyone who can raise a quarter of a
million dollars for a legislative cam
paign isn't dead yet."
? l.t. Gov. Dennis Wicker. The
much-touted fight between Senate
Democrats and Wicker never quite
materialized. His modest but afford
able plan to pool small businesses
together to boost their health carc
purchasing power won widespread
support.
?Republican legislators. Senate
Republicans are a collcgial bunch
whose small numbers and years on
the back row have taught them to
pick their batdes. A generational and
philosophical divide splits die House
GOP caucus between "young Turks"
led by Minority Leader David Mai
mer (R-Meckicnburg), moderates
who occasionally vote with die
Democrats, and old hands who arc
generally content to act grumpy and
eat candy at their desks.
?(?ov. Jim Hunt. Wilson Coun
ty's favorite corporate attorney/
farmer found d?c legislature to be a
different animal than it was in his
first two terms. Lawmakers are more
independent and willing to criticize
the chief executive. In one poignant
moment. Rep. Martin NcsbiU (D
Buncombc) made candid remarks
about how the governor "cornered"
legislators into approving a $35 mil
lion auto training ccnter.
Yet, despite die glitches. Hunt's
agenda (child-care programs and re
shaping the state's industrial recruit
ment policies) was enacted hugely
intact. Hie bottom line for Hunt and
his legislative liaison, Jim Phillips:
We may not have a fan club, but we
got what we came for.
All in all, it was a session without
a defining diemc. Much of what
happened was predictable: Lobby
ists holding winc-and-chccsc recep
tions, the Capital Press Corps occa
sionally ruffling the ink-sensitive
feathers of legislators, visits from
Vice President A1 Gore and the
UNC-Chapcl Hill basketball team, a
mostly ignored efliciency-in-gov
crnmcnt study, and the traditional
display of colorful golf-course cloth
ing. Let's hope next year's short ses
sion will be as entertaining.
Peter llans is research fellow at
the John Locke Foundation, a Ral
eigh-based public policy think
tank.
AT SEASIDE
BRING HOME
THE&BEACON
On Sale At
FOOD LION
FOOD MART
NELL'S PIT STOP
New
Limited
Edition
Reproduction
By
American
Artist
$c*o
Big 17x2214 Image
Vic Gillispie lives at Holden Beach, in the beautiful South Brunswick Islands of
North Carolina. Living on the beach affords Vic an inexhaustible supply of scenery for
his coastal, lowland and marine art paintings.
All of the seasons are exciting at the coast, but none more exciting than the
beach season, which runs from as early as Easter to as late as the the beach festivals
the latter part of October.
Vic's new painting invites you to get a cup of coffee and enjoy an early morning
at the beach. The Beacon says, "The fish are biting!"
With his love of the outdoors
and a desire to preserve some of the
beauty we often take for granted, Vic
has created paintings for Ducks
Unlimited, Quail Unlimited, the N.C.
Oyster Festival, Hospice, Museum of
Coastal Carolina at Ocean Isle Beach,
Boy Scouts of America, U.S. Open
King Mackerel Tournament, South
Brunswick Islands King Classic and
Homes for the Homeless. His paint
ings are included in museum, corpo
rate and private collections all over
the United States.
Vic uses egg tempera, dry brush
watercolor and acrylics to create rep
resentational paintings of the places
he loves. His work is represented by
Upper Deck Art Gallery at Holden
Beach on the Intracoastal Waterway.
The
UPPER DECK
ART GALLERY
HOLDEN BEACH MARINA
PHONE 842-2310
Locator:
UPPER DECK
ART GALLERY
Holden Beach
Marina
1?
INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY
The Marina is a
large Blue building.
We are upstairs.