^^ r ^ ^ I
WE SHOULD all express gratitude for the images we capture.
In Gratitude...
BY llll.L FAVER quotes lecturer. Dennis Prager:
It is surprising how otten someone expresses u con- The factor that most determines our happiness is
cept or a feeling you might have in a very eloquent gratitude. It's very simple. The more you're grateful
way. While I suuggle to grasp the lor. the happier you will he...
meaning or the right words to say One of my reasons for photography is the joy in
it. I find it well put by someone finding birds and
else. Such is the value of reading shells, skies and landscapes, and other images
and study. I presume, and a way to which depict the variety of life and beauty we find
stretch our imaginations and our along our coast. I miss getting more good pictures than
perceptions of meaning. I usually take. The bird flies away, the deer bounds in
One recent experience was read- to the thick woods, the wave takes away the shark's
ing columnist DeWitt Jones in tooth. This keeps me interested, always looking for the
Outdoor Photography. He wrote of next challenge. So. when 1 do get the image on film,
gratitude and how his "thank- gratitude is a real emotion.
tAVEK yous" when he got a good photo- To find Mi. Jones explaining it so we!! is a joy. too.
graph were like a prayer. He saw his opportunities as 1 am grateful to him for expressing the idea and saying
gifts given to him. sometimes by the extraordinary cir- it for me. I'll be even more thankful now for that spe
cumstances at the time. To realize this and say "thank cial sunset or that unusual bird in just the right kind of
you" is a commentary on his happiness in life. He light! Irv it.
Rocks On Brain Must Be Fever
Rocks. Don says 1 have them on
my hrain.
Of course, last year he said I had
blocks on the hrain. as in 2 by 2
squares for a new walkway and a
patio area for container plants that
get too much sun if left on the hack
deck.
This spring it is rocks, though we
still need a few more blocks.
Blocks, rocks, what's the differ
ence? I.ike seed packets, trowels and
carpal tunnel syndrome, they're
merely symptoms of something
more serious: gardening fever.
It tends to recur each spring. If
you don't think it's contagious,
check the parking lot of any garden
center or farm supply store and look
at all those people trying to spend all
their money on stuff like blocks,
rocks, shrubs and pruning shears.
They, we, will go home and pro
ceed to spend hours digging in the
dirt and happily moving blocks and
rocks and shrubs around the yard,
first one place and then another until
they look right, for now. Next year,
who knows?
Since doing a feature story sever
al years back on Lois I lewett's back
yard paradise, it's been impossible
to look through a gardening maga
zine, book, store or wish book with
out a "water feature" jumping out: a
pool, a pond, a fountain, a miniature
Oriental water garden.
In January came the silent decla
ration of 1994 gardening priorities:
this is the year to add water to the
Eggert garden.
Don is obliging: If 1 come up with
the money to buy it, he'll help me
install it.
Nature is obliging: Why else
Susan
Usher
would we gel nearly 5 inches of rain
last week? Thanks, but that wasn't
what I had in mind.
My sister-in-law is obliging: Her
junk is my joy. She has rocks She
doesn't want them; I do. Don is
right. I do have rocks on the brain.
They fit perfectly into my vision
of an inviting garden nook: a small
pool of water with an inviting sandy
bottom, a shallow end for the birds
and a perch for my funny-looking
frog. The pool would be edged in
rocks, nestled in a cluster of low
shrubs and flowering bulbs, with
perhaps one or two plants growing
in or at the water's edge. At one
side, water would trickle over the
rocks and into the pool, thanks to a
small, quiet never-fail submersible
pump.
Dale has spent months trying to
dig up, pull up and haul away rocks
from her and Robert's red clay
acreage in Person County. Someday,
she believes, it will be possible to
have a garden that can be tilled
without ruining a blade.
Motivated by our separate visions
of a garden of delight, we spent a re
cent sunny Saturday afternoon
cheerfully digging up rocks and
carefully carting them to the back of
Don's truck. Would anyone not suf
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tering from fever do such a thing
and smile'.'
Maybe not, but consider the end re
sults. She'll have a rock-free garden.
Our pool will be edged in rocks
from the old Allen property near
Roxboro, from Table Rock and
Hawk's Bill, from I'oscoe, from
Lake Junaluska, and most distant,
from the shores of Lake Huron,
keepsakes of a Canadian Thanks
giving weekend camping trip a few
years back.
When it's finished, we'll be able
to rest nearby, mentally traveling the
country as we unwind to the sooth
ing sounds of running water and the
latest issue of a Wayside wish book
or a gardening mag.
Maybe next year we could add a
gazebo...
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
'Hidden Agenda' Driving Sewer
Proponents, Commissioner Says
To I he editor.
As u member of the Calabash
Board of Commissioners. I have op
posed (the proposed Calabash-Sun
set Bcach central sewer system) for
the following reasons:
?Calabash is lX) percent sewered.
At an earlier hearing conducted in
regards to establishing a sewer dis
trict the residents strongly opposed
the proposed sewer authority. At that
time they were promised by the
hoard of commissioners that a refer
endum would be held on the matter
The majority of the board has re
fused to conduct a referendum.
?In the original proposal it was
recommended by the consultant that
we should purchase Carolina Blythe
Utility (at a cost of $4.5 million) to
be part of the sewer district. At sub
sequent meetings the majority of the
commissioners decided they did not
want to purchase Carolina Blythe
for unfounded reasons. Why should
the Town of Calabash support a
whole new operation when we could
acquire an ongoing successful sys
tem to meet the needs of the town?
?I'he cost of the proposed sewer
project continues to escalate from
$26 million to $34.9 million in one
year. Grant funds have been denied
by Farmers Home Administration.
These funds would be available if it
were a county system.
?Iht' question of mandatory
hook-ups has not bee resolved with
the county. Without the county's ap
proval. it will be almost impossible
to acquire the number of users need
ed to pay off the indebtedness of the
project.
?If the sewer authority evolves,
Carolina-Blythe could be absorbed
by the authority. The cost of extend
ing water and sewer lines to new
customers would be included in the
user fees paid by the existing cus
tomers of Carolina-Blythe. No im
pact fees or assessments are pro
posed against existing businesses
and homes in the area not presently
sewered. This cost will be part of the
user fees.
?fThis proposal does not address
stormwater runoff that will be a ma
jor problem with the new develop
ments this will encourage.
?l'his proposal will encourage
new development in the area, putting
a strain on existing services and ne
cessitating. as an example, a police
department, increased environmental
problems and higher taxes.
In closing, it is apparent that a
majority of the board of commis
sioners has some hidden agenda re
garding this matter. In my 30 years
of experience as a city manager I
have never seen a more flagrant dis
regard by an elected body to the
wishes of the majority of the citizens
in a community.
There is no big mystery about
running a water and sewer opera
tion, as some of the commissioners
would have you believe. I have done
this as part of my duties in some the
communities I managed- This pro
posal will benefit the few at the cost
to the many.
Robert I.. Noe
Calabash
No Noise Law
To the editor:
I^ast week I was in court for a
noise ordinance in a commercial
zoned area, although it was only one
side of the story. I know for a fact
that they made false statements sim
ply because they want to pass a
noise ordinance for ihe county.
What a few people want to see
pass is any noise that is annoying;
that means any noise that comes
from your house that they can hear
could get you fined or be very costly
going to court.
What is annoying to some people
is not annoying to others. So who
should have the right to say what is
too loud? At least with a decibel
reading it is fair to everyone (and
does not lie) and should be set for
districts, such as residential, city,
commercial and county.
Linda Cunningham
Ocean Isle Beach
End Subsidy
To the editor:
Unlike the public utility compa
nies that serve the public for non
profit, the insurance industry is a le
gitimate business that exists for one
purpose only?to make a profit. I
know of no other made-for-profit
business that our legislators feel
should be subsidized by the public.
In the case of a minor traffic vio
lation such as speeding, points arc
appropriately applied against one's
driving record, also resulting in cor
responding points placed against
one's insurance policy costs. These
points can result in cost increases of
as much as S5IM) per year for three
years.
Each of these dollars represents a
free and clear profit to our insurance
companies. The constituents and
public of the state do not receive any
portion of these monies, rather the
insurance companies benefits alone.
I realize that the insurance lobby
is a strong organization, but 1 feel
that our elected officials should ask
themselves who they represent?
their constituents or the insurance
industry? What is fair and right to
the people who elected them?
I wonder if the candidates that are
seeking office this year would care
to address my questions as to why
we should subsidize a private busi
ness.
N.L. Wright
Ocean Isle Beach
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