EMERGING FROM WINTER HIBERNATION

By OLIVENE GODFREY

Following a month of winter hibernation, I finally ventured out of the house this past Sunday. The reason I was confined to the house was a combination of miserable weather and health problems. Also, I still haven't got a flu shot and have tried to avoid crowds this winter. But, son Barry, was determined that I would go out to lunch on Sunday.

On Sunday morning, the temp was in the 20s with a brisk wind.
but we had plenty of bright sunshine. So, we dressed warmly shortly before noon and then Barry drove us to Ryan's in
Dalton. We ate a delicious lunch off their bountiful buffet.
I ate a couple of taboo foods but I ate only small portions. Ryan's has a large variety of foods and if you have the discipline it is possible to stay on a diet while eating off their buffet.

After we ate lunch, we went to the nearby mall. We had taken my wheelchair and Barry gave me a speedy, and a bit scary, ride across the parking lot to the mall entrance. We both needed haircuts. And, we stopped by Master-Cuts and got good haircuts and we look more well-groomed now. By then, the mall was getting crowded and I was a bit tired, so we came home. The day was a good one and I hope I can venture out more but I don't think winter will be over for a few more weeks.

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While browsing through the Sunday paper, I came across an interesting article in the USA Weekend magazine. Entitled,
Too Much of a Good Thing- Experts on why more isn't always better." the article listed five things that many of us probably do from time to time. There were experts opinions on Fiber,
brushing teeth, water, scrubbing face and too much exercise.
The hardest of these for me to follow is the fiber one. Too much causes pain as I have discovered but I can't seem to
work out the right amount for a day.

I believe that moderation is always best and people who are extremists on any subject can be big bores.

See you next time.

IN PRAISE OF ELECTRIC POWER

By OLIVENE GODFREY

With frigid weather conditions and health problems on weekends
I have been confined to house past three weeks. We almost had ice storms several times past few weeks and that set me on a chain of thoughts about the importance of electric power and of how we often take this marvelous invention for granted.

Electric Power is a relatively new invention, especially for the American South. The Tennessee Valley Authority is a New Deal agency created to generate electric power and control floods
in a seven-U.S.state region around the Tennessee River Valley.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Tennessee Valley Authority Act creating the TVA on May 18, 1933. The agency still exists and has grown to become America's largest public power company.

I grew up in Chattanooga and as far back as I can remember we had electric power in our house. Not so, for some of our Middle
Tennessee relatives. who didn't have electric power in their homes until after World War II. My paternal grandparents
owned and lived on a farm in Middle Tennessee and when I was a child they had electric lights but the only appliance they had was a radio.

I asked son Barry to do some research on the Internet about electric power and it is a fascinating story. Here are some of the high lights from the info he gathered for me.

In the "War of Currents" era in the late 1880s, Nikola Tesla
and Thomas Edison became adversaries due to Edison's promotion of direct current (DC)for electric power distribution over the more efficient alternating current (AC) advocated by Tesla.
During the initial years of electricity distribution, Edison's
direct current was the standard for the United States and Edison
was not disposed to lose all his patent royalties. From his work with rotary magnetic fields, Tesla devised a system for generation, transmission, and use of AC power. Westinghouse
had previously bought the rights to commercialize this system.
Ultimately, the advantages of AC power transmission outweighed
the theoretical risk, and it was eventually adopted as the standard.

And then experts announced proposals to harness the Niagara Falls for generating electricity, even briefly considering compressed air as a power transmission medium. Tesla's AC
system won the international Niagara Commission contract
Work began in 1893 on the Niagara Falls generation project and Tesla's technology was applied to generate electric power
from the falls. On November 16, 1896, the first electrical power was sent from Niagara Falls to industries in Buffalo
from the hydroelectric generators at the Edward Dean
Adams Station. The hydroelectric generators were built
by Westinghouse Electric Corp. using Tesla's AC system patent. The nameplates on the generators bear Tesla's name. He also
set the 60 hertz standard for North America. It took
five years to complete the whole facility.

See you next time.

COLD WEATHER & SNOW & OLD TELEGRAMS & PERFECT MOMENTS

By OLIVENE GODFREY

The past few days have been very cold here in northwest Georgia
with a blanket of snow on the mountains and just a dusting
in the valleys. The weather folks are saying this morning that the snow will be out of here later today with temps in the 60s
by mid-week. But, one forecaster said this morning that we could have more rain and snow this coming weekend. I haven't been outside the house in a couple of weeks and hope the next weekend won't be too bad. And, I am still thinking longingly of spring.

I read in the paper and saw a TV segment about the last telegram that was recently delivered by Western Union after being in business over 100 years. Most of the people interviewed had never received a telegram. I remember that I had received two telegrams in my lifetime and still had them in with other mementos. I got them out and looked at the yellow aged
paper. The first one was sent to my late husband, Ralph, and me on our wedding day. It was dated May 1,1947, and the
delivery boy handed the wire to us as we left the church following our wedding. A friend that was unable to attend sent the telegram to wish us much happiness in our marriage.
I saved the message for sentimental reasons.

The second telegram is dated December 10, 1959, and Ralph and I were living at Treasure Island, FL and I was nine months pregnant. It was my birthday and I was feeling a bit blue and the wire was from my parents wishing me a happy day.

Times change and we have to accept the changes, like no more
telegrams, and it is still a bit sad.

Most of us have "perfect moments" in our lives and sometimes we don't realize it until years later. The other day son Barry was talking about Les Paul's influence on music. Instantly,
I recalled a day long ago when Ralph and I had been married several years. We were on vacation at Panama City, Florida.
We had been strolling on the beach in late afternoon . We stopped at a place on the beach that had a soda fountain and a juke box. While we drank Cokes the sound of Les Paul and Mary Ford's Vio Con Dios filled the air. I think most young people think that the future will always be better no matter how good things are for them at the moment. Ralph and I were young and healthy and had no serious problems. And I knew that summer day that the time and place was perfect and I would never forget it and I never have.

See you next.

GOOD NEWS FROM FLORIDA KIN & NOTES FROM MEMO PAD

Bu OLIVENE GODFREY

We received good news from West Palm Beach, FL last week.
My late sister's daughter-in-law, Annie, keeps in touch with us via e-mail and phone calls. Last year, Joan's oldest daughter, Connie, was given a devastating diagnosis of cancer with only a 20 percent of survival. Connie began the long ordeal of
cancer treatments and the removal of a kidney. There were moments of despair but Annie says Connie never gave up and
was fiercely determined to beat the odds the doctors had given her. She had the loving support of her family and Annie cared for Connie after surgeries and treatments and went to doctor conferences with her. Connie's Georgia cousin, Charlene,
had Connie's name on her church prayer list which we feel helped her. Connie recently had a full body scan and she is clear of cancer and is back at work full time and planning a trip
with a friend. God is good.

Barry is enjoying a new wide screen High Definition TV with Charter digital cable in his den. He said today that,"Pa would have loved this TV and sharp picture." It is true that Ralph enjoyed television more than anyone I have ever known and loved watching football and baseball games on TV. He would shout at the players as if they could hear him and woe is anyone who
got between him and his view of the TV screen or interrupted him for anything short of an emergency.

As I dusted furniture and my bric a brac that covers every flat surface in my house, I thought of how I have mixed emotions
about dusting. I don't like the act of dusting but I love
looking at my treasures that all have special meanings for me. And, I like for the pretty things to be shiny and clean. So,
it is a job I do once a week regardless of how I feel.

With the cold weather we are having today, the birds have started flocking back to our bird sanctuary and eating the bird seeds Barry puts out for them. The squirrels haven't bothered them this year and Barry says they have plenty of nuts this year and aren't interested in the birdseed.

The poinsettia I got back in December is still in bloom but
the leaves aren't as vivid as they were at their height of beauty. The plant still looks healthy but Barry says he doesn't believe it will last much longer. I have enjoyed it very much and will miss it.

On my diabetic diet, I am allowed a favorite dessert once a week which I usually eat on Sundays. Today, I chose the Village's moist strawberry cake with real strawberries and it is yummy.
See you next time.