Ruminations at 42,000 feet
So this is being written while flying on AirTran flight en route to an annual get together with a bunch of high school buddies at a lake in far northern Iowa. I am happy to be traveling from Oconee to Okoboji in less than a day and I will probably be comparing and contrasting some of the more comical items of what they do and do not have in an extremely rural part of Iowa with that of what we do have in Oconee County, Georgia.
Wind Turbines
All along the drive down from Minneapolis to Lake Okoboji I am delighted to see lots of wind turbines generating power for the people of Minnesota. I wish T. Boone Pickens would build a bunch of those near Watkinsville after Georgia spoils the dedication of his new Stillwater, OK stadium for Oklahoma State in about 30 something days. Apparently the winds are not strong enough or consistent enough to support massive wind turbine technology in Georgia, but I was glad to read that there is a Clean Natural Gas station finally opening up in Atlanta thanks to T. Boone and gang. Now I wish there were more bio-diesel refineries and retailers in the Athens to Atlanta coordior.
Musicians
Athens takes the cake when it comes to musicians per capita than anywhere in the world, so naturally it is going to beat Okoboji. But a bunch of guys with guitars will be jamming out to a lot of rock and roll this weekend, and maybe even yours truly will sing a song or two or play the electronic drums system that Tony Hoffman usually hooks us up with. It is great fun for musicians and non-musicians alike to fool around with and play with more seasoned veterans. I did just send an autographed Drive-By Truckers LP "A Blessing and a Curse" to my old pal Ted Irvine for hooking us up with a relator friend in Des Moines to sell our house there, almost 30 years after I moved out and came to the University of Georiga.
We have a few decent musicians amongst our fold from Des Moines, most notably Jim Roth who is the new guitarist for Built to Spill. Jim attended Valley High School in nearby West Des Moines while most of my buddies attended Roosevelt in regular old Des Moines. We all dated and chased after the same ridiculously beautiful women. Come to think of it, that is another thing in common with Des Moines and the Athens area.
Water
Lake Okoboji is supposedly one of the largest spring fed lakes in the world while Lake Oconee seems to have only the Reynolds family as its main selling point. Now admittedly I have not spent much time on or even near Lake Oconee since I quit owrking for the Putnam County or Morgan County newspapers, so I do not know what has gone on there lately aside from the Ritz Carlton and assorted George H.W. Bush visitst a few years back.
Wind Turbines
All along the drive down from Minneapolis to Lake Okoboji I am delighted to see lots of wind turbines generating power for the people of Minnesota. I wish T. Boone Pickens would build a bunch of those near Watkinsville after Georgia spoils the dedication of his new Stillwater, OK stadium for Oklahoma State in about 30 something days. Apparently the winds are not strong enough or consistent enough to support massive wind turbine technology in Georgia, but I was glad to read that there is a Clean Natural Gas station finally opening up in Atlanta thanks to T. Boone and gang. Now I wish there were more bio-diesel refineries and retailers in the Athens to Atlanta coordior.
Musicians
Athens takes the cake when it comes to musicians per capita than anywhere in the world, so naturally it is going to beat Okoboji. But a bunch of guys with guitars will be jamming out to a lot of rock and roll this weekend, and maybe even yours truly will sing a song or two or play the electronic drums system that Tony Hoffman usually hooks us up with. It is great fun for musicians and non-musicians alike to fool around with and play with more seasoned veterans. I did just send an autographed Drive-By Truckers LP "A Blessing and a Curse" to my old pal Ted Irvine for hooking us up with a relator friend in Des Moines to sell our house there, almost 30 years after I moved out and came to the University of Georiga.
We have a few decent musicians amongst our fold from Des Moines, most notably Jim Roth who is the new guitarist for Built to Spill. Jim attended Valley High School in nearby West Des Moines while most of my buddies attended Roosevelt in regular old Des Moines. We all dated and chased after the same ridiculously beautiful women. Come to think of it, that is another thing in common with Des Moines and the Athens area.
Water
Lake Okoboji is supposedly one of the largest spring fed lakes in the world while Lake Oconee seems to have only the Reynolds family as its main selling point. Now admittedly I have not spent much time on or even near Lake Oconee since I quit owrking for the Putnam County or Morgan County newspapers, so I do not know what has gone on there lately aside from the Ritz Carlton and assorted George H.W. Bush visitst a few years back.
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