Saturday, February 17, 2007

Friday Ramblings

About a year ago, near the Lockheed main parking lot on South Cobb Drive, I noticed a road leading off with a sign that said “Southern Polytech College”. I was curious, because Southern Polytech was about a mile away on Marietta Parkway which at that point would be about parallel to South Cobb Drive. I took a Google high-in-the sky trip over that territory and saw , sure-‘nuff, a little road winding from South Cobb Drive, through a wooded area and onto the campus then ending on Marietta Parkway.

Yesterday I made the drive. It is a beautiful drive. It is a rambling roving hills little drive that goes by wooded areas, over little bridges with bubbling creeks and is just a nice little pleasant drive, almost in inner-city Marietta.

Also, when Atlanta hosted the Olympics, part of it was on this campus. Don't ask me which part.

Speaking of inner-city, I also went to the Main Library in Marietta to do some genealogical research. I forgot a pad to write on and stopped at a dollar store to buy one in the same shopping center the Census office was at in the year 2000, which I worked for. The shopping center now had a lot of what looked like drug pushers hanging around, leaning against the storefront, each with an invisible sign on saying, “All You Have To Do Is Ask”. In the parking lot were two men leaning against their cars, which were parked a couple of rows from each other. Each was playing loud hip-hop music on their car radios. They looked like they were waiting for customers too. The unique thing is that they were both playing loud music from the same radio station. I think if their radios were on different stations it would be an ear-sore, or confusing. I thought that was considerate.

At the Library I got a parking place up front, which I thought was unusual. Usually I have to park a long way away and walk. But not this time. This morning I read in Sister Mary Martha's blog it is lent time. And for lent, one of the things she does is gives up is a good parking place. I wonder if that is why I had my choice of several good parking places? Now, I think it was a divine gift!

I went into the library to the Georgia Room which is for historical and genealogical research. I usually have a target thing to do when I visit the library and that is what I did yesterday. I tackled a book of obituaries in Cherokee County Georgia. I found several items on my ancestors and relatives of their deaths. I think the most news-worthy of something I didn’t know before, was one relative was killed in a car crash in Alabama in the 1930s. I didn’t know that.

The Georgia Room had mostly the bathed powdered down elderly, each doing his or her research. But, outside the Georgia Room is a reading area. A stench was in the air. A gagging stench.

I noticed a lot of what appeared to be homeless people sitting around reading magazines. They looked unkempt with dirty clothes. They probably had their worldly belongings all in a backpack or rolled up blanket. I doubt it they had a nice warm shower of bath in a long time. It was cold outside, very cold and windy. They were inside where they could be away from the weather. Some looked sad and pitiful. I bet each had an interesting story.

I wonder what they gave up for lent?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I did some rambling myself today.....hope you are well.

Eddie said...

Steve,
Wasn't the Allman Brothers' pa a rambling man on Highway 41. Maybe I got my songs intertwined.
Steve, I'm find, I hope you are too and The Boid is too.