"What A Day For A Day Trip"

Last Friday I went on a day trip through the backroads of Georgia. Now a day trip is not a particular kind of trip; it is a trip that takes place in the length of a day. You start out in the morning and you are home before dark. At least that is my opinion as to what a day trip is.

On this trip my destination was Colquitt, Georgia. But to get there I had to go through a multitude of small towns that are not thriving but are surviving. These little places that time forgot are holding their own through pure grit and determination. In some of the places the storefronts are falling down but in others they have been renovated and are putting on a brave face to the world.

These types of trips are always good for me because I panic every now and then about overpopulation. Then I take to the backroads of Georgia and I find mile after mile of just about nothing except farmland. If people need a place to build home they can certainly find it in my State.

Along the way I had a chance to stop off at the home of some friends in Dawson, Georgia. This couple lives way back off the highway and have a house that fits in beautifully with the landscape. They also have flower gardens everywhere. Plus they also raise a lot of fruits and vegetables out behind the house.

We took a tour and they pointed out a variety of flowers and ferns that were growing in profusion. Now I admire anyone who can raise something. My wife and I have killed more vegetation than you could ever imagine. Even the hardiest of plants come to our house cowering in fear, and for good reason. We haven't met a plant yet which can stand the Cooper Care Program.

Life in the country is an alien world to me. This couple told me about trapping wild hogs. This was primarily the task of the female member of the couple. That blew my mind. She said she took her gun for protection and checked the traps each morning. I didn't even know there were wild hogs running about "out there." She said a wild boar could grow to five hundred or a thousand pounds. That is not a creature I would want to meet.

When I finally got to Colquitt I had the chance to interview Ralph Wilcox. He is the Film Commissioner of Southwest Georgia and is doing everything he can to bring filmmaking to that area of our State. He even has plans to build a soundstage and offer training programs to get people educated in the fields from which the entertainment industry draws.

To talk with Ralph is to have a marathon conversation. I don't think he took a breath for the first fifteen minutes when we spoke. He was off and running and all I could do was hang on and listen. He had his dreams down pat and could spell them out to you in the smallest detail.

His selling point was that movies could be made anywhere, and why not Southwest Georgia! If you have the talent and the facilities then like the "Field of Dreams, build it and they will come.

It was quite a day for me from hog trapping to movie trapping. That's quite a stretch but on a "day trip" you can run into anything.

 

 

 

 

 

©2004 Jackie K. Cooper

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