Nothing To Do?

I get so confused sometimes. People around here are fond of saying, ”there’s nothing to do here.” I don’t know what rock they are under, but I can’t keep up sometimes.

Just an example…there were local graduations two weekends in May, followed by a patriotic Memorial Day concert on Monday, Memorial Day. And, the huge Shady Dale rodeo, which attracted probably 6,000 people, was held last weekend, with the Round-Up Festival taking part during the day Saturday.

The Market on the Square opened in May and offers a place to go every Saturday for a while. This weekend there is a Juneteenth festival planned at Sands Park. Smoke Over Monticello…a barbecue cook-off…is set for Father’s Day weekend.

There was a rodeo parade in Shady Dale last week, and will be a Juneteenth parade in Monticello this week.

I will miss, again, the Flag Day celebration that was held here annually for many years, sponsored by the Monticello Kiwanis Club. It disbanded before Covid, and was replaced with the Monticello Civic Club. Since meetings are now o.k., the Civic Club hasn’t resumed, nor has anyone taken on the Flag Day celebration. So, there’s nothing to do June 14.

The Jasper County Library is brimming with activities…and not all of them are for children…they include the adults. We should all love the library. The Jackson Lake Association has a summer full of activities. And, it changed it’s name from the Jackson Lake Homeowners Association to the Jackson Lake Association, as all persons who have an interest in the lake are encouraged to be a part of the group.

Monticello Kart Racing, Jasper County Recreation, Jasper County 4-H, individual businesses, civic groups and families add a lot to the mix. And, it’s summertime, so many of us will take a vacation somewhere. Personally, I could use a “there’s nothing to do” weekend myself.

Of course, anyone who knows me well knows my summers are full of baseball watching, as I am and have been a Braves fan my entire life. I was there when Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s home run record, and have been to many, many games since. However, now that they’ve moved to Cobb County, and I’ve gotten older (it happens every day), I don’t make it very much. Darrell Farrar is bugging me to go this year, and I told him he had to find us a driver, and that he didn’t want to go with me. Every time I have been to a game in Cobb County it has poured down rain. Not sure I want to do it again.

Now that Jimmy is retired, he likes to go places, and I have to fight to find time. But we do take off from time to time and venture out. We thought about going somewhere Memorial Day weekend, but with the holiday and the number of people already traveling we decided to stay out of the mix. We both have spent enough time in Atlanta that we don’t get excited about driving there to do things, and we wanted to go somewhere not too far away.

Last weekend, I babysat my two-year-old granddaughter who lives in Hull…near Athens. So I missed a lot of stuff here, and I was disappointed to, but I did enjoy my time with the (much) younger generation. And, we all can benefit from spending more time with family members young and old. And, if you don’t have family…adopt one.