13 JAN 03: WELCOME TO SONNY-LAND
Today is a historic day in Georgia, as Sonny Perdue becomes Governor - the first Republican Governor this state has had in 130 years. Our town's newspaper had a truly classic headline on the morning after his election in November: "SONNY ENDS THE REIGN."
One of Sonny Perdue's big campaign promises was to put the recent change in Georgia's state flag to a vote of the people. Yet the strange thing is, the OLD state flag with the Confederate battle emblem was BANNED from the inaugural! Come to think of it, the new Governor never said how HE'D vote in that referendum....
So much about Sonny Perdue seems to reflect the Old South. He has an accent. He's from the middle of Georgia. He's practically bald. In short, he's the sort of candidate who's not supposed to win in this television era -- and some of us still are trying to figure out how he did.
But it's not "Sunny" and warm here in Columbus -- so instead of running outside, I went to The Mall for a speed-walk. Years ago my Pastor (the one I mention below) declared in a message people are FOOLS to jog outside when it's cold. Yet he never said what temperature "cold" is . I set a boundary of 50 degrees F. - so SLAM! I'm guilty of religious legalism, and he's off the hook.
I've posted elsewhere a strange thing about The Mall (we have only one in town). Last year a Rich's (Federated) Department Store opened at the west end. It joins three other anchor stores, including a J.C. Penney's store at the east end. So you can enter one side of The Mall with Rich's, and leave the other side with Penney's. Coincidence?!?!?
The holiday crowds finally have left The Mall, so my walking time was good -- two full laps indoors in 23:52.74. Even at a quick pace, you can still make all sorts of observations:
+ Our Mall has a Disney Store and a Victoria's Secret shop. One has scantily-clad women displayed on the front windows, while one does not. One is boycotted by the Southern Baptists, while the other is not. So how much did Victoria's Secret pay off the Baptists?
+ In a true sign of changing times, I spotted a man walking through The Mall wearing a Los Angeles CLIPPERS jacket. No Lakers outfits were in sight.
+ The calendar stand seemed to have everything marked down 50 percent. The seems like an act of desperation - since the year's not even five-percent over.