The Chatter Box
By Deborah Bennett

The spring weather we have been having lately has me thinking about fishing and remembering my adventures as a youth. I loved to go fishing with my daddy or granddaddy.

I can recall sitting for hours on the bank of a pond, Buckhead Creek or the Ogeechee River and watching the cork on the end of my cane pole until it "bobbled" in the water. That was my cue to pull hard. I must admit that I never caught anything "big", but it was still a wonderful experience for me to pull a fish out of the water. Of course, Daddy or Granddaddy would have to first bait the hook and then "unhook" the fish for me. All I was interested in was the "catching" part. "Eating" was okay, too.

Today, I often find myself doing a different kind of fishing, and there's no pole or fish involved.

I simply drop a hook into that black hole that lurks somewhere in my mind and hope that something bites the bait and that I can pull it out to daylight! Fishing out one of the numerous thoughts or ideas floating around in there and holding onto it for more than a few moments is not as easy as it used to be. I like to think that it's because there was not so much swimming around in there in my younger years. Now, however, the "pond" is overflowing, and it takes a little more effort to lure something out.

So, if you come by the office and I've hung out the "gone fishing" sign; don't just assume that I am at the river with a cane pole and worm. It may be that I am sitting in the closet with a flashlight - trying to lure something to the surface of that dark pond.

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Happy birthday to: Hagan Jenkins, Justine Davis, Kathy Turner, Wayne Bennett, Eddie Shelton, Corey Shelton, Joe Bob Law, Bailey Brown, Stacie Jackson, Brandon McKenzie, Marcus Richardson, Charlie Burch, Mildred Wiggins, Leslie Rowland, Judy Kent, James Poole, Bowden James, Teresa Hernandez, Donna Boynton, Erica Williams and Tramaine Wilson.

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Celebrating wedding anniversaries are: Mr. and Mrs. James Poole and Mr. and Mrs. Dan Turner.

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Military Active Duty List: Lance Cpl. Lee Ogden, U.S. Marines, Radio and Communications, Bahria, Iraq; Petty Officer 3rd Class Eric B. Kelsey, U.S. Navy, NSA Bahrain; PV2 Ashley Clifton, U.S. Army, Yongsan, Korea; Airman First Class Charles F. Woods, Moody Air Force Base, Valdosta, GA; Capt. Andrew P. Thomas, U.S. Marines, F.A.S.T. Company, Yorktown, VA; Stuart Burrus, U.S. Air Force, Bossier AFB, Bossier, LA; SPC 4 Travis D. Motes, 1st Calvary Division, T. Hood, Texas; Capt. Donald Slade Burke, Travis Air Force Base, Fairfield, Calif.; Staff Sgt. Gilbert C. Sheppard III, 48th Brigade, 118th Field Artillery, Iraq; Petty Officer 3rd Class Jamie A. Yager, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps Base Hawaii; Petty Chief Officer Andy D. Crosby, U.S. Navy, Elroy Destroyer, Norfolk, Va.; Stephanie Crosby, R.N., U.S. Navy, Lafayette Destroyer; Jimmy Cooper, U.S. Army National Guard, 878th Engineering Battalion-Augusta, Persian Gulf ; 1st Lt. J.R. Taylor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Iraq; SPC. Daniel Stuart, 18th MEDCOM, 121 General Hospital, Seoul, Korea; Jeffrey Sweat, U.S. Navy, USS Kauffman, MM3 59/E-Division, A-Gang, Norfolk, Va.; Cpl. Larry Lamont Clark, U.S. Marine Corp, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Bagdad, Iraq; Khan Young, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Kitty Hawk, Persian Gulf; Robert Milton Jr., E-3, U.S. Army, Ft. Stewart, Hinesville, Ga., Mission Kuwait; Arnold R. Mosley, 2nd Lt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas; and Debra A. Mosley, Tech. Sgt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas.