CORNELIA – Owing to a warm friendship with Jimmy Harris, the good-natured mayor of Nacoochee Bend, just outside Helen, I have for the longest time experienced some of the most refreshing sojourns into the northern half of our state.

For the record, Nacoochee Bend is not incorporated and the last thing on Jimmy’s mind would be to engage in politics.  He is too loyal, too forthright, and too practical for the wheeling and dealing that seems to be standard with the political game.

However, shall we say, if he were elected to the statehouse, for example, he would prefer that his colleagues hold committee meetings with him as they flyfish one of Georgia’s numerous trout streams, drink Diet Coke instead of whiskey, if you are talking about the popular alcoholic beverages distilled in the U. S. and Ireland.  (Whisky if you are referring to such strong drink distilled in Scotland, Canada, or Japan.)  

At the end of the day, he would have everybody gathering about the flag and singing kumbaya.  

Jimmy is a good citizen and a great American!   Let’s pause and address what it takes to be a great American.  You don’t have to be elected senator or governor, or President or write the Great American novel.   You don’t have to win the Masters or Wimbledon or the World Series or the Super Bowl.

All you need to do is work like the devil for your pay, pay your bills, support church and charity and give of yourself to your family and community and underscore faith, hope and charity.

Jimmy Harris, like so many others you likely know, has done that for decades. Oh Lord, my prayer: “Please tell me that the Jimmy Harrises of our world will not become extinct!”   

While it is not often, due to time constraints, there are times like in recent weeks when we have motored up to Cornelia where Jimmy and his wife Kathy live in a house with a big porch, big fireplace, rocking chairs, swings with oversized cushions and a view of the Chattahoochee which rushes by the Harris’ homeplace.  How nice.

Kathy is an industrious retired teacher with a big heart and a proponent of the golden rule, not by reciting it, but by living it.  She has a smile as winsome and captivating as a sophomore Georgia cheerleader.  She has a nice touch in the kitchen and not coincidentally with a fly rod.

On a recent trip up to see them, we spent time on two lane roads leading to their handsome home by the river.  Those roads were back roads reflecting simpler times, displaying rolled hay bales and the splendor of pine trees and hardwoods—comingled and as compatible as hedgerows and muscadine vines.

Soon we were on our way to dinner at “The Attic” in nearby Clarkesville. After we were seated, our curiosities were tweaked by the setting and a collection of brochures touting the places to see in the seat of Habersham County.

A nice young mother by the name of Shain Phillips greeted us with a warm smile and a generous description of what was available on the menu.   Before dinner was served, there was a motivation to browse the building which once was a service station.

To be accurate, it dates to the time when the traditional term for such business establishments was to refer to them as “filling” stations.   Long before the self-service times of today, you pulled your car into such a place and a genial fellow walked out and asked, “filler up?”

If you were affluent enough, you nodded affirmatively.  Many would ask for “five gallons.”   For me and my ’50 Ford, I had a standard order, which was “a dollar’s worth.”

I thought of those good old days, as I ordered a hamburger steak, and talked trout fishing and Georgia football with my friends.  The meal was excellent, the dinner partners salt of the earth types who praise God by, among other things, praising nature.

Soon we were taking a respite for the night under a warm blanket having been filled and fulfilled by a nice dinner in a cozy atmosphere.  Soon I was drifting off to sleep with the sounds of the Chattahoochee whispering peaceful contentment which brought about a restful night’s sleep.

Now you know why I keep coming back to spend time with my friends.