ENIGMA – The name of this town in Berrien County has been intriguing in all its years of existence. Many say the name is an enigma itself. It is near Alapaha and Lax, the kind of places where you find good neighbors, the best in farming, a love of country music, and unsurpassed home cooking.
Like many others, I have always been fascinated by Enigma and its environs which includes Ocilla, the home of Tyler Harper, Georgia’s commissioner of Agriculture. I have made my way 200 plus miles south from my home address to visit Tyler. He was a longtime pal of one of my favorite friends and characters of all time, Bobby Rowan of Enigma. Tyler is not as colorful as Bobby, former state senator and public service commissioner, but one of the most interesting people in our state in that he wears so many hats, a juggler could not keep track of them.
He is a politician much of the time, a businessman some of the time, country music singer many times during the week and a fulltime farmer all the time.
I wanted to learn more about this man who leads such a multifaceted life and was not shocked when it developed that it was his mother, Elecia, who became the centerpiece of the story of a trip to the flatlands of South Georgia.
Tyler and his associate, Matthew Agvent, had scheduled a meeting with an offer of accommodation at one of the guest houses on the family farm which the Harpers have tended for seven generations. With a rural background, I felt very much at home parking by a peanut patch and looking across the varied landscape to a pond populated by hardwoods, skinny pines, and catfish.
I had been given a “if you need anything” number, which I called when I found all the doors to our temporary abode locked. It was Elecia who answered from her perch on a tractor as she was mowing a pasture.
She gave me the combination to the lock to the back door entrance and signed off with a generous exhortation that if we needed any assistance to ring her back.
I knew that her warm and good-natured way of speaking reflected genuine sincerity that emerged from a downhome lifestyle that had been in place for countless years.
With a refrigerator which had a slight malfunction, she had iced down a cooler of bottled water for us and left a few healthy snacks that were perfect for a brief stay.
There were a couple of inspirational quotations about along with one that reminds all who come that way that “life is better in the country.” It only reinforced what I have long been convinced of.
Following a morning in which Tyler, Matthew and Jake Perdue took me on a tour of his farm, an illuminating and resonating drive through pastures, row crops, grainfields, and an occasional deer stand, it was time to return home. The rest of the story is going to confirm why I am such a big fan of Mrs. Elecia Harper.
Heading in the direction of Tifton and Interstate 75, we turned right out of the driveway of the Harper guest quarters. There was no apprehension and trepidation that we were on a dirt road. I had grown up on such roads and concluded that the overnight rains only made it a little messy.
Soon enough I realized that the experience of my past was subordinated to the tinhorn status that I had suddenly encountered. I was about to be stuck in the mud. Somehow or other my new GMC Terrain was slippin’ and slidin’ to extreme. However, the vehicle kept moving forward. If we could only clear what was the last hill facing us, traction would restore us to normalcy.
It was not to be, so a distress call went out to Matthew Agvent, who soon confirmed that help was on the way. When Charles Harper arrived on a front loader with a heavy-duty chain to hook only my vehicle, I was all smiles.
A few minutes later Elecia arrived on a four-wheeler to “make sure everything is okay.” Suddenly it wasn’t. Charles has a medical condition that limits his mobility. Elecia took a blanket and placed it on the ground near the front end of my vehicle, knelt down, surveyed the situation, and dejectedly announced, “there is nothing to hook the chain to.” Front wheel drives will allow one to escape most ill road circumstances but not when you are anchored in a foot of mud or more.
Elecia then summoned George Tanner who came and tied a tow belt to the under carriage. Charles pulled us up the hill, and then we were on our way—delayed but, none the less, in fine fettle.
Naturally, I offered thanks to all, especially Elecia. “Happy to help,” she smiled. “I appreciate you being nice to my son.” That confirmed that there is something Biblical about this youthful grandmother. You know: “Salt of the Earth.”