October 3, 2000 — They come in sweatpants and shorts, suits and scrubs — looking for a quick escape. They leave the classroom, the office, the living room couch, and walk or jog a flat stretch of Gainesville sidewalk that, at some point in history, became known as the “Brenau …
Read moreSeptember 26, 2000 — The fishermen stared at us. That’s about all they could do. Their once tranquil fishing hole on Lake Lanier suddenly became Atlanta Motor Speedway. A large flash of purple and orange is likely all they saw. But they could feel the wakes. And they could hear …
Read moreSeptember 19, 2000 — I learned how to fly an airplane last week. Landed the thing three times. But — odd as it may seem — the most awkward moments of my lesson occurred while I was on the ground. Who knew taxiing an airplane around the tarmac could be …
Read moreSeptember 12, 2000 — This is a story about a little girl and a horse. Two horses, actually. One helped the girl win a state championship earlier this month. And the other one helped make it all possible. This is a story about Honey Beth, Hunker and Godfather II. Godfather …
Read moreAugust 29, 2000 — From his airplane window, Milton Keller watched Atlanta’s nighttime lights fade into the dead black sky. He wondered if he’d ever see them again. And then he said a prayer. It was early August. Keller and fellow Hall County firefighters Bryan Cash, Tyler Dorsey and Todd …
Read moreAugust 22, 2000 — The food just kept on coming. Biscuits and cornbread. Fried chicken and country ham. Fried okra and corn on the cob. Plenty of sweet tea to wash it all down. For the hungry hiker, the Dillard House rules. Although anything other than beef jerky, trail mix …
Read moreAugust 8, 2000 — Good golfers generally aren’t good miniature golfers, somebody told me recently. That person was wrong. And so was I, for assuming that the opposite also holds true: That awful golfers — like me — would somehow be ameliorated by the plastic greens, colored balls and banked …
Read moreAugust 1, 2000 — First came the idea. Then the plan. Training followed. Equipment was purchased along the way. And now, finally, the time has come. It was more than a year ago when Hall County firefighters Bryan Cash, Tyler Dorsey, Todd Folger and Milton Keller decided they wanted to …
Read moreJuly 25, 2000 — The moon sets. The sun rises. Happens every morning. It’s easy to take it all for granted. But not for Alice Adams. No, for her each new day is approached as “a gift.” It was dark out when I first met Adams. Stars filled the sky …
Read moreJuly 18, 2000 — To be honest, when Tim Gago first telephoned me I thought it was a prank call. He spoke in a thick, high-pitched New England accent. Not exactly something you expect to hear in Northeast Georgia. And what he spoke of seemed even more dubious. Gago called …
Read moreJuly 9, 2000 — It was a typical Friday morning. I struck out Ken Griffey Jr., got struck out by Greg Maddux and received a knuckleball lesson from Phil Niekro. Yep, pretty routine. Just another day at the Major League Baseball All-Star FanFest, which runs through Tuesday at the Georgia …
Read moreJuly 4, 2000 — Right now, somewhere in Lake Lanier, two gar are likely reminiscing about the species’ halcyon days: the 50 million or so years before Jack Barnett started fishing. And right now, somewhere on Lake Lanier, Barnett is likely on his pontoon boat, reeling in one of these …
Read moreJune 27, 2000 — The waiting is the hardest part. It’s not the weeks of intense training that lead up to the fight — the ropes jumped, the heavy bags hit, the countless sessions spent sparring. No, it’s not all that. It’s the empty, idle minutes and hours spent waiting …
Read moreJune 20, 2000 — It was barely light out, not yet 7 a.m., as Team Reality Bikes arrived at the transition area of the Hi-Tec Adventure Race Sunday at Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, Ga. Team members Bill Oyster, Brian Grizzle and Anna Barnett walked their bicycles forward sleepily. …
Read moreJune 13, 2000 — Hiking up Trail 427 in Montana’s Gallatin National Forest is one colossal internal struggle. The instinct toward self preservation demands that you watch your step. The trail can be rocky and wet, steep and snowy. But a force more powerful draws your eyes upward. Eleven waterfalls …
Read moreMay 30, 2000 — My mom, a mountain and I. Not a bad way to spend Mother’s Day. We escaped to the granite cliffs of nearby Yonah Mountain three Sundays ago, hiking along the path of legend, history and dispute. We sat atop the 3,175-foot summit for hours — the …
Read moreMay 23, 2000 — Henry Kannapell and I stood along the shore, studying the sun-soaked waters of Lake Lanier, sizing up our opposition. We were silent for a moment. And then Kannapell — one of my 20 or so teammates for the sixth annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival of …
Read moreMay 16, 2000 — Back. Arm. Shoulder. Side. Backside. Legs. Did I say back? Perhaps it would be easier to list the parts of my body that weren’t sore after my first dragon boat paddling practice less than two weeks ago: There. You see, all the right parts were sore, …
Read moreMay 9, 2000 — This day was going to be different. I could feel it. I could hear it. A chorus of chimes serenaded me as I sat on the dock, awaiting my third attempt at sailing on Lake Lanier. The choristers, hundreds of sailboats bobbing gently in their slips, …
Read moreMay 2, 2000 — I just finished playing my first game of croquet, and my head hurts. No, I was not struck with a mallet or plunked with a ball. It’s just that this sport can be quite complicated. Three hours on the court, and I was both confused and …
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