Whenever I'm riding down a back road or cruising the lake, I'm always looking for treasure. Whether it's a stack of old wood or an antique Chevrolet barely visible in a falling down barn or something not wood colored floating in the water, I am always on the hunt. I try to fight this urge to scavenge, but I think it must be a genetic glitch like counting ceiling tiles or cracks in the pavement. But there are a lot of us treasure hunters out there, looking left and right, wearing the sidewalls off our tires as we hit every roadside pothole that Randolph County has to offer. I guess I'm like a possum to road kill, I know I should stay away, but I can't. It must be how a hoarder gets his start. Its not the object that I see, it's the potential it can be. I don't see a rusted out Plymouth burrowed up in a briar patch, I see a slick finished hotrod, chopped and dropped with 20 inch wheels, airbag suspension and a hemi salvaged from a wrecked dodge truck. I'll put in aftermarket air conditioning like Mike Robinson put in his Camero and a cool steering wheel with the buttons on it to lock the trans-brake or engage the NOS like David Bartlett has on his hotrod. Oh what a machine it can be! And then its gone as I drift back in to whatever my wife was saying as we drive along to where ever I had forgotten we were going.
But I don't think this is a bad thing other than being rude to Kim for being distracted. I think more of us should look at potential rather than the obvious. I see, or try to see, the potential in everything, and that doesn't just apply to things. I see the potential in myself to be a better person, our world to become peaceful and our country to become stable . I see our schools becoming an example of how schools should be and our small county a poster child of how to recover from an economic downturn. But unlike the old Plymouth and just driving by, letting the vision of possibilities fade away, there is a time to stop, turn around and work toward making it a reality, whatever that reality may be.
I had a pencil sharpener on my desk. It was probably the third piece of crap pencil sharpener I've had over the years. It would roar and make all kinds of racket but wouldn't sharpen for dirt so one day I decided to take it apart and when I did, I saw how cheap it was with the wussy little motor and single cutting head. Then one day I came across a 1940's Boston classroom pencil sharpener. The handle was bent and the wood shavings container was busted, but it had two vicious cutting heads so I bought it. I rigged it to a 18 volt cordless drill and a doorbell switch and mounted it into a case. It's wired it into a car battery that sits on the floor in front of my desk. I have to say I'm pretty proud of it and it sharpens pencils like a beaver into butter! Now I don't see people beating my door down to have me build them a ridiculous sharpener but its the reality from a possibility, that I doubt anyone's thought of, that makes it cool.
Now, more than ever, we all need to see the possibilities of the obvious. But more than that, we have to be positive and act on it. There is no super hero that is going to swoop in and save us from our economic crisis. We are the super heroes and there are things we can do to achieve to turn the possibilities into realities. Buy local and support the community by being a part of it. There are positive forces here that can use your help and it doesn't have to be fund raising and tea parties. We have boat races, boat parades, rodeos and street dances that all raise money to help at home.
We need to vote with our conscience and act on our complaints. If you act to remedy just one out of ten of your biggest complaints, whether it be in politics or a leaky faucet, you will find that you feel better. Complaining brings little satisfaction, being a part and trying to make our world and our community a better place does. We are all busy now and spare time is something a lot of people have very little of, but you would be surprised how appreciated a little time can be. We have a new school in Wedowee and like most contracts, there are a lot of needs that are not covered. There is no playground budgeted for our new Elementary school and they want an outdoor classroom that both schools can use. There is also a lot of landscaping that will need doing as well as a fence they will need once they get a playground. And that is just for starters.
It doesn't matter if your a fulltime or weekend resident or if your just visiting, when you are here, your a Wedowean (I don't know, how would you spell it?). And as a Wedowean, you are part of our community. We are all proud to have our visitors and weekend residents and appreciate what they have done to make us what I think is the most unique and inviting place in Alabama. I don't think us full time residents tell you that enough.

Thanks again!

Charley Norton is co-owner of Norton's Flooring, a company started by his father in 1976. Norton's Flooring products are in countless homes on Lake Wedowee and throughout the county.

By Charley Norton

Charley Norton is co-owner of Norton's Flooring, a company started by his father in 1976. Norton's Flooring products are in countless homes on Lake Wedowee and throughout the county.

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