By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
AUG. 16, 2022 | Something is missing in Gwinnett. One person could step up to the plate and provide this service and be considerable help to all of us.
Gwinnett does not have an official station for recording the weather. There is not even an official weather station at the Gwinnett County airport. Nor does it have an “official volunteer” to keep records of how much rain falls here, or the not-so-often snowfall.
The nearest official weather station is in Doraville, while another is at Peachtree DeKalb Airport.
Doraville records an average of 54.45 inches of rain; Peachtree DeKalb reports 51.43, while at Hartsfield-Jackson, the rainfall totals 50.43 inches annually. It would be helpful for Gwinnett to have someone keeping those records.
In effect, the Weather Bureau needs someone to volunteer to keep that information.
And yes, there is no pay for the job. But if you are interested, the National Weather Bureau is the place to contact. If you will volunteer, they will supply you with equipment to take the measurements to report, through their Co-op program. If interested send an email to Patricia Atwell at patricia.atwell@noah.gov.
Visitor’s Eyes: July 29, 1805, was the date writer Alexis de Tocqueville, born in Paris. He was 25 years old when the French government sent him to America to study the prison system. He spent nine months touring towns and cities and taking notes. A few years later, he published his famous book, Democracy in America(1835).
During his tour, the aristocratic Tocqueville was impressed by the fact that American Democracy actually worked. He wrote: “There is one thing which America demonstrates invincibly, and of which I had been in doubt up till now: it is that the middle classes can govern a state. I do not know if they would come out with credit from thoroughly difficult political situations. But they are adequate for the ordinary run of society. In spite of their petty passions, their incomplete education and their vulgar manners, they clearly can provide practical intelligence, and that is found to be enough.”
You ever wonder why some trees are easy to carve your initials on and they stay visible for years? Meanwhile, on other trees, soon the bark covers the initials? Former County Agent Bill Baugham of Snellville explains: “The bark on Beech trees stays smooth and doesn’t grow rough. So early carvings are always able to be read. And in winter, when you look into the woods, their brown leaves on young trees are still attached.” Beech trees along the Chattahoochee River in Duluth (off Georgia Highway 120) show evidence to the carvings left by the Indians when they were escorted away from Georgia during the “Trail of Tears” from 1831-1850.
On the Courts: We enjoyed this bit of history from a political commentator out of Maine, Heather Cox Richardson, on July 1, 2022: “In the past, the Supreme Court has operated on the basis of stare decisis, which literally means ‘to stand by things decided.’ The purpose of that principle is to make changes incrementally so the law stays consistent and evenly applied, which promotes social stability.”
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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