Back in Class

Yesterday we began taking E.L.M. Classes again.

I have no idea what E.L.M. stands for.  However, what it means is self-improvement classes for the elderly.  I think you have to be 55 or over to qualify.  Another qualification, probably more importantly is pay the tuition fee.

The classes are held on Tuesdays at the Marietta First Methodist Church. We have taken, collectively, Mah-Jong, photography, genealogy, writing, flower arranging, various forms of exercises, money management, and this time we are together taking the history of north Georgia in the morning and after lunch Anna is taking card making while I take a playtime recess in downtown Marietta.
I have taken the history of north Georgia before, about 5 years ago.  But there are so many historical incidents that happened in north Georgia the teacher says she can go on and on and not repeat herself.  She mentioned several examples of what she could talk about, for instance  Henry Wisdom who she said was the "Paul Revere of Rome, Georgia."  She went on to say Henry Wisdom was a mailman and his route was all the way to the Alabama line.  Near the state line he overheard some Yankee soldiers saying they were going to hit Rome hard the next day - burn it down.  Henry Wisdom wore out two horses riding all over the Rome area warning people and be ready.  They were ready and defeated the onslought of the Yankees.  The lady next to me something about Henry Wisdom was just like Paul Revere, he warned the British were coming. I told her that he warned Rome that the Yankees were coming.  I went on to expalin that Rome didn't exist in the Revolutionary War, whites were not allowed to settle north of the Chattahoochee River until 1832.  She seemed to appreciate that knowledge.  Damn!  What am I, the teacher's helper?  

Also, at the beginning of the class the teacher asked who all wer native Georgians.  Only Anna and I raised our hands.  I think some people looked on us as if we were freaks of nature.