Waking at the Sleep Inn and Suites motel (unfortunately sans suite for D&H) not far from the campus of the University of Georgia on our last day in the American South, we drive to another primo pickleball venue at Southeast Clarke Park in Athens. Welcomed by Santa Claus (aka Ken Calkin, the local ambassador), we have advanced play with a variety of Southerners and transplants from the Northeast. We do our best not to embarrass our Maine fellow picklers.

Hannah serves teaming up with Ken in Athens, Georgia

Hannah, Ken (he does in fact play Santa Claus at Christmas time), and Dan at the six dedicated courts in Athens. Getting Fitbit steps wherever we go!
Warmed up by the high quality play on the last Tuesday of October, I can see the future – come with me! I am spending three weeks next fall in Athens with Hannah before the long, dark pall of winter descends on Maine.
Driving 75 miles west to Atlanta via I-20, Hannah and I have the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in our sights. Located in downtown of Atlanta, the Carter Center is easy to find with ample parking. Admission is $10 for seniors and the complex of buildings has an understated feel compared to the expansive Reagan Library. That presidential library is large enough to include Air Force One at its Simi Valley, California location.
Check out this picture from the recent fall California wildfires lapping at the doorstep of the library. Click here for my blog on the Reagan Library.

October 2019 wildfires threatening the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California
From out of nowhere, Jimmy Carter campaigned through 1975 with his family doing the heavy lifting of meeting voters and organizing events in Iowa and New Hampshire. His roots as a dark horse candidate give hope for those supporting Andrew Yang and Marianne Williamson (Dan and Hannah) during the current campaign for the 2020 election. (Sadly in January 2020 Marianne suspended her campaign.)
Jimmy Carter is Hannah’s favorite president. Sure Washington, Lincoln, and Obama have their many fans, but Jimmy was president when Hannah and I were young marrieds in Arizona looking to find our way in the late 1970s. A good and decent man of faith, he is most often remembered for the 445 day Iran Hostage crisis that didn’t end til the day after he left office in 1981.
I remember the last three days that I was president, I never went to bed at all. I never went to bed until we had negotiated the final release of the hostages. – Jimmy Carter

Inauguration 1977
Fighting the rampant racial segregation in the South, Jimmy Carter stood out for the freedom and dignity for all God’s children. On his second day in office, Carter pardoned all Vietnam War draft evaders.
His desire to create the Carter Center as a venue for negotiations and peace keeping was the foundation for his winning the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize. Traveling widely to conduct peace negotiations, monitor elections, and advance disease prevention and eradication in developing nations, JC is a man for our times.
Unless both sides win, no agreement can be permanent. – Jimmy Carter

The recreated Oval Office at the Carter Center
When people are intimidated about having their own opinions, oppression is at hand. ―
His commitment to Habitat for Humanity inspires our friends, George and Pat. Habitat brings volunteers together to build homes, communities, and hope. It has helped more than four million folks construct or rehabilitate more than 800,000 homes since its founding in 1976.

Jimmy Carter, Nobel Prize for Peace winner
Maybe there’s a “Jimmy Carter” in the current pool of presidential candidates.