No one is celebrating that Mark Richt is out as head coach at Georgia. Nor should they. Richt is a fine man. He displays class and dignity as every turn. He has a servant’s heart, believing one of his roles in life is to help his fellow man. There is no question that he loves his players and wants them to be good men and good husbands.

Milly, the liver and white springer spaniel who lives at my house, is nearly two years old, and you’d think she’d outgrown all of her puppyness. You’d be wrong.

There is a scene in the great television show “The West Wing” in which a group of high school students are stuck at the White House during a lockdown. While they wait, they talk with several members of the president’s staff, and the subject of terrorism comes up. “What strikes you the most about terrorists?” one student asks. “Its 100 percent failure rate,” Sam Seaborn, played by Rob Lowe, responds.

I have very simple needs when it comes to the weather. Do I need an umbrella? Do I need a coat? Unfortunately, I’m finding it increasingly difficult to quickly get the answers to these questions watching the weather on TV.

It’s funny how just a few days can change my outlook on things. I love fall, and living in North Georgia, I’m witness to a kaleidoscope of color as the green leaves turn brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow. It really is a beautiful time of the year. But that only means that winter is coming soon. And with winter comes cold weather and the possibility of snow and ice – none of which I like.

About two or three times a week, someone invariably will ask me, “How do you come up with the ideas for your column?” It's not an easy question to answer.

I’ve spent a lot of time in the car lately. I’ve gone back and forth to Athens a few times. Down to the Mall of Georgia, the largest mall in Georgia. And this week, to Knoxville and back. All of this driving has led me to an indisputable conclusion: There are too darn many people on the highway, and some of you people need to stay home.

I’ve always loved the movie “Driving Miss Daisy” and its depiction of a friendship between two of the most unlikely people, a wealthy, intelligent Jewish woman and a poor, uneducated black man. When the movie was released, I recall some people saying the movie was racist, mostly because of the way Morgan Freeman portrayed Hoke. But those people sorely missed the point of the movie.