I had to have a medical procedure this week, inside a small operating room with anesthesia, the whole nine yards. I was dreading it of course, as we all do. But then something made it so bearable and almost pleasant.

I received a letter a few days ago from an anonymous reader.

When I was a little girl, somewhere between the ages of 8 and 13, people often remarked to my mother that I looked like Margaret O’Brien, a child actress of the ‘40s who began her prolific career in films at the age of 4.

The month of June comes floating in on butterfly wings, trailing roses at her feet. She has always been a delightful month, leaving the colder weather behind and bringing warmer days.

I reported to a destroyer tender for temporary duty after being a Christian for less than a year. I had failed many times publicly to confess Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Aboard the tender seemed no place to be an example of Christ’s life-changing grace.

Here we are — already into the first week of June and almost halfway through the year.

Memorial Day has departed, and soon the month of May will follow. June, with her roses and brides, is eager to enter our hills, but both months leave reminders for us to love and admire.

With Memorial Day behind us, and the thermometer hitting the 88 degree mark today, summer seems to be in full swing.

Golden ragwort is spread all over the hillside here, and soft, pink-topped daisy fleabane marches up and down the ditch. Yellow buttercups, so shiny they look as if they have been painted with enamel paint, bloom hand in hand with the fleabane.

Rain came down in torrents. As the thirsty earth drank it in, it released a distinctive aroma that is evident only in springtime. The freeway, black and wet, reflected the headlights of oncoming cars, making it next to impossible to see.

The sun shines down brightly after a frost and freeze last night, and the forecast is for warmer weather. We have had days of rain, and some thunderstorms, but it looks as if we may have a few days of sunshine.

The sun was shining for the first time in days as I drove home from my recent appointment. It had been only a few days since my world was turned upside down and it was merely by the Grace of God that I was able to function.

If you’ve seen the movie “It’s A Wonderful Life” (normally shown on Christmas Eve on TV), then you’re aware that the main character is named George Bailey. The actor, Jimmy Stewart, portrays him so well that you feel his every mood, desire, plight and justifications.

Mother’s Day is almost here, and our mind naturally goes back to the one who first held us in her arms and loved us all her life.

Our world as we know it is not the same — it doesn’t exist due to the COVID-19 virus. What we were able to do, being social human beings, has now come to a screeching halt. It’s not normal for any of us. We can’t go out to eat, see any sporting events, movies, attend church, have a yard sale…

As Mother’s Day approaches, I’m remembering my mother and the countless special things about her. I’m sure many of you are doing the same. After all, our mother is the first person we see, touch and love.

What if you had the cure to a viral pandemic? In your hands you are holding the vaccine that would save the world. But your supply is limited. You have only so many vials of the precious life-giving drug.

Our hills open up their arms to the month of May, as she comes strolling in with her hair full of violets and golden dandelions at her feet. April departs, and takes with her the unpredictable days we have seen.

The year was 1926 and the season was fall — intoxicating fall. A dark-haired little girl named Ginny was playing alone in the huge backyard of the house in which she lived. Her eyes diverted from the lovely fall color that had carpeted the ground and was ablaze on the yard’s trees.

So there I was, a mere 7 years old when my father left his job in the coal mines for one with the power company and we moved to a house perched on the banks of the Kanawha River.

With our thoughts and minds filled with the worldwide coronavirus pandemic and news of it everywhere you look, I find it hard to go to sleep at night.

TIME OUT!

My father loved pocket watches.