By After an absence of nearly two' weeks, I

By

After an absence of nearly two' weeks, I returned to Rappahannock County on Friday, May 18. I was apprehensive that I might well have missed the best part of May. I found that I had missed some things. The apple blossoms evidently had come and gone while I was absent, for they were now in green leaf. There was no sign of red bud at wood’s edge, or of wild cherry. The dogwood was still in bloom, however. Golden ragweed was thick in the pastures, as were the buttercups.

I found the wild Azaleas blooming where they should have been, along Route 618. The grass in the pasture was nearly as high as the knees of the cows, and the hay in the meadow was ready for cutting.

Goat’s-Beard and wild phlox, and Sweet Cicely and poppies bloomed at roadside. A few May apple blossoms still dung to the stems beneath the umbrella leaves. So, encouragedrlJ>ought. tomato plants at Burke’s storewhen T" went to the post office on Saturday morning to pick up my accumulated mail.

I decided to check through the mail before planting the tomatoes. 1 was in for a shock. There was no spring-like optimism, not even hope, in my mail. Evidently the prophets of gloom, the managers of direct-mail programs, don’t know how the seasons run.

First, I opened a letter from The American Sentinel, warning me that American children are being brainwashed and that unless the process is stopped, and our nuclear arms build-up continued, we and the children may eventually be destroyed by Seviet nuclear arms.

Offsetting this letter was another, from the Community for Creative NonViolence, suggesting that the only way we can escape noslear destruction is to stop building nuclear arms.

I received an appeal endorsed by Katherine Hepburn, asking%t support for population control, in some form or other, and restating the Malthusian theory that the world would be destroyed by excessive numbers of people.

Countering this appeal was one from Right To Life, asserting that population control, in some forms, would destroy civilization. The choices were not easy.

There was a letter from The Committee to re-elect Ronald Reagan, making predictions of dire things to come if he is not re-elected.

Discounting the latter was one from the chairman of the Democratic Party, telling me that he “thinks I will agree with him” that the re-election of Ronald Reagan might well be disasterous for the nation.

Also, James Watt, former Secretary of the Interior, signed a letter telling me that President Reagan is a voice