By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
May - a month of 'Ms'
Random Thoughts, May 11
Random Thoughts by Wendell Smith

MUSCODA - Winter seems to be gone, and May, with many beautiful days, is rolling along. For several reasons, perhaps May should get more attention. For example, June gets a lot of fame because of numerous weddings held then. But May also does well in that category. The local current Lions Calendar lists 48 wedding anniversaries during this month.

May 1 hosts May Day. There was a time when youngsters constructed special “May Day Baskets” that contained a few pieces of candy or cookies, perhaps some early flowers, etc., and on May Day delivered them to neighbors – a neat sign of friendship that was enjoyed by both young and old – sort of Halloween in reverse.

Mother’s Day gets a lot of attention – and it should. For many of us, memories of our mothers last a lifetime and we often pass those memories along to later generations.

I was fascinated by some of the stories my mother told as she looked back at an earlier time. She was born in 1908. A favorite recollection for me was Mom telling how she and her younger brother had their tonsils removed as they lay on their farm kitchen table.

She said when the doctor finished the operation he told her mother not to let “Guy”, her husband and my grandpa, “go to the field” to work that day! If one of the kids start to bleed, someone needs to come get me while the other one holds a finger on the wound!” Those were days before farms had telephones.

Mom’s stories about how she rode a horse to attend high school, each day, a distance of about four miles – sun, rain or snow, were favorites to hear.

I still have a “memory picture” of seeing “Dick”, old, thin and sway-back, standing in the corner of a pasture, hardly able to walk, living out his life on an uncle’s farm. Mom would occasionally stop by the fence for at least one more look and to speak to the animal that had served her so well.

My mother lived a long life. She loved the piano and gave lessons well into her 90s. However, it troubled her that just about every kid in that area learned to produce music  her aging upright black instrument that stood in the living room – except her two own sons. That’s something I also regret now.

Muscoda has a special relationship to the letter  “M”. Where else can you find a weekend devoted to the worship of a fungus – as is the case with the Muscoda Morel Festival? That popular event has become a tradition. Hopefully the morels will be plentiful.

Memorial Day will close out the month. We should all take time that day to think about the many people who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our benefit. If we do that, perhaps we earn the right to sit back, relax, and enjoy a pack of M & M.