For many years I have been reading the "Over The Ozarks" column. It is very interesting, and I have made many friends through it.
    I have corresponded with many and some have visited my home. I remember many contributors who have passed on. They have all been sadly missed.
    I have written many articles which were published in the column. I kept them and made a scrapbook. My articles recalled times past and the customs of that day and how we lived. My children and grandchildren enjoy reading them. They never cooked on a wood-burning stove or rode a train. They've never had to work on a farm or milk a cow. They don't know what they missed.
    Some say those were the "good old days." Some were. But who wants to go back to building fires, having no electricity or telephones, or cars? I enjoy the modern conveniences and I'm thankful for them.
    I grew up on a farm. We did have things comfortable enough--at least for that time--but we had no modern things. Of course, never having had them, we didn't miss them. But it would be terrible to go back now and do without them.
    I wrote recently to Mrs. Ada High of Strafford. She had a poem in "Over The Ozarks." She is 97 years young. She sent me two long poems she had written many years ago. I would like to visit with her. I enjoy elderly people so much. It is so interesting to hear them talk and relate stories of their earlier lives. I also learned that her grandson and wife, with whom she lives, attend services at the church where my son is a minister. It is a small world sometimes!
    Well, spring is here and we surely will enjoy it after such a long, cold winter. Happy springtime to everyone!

Mellie Smith
April 17, 1970