Arbor Day is approaching for our local states (Tennessee March 6, Kentucky April 3, Virginia April 24), and it’s a worthy recognition of the importance of trees in our lives. Here in the mountains they are omnipresent, with every scenic vista tree laden. Every home is full of tree stuff, from bananas to the roof trusses, and every breathe we take has some tree air in it. What follows is some quotes and a little poetry spoken by wise people on the importance of trees.

Continuing from, "From Hearth And Hoe": "A favorite story in the early days of the Camp TVA-22 related to some of the men from the North who encountered a sow and a litter of piglets. When the sow attacked them, the men killed her, caught the piglets, returned to camp, and reported that they killed a bear. The southern boys said that the Yankees did not know the difference between a sow and a bear. Malcolm Patterson, assigned to Camp TVA-22, recalled: 'The Yankee men did not know how to fell a tree.

March is the first month of spring and the fish know it.
How, you might ask, does a fish know when it is spring? Every fish has an Apple watch to tell it when it is spring! Just kidding, sort of, fish actually have something better.
They have an external que called the spring or vernal equinox. Spring is determined by the length of the day and night. The first day of spring is when the darkness of night is equal to the light of day. In other words, 12 hours of both on the same day. This annual event always occurs on March 19, 20 or 21.

I found inspiration for this week’s article in a conversation with my most capable administrative assistant. We were discussing what we had done over the weekend, and she said that she had participated in a Rainbow vacuum cleaner sales demonstration.

What did I do to deserve this? Have you ever thought that? I did a few years ago and I still remember my stinky ordeal to this day.
It started early one morning a little after 5 a.m. when my husband Tim went out the door to go to work. I was still lying in bed. Suddenly he burst through the bedroom door.
“Get up! You’re gonna have to help me get to work. My truck battery is dead!”
Lord help, he was going nuts until I threw on some clothes. No way was I riding in my pajamas.

First off, I want to go on record as saying I have never taken much stock in the whole astrology thing.
I’ve never been convinced that my behavior, personality, luck, looks, chances for success or any other facet of my humanity could be impacted by the location of stars and planets in the sky on the day I was born. That’s just me.

Shot who?
Although most Christians may have never heard the term “Supersessionism,” it is a doctrine that has been hotly debated in theological circles for centuries.
Supersessionism, also called “Replacement Theology,” is a Christian doctrine which asserts that the New Testament or Covenant through Jesus Christ has replaced the Old Testament or Covenant, that was exclusively made with the Jewish people. As usual, I don’t have the print space to ferret out all the implications of this doctrine, but I am going to try my best to simplify it. Wish me luck!

One of the things that has always amazed me about Tennessee is the kindness of most people. Not that people are not kind elsewhere, it just seems to be much more abundant in the hills and valleys of Tennessee. I have already mentioned some in past articles. Here are some more, and they are not in chronological order:
When we first moved into the state, we had to stay in a motel. With the help of a couple of people in our new Athens church, we had a house to move into the very next day. And the ‘couple of people’ became a group to unload our U-Haul.

Becky Miller, the community coordinator for East Tennessee Children’s Hospital (ETCH), met with the Union County Business and Professional Association on Feb. 11. Miller serves 16 counties in East Tennessee as the liaison between outlying schools and the hospital. ETCH, the primary provider of pediatric care in East Tennessee for the past 80 years, offers this care regardless of a family’s ability to pay.

A recent study finds that acupressure, a traditional Chinese medicine technique, can improve chronic pain symptoms in the lower back.

Acupressure is similar to acupuncture, but instead of needles, pressure is applied with a finger, thumb or device to specific points on the body.

While acupressure has been previously studied—and found to be beneficial—in people with cancer-related or osteoarthritis pain, there are few studies that have examined acupressure in people with back pain.