Peeping through my Venetian blind, I admired the morning glories, twining up and over my gate arbor. Looking down the road, I could see the sides lined with nodding goldenrod.

This past week in traveling I have seen fields of goldenrod, once Alabama’s state flower. The poor, ol’ goldenrod wasn’t good enough for some of the ladies in Greenville, I understand; so some had the state flower changed to the camellia. (Greenville is the “Camellia City.”) The camellia, however, is an import. The goldenrod, bless its heart, is native to Alabama.

The goldenrod, narrow-leafed sunflower, golden aster, and other yellow wildflowers make me call October “The Golden Month.”

In Yo’ Craving on the Golden Square I ran into Cindy Perrin of the Beautiful Voice and Joan Kervin.

Coming out of the cleaners the other day, I ran into Billy Stokes and had a nice, sidewalk conversation.

Seen for supper at the Samurai Restaurant were Tommy and Michele Gerlach, Bill and Gail (Gibson) McInnish, and their daughter, Abby Sherman, and her little daughter, Eleanor Grace. The McInnishes were up from Bay Minette for the 90th birthday celebration for Bill’s mother, Betty Sue, attended September 20 in First Presbyterian Church, Andalusia, which Betty Sue attends.

If you don’t know Betty Sue, just look about for one who has the face of an angel, who smiles like a sunset, and who glows with the spirit of Heaven. Betty Sue is one of the most beautiful ladies ever to live in Andalusia, in loveliness, in mind, in heart, and in soul.

In Greenville to visit Mrs. Gotrocks, I found her miffed at my thoughts on the state flower. She pouted and would not accompany me to lunch at the Cracker Barrel. Later, talking to my waitress at the Cracker Barrel in Greenville, Sarah Spurlock, I found that she has six children. Two of them live in the Andalusia area, Alicia Cook and Tereasa Sorrells (Mrs. Jason Sorrells).

The Covington Rifles Camp (chapter) # 1586 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans met October 2 in the Dixon Memorial of our public library.

John Allen Gantt, 1st lt. commander (vice-president), presided and presented the program.

Chaplain “Hank” Roberts worded both invocation and benediction.

Following pledges to the flags, the singing of “Dixie,” and business, Lt. Commander Gantt presented his program on the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

Gantt’s presentation was followed by a round-table discussion, which included Gantt, Derick Davis, Larry Shaw, Curtis Hampton Thomasson, “Hank” Roberts, and Joe Wingard.

Refreshments were provided afterwards by Derick Davis.

John Allen Gantt and his daughter, Joni, have returned from a vacation to New York City where they saw two Broadway plays, took a water tour, saw the graves of Robert Fulton and Alexander Hamilton, and visited the 9-ll memorial.

Word has come that Olive Doris (Brown) Reichmann, 88, of Pensacola died September 9. She was born September 14 in Andalusia, but moved to Pensacola when she was a junior in high school. She was graduated from Pensacola High School in 1943. She is survived by her husband, Fred Reichmann, and their daughter, Paula Schoenberger, and two grandsons and their families.

Perhaps some of you remember her.

Word has also come that Robert Edward Taylor of Mountain Brook, August 28, 1927 – September 10, 2014, a brother to our late Luther Taylor, died at 87 in Birmingham.

Dr. Taylor was born in Andalusia, the second of two children of Luther Stafford and Bertha (Henderson) Taylor.

He was preceded in death by his wife of more than 55 years, Ann (Schuh) Taylor. He is survived by his daughter, Carolyn T. (Mrs. Mark L.) Barnard of Darlington, South Carolina; a son, Robert F. Taylor; four granddaughters, and their families.

Among the papers on my desk I found a narrative left me by Sue Wilson – “Miss Sue! She runs this town; she do!”

I reproduce her journal here.

“Five local, adventuresome, Andalusia ladies recently took a few days off on a summer fling!

“Pam Wyche organized the trip and served as tour guide across the back roads of Southeast Alabama into the Peach State of Georgia.

“Carolyn Davis masterfully drove the group from Rose Hill to Troy where their first stop was a Sikes and Kohn (a country mall).

“Following the Alabama road map, they wound around the countryside, spotting old Methodist and Baptist churches and historic markers along the way.

“The four Methodists on this pilgrimage were Marcia Reichert, Nina Keenan, Carolyn Davis, and Pam Wyche. The lone Baptist, who really claims to be a ‘Bap-terian,’ was Sue Wilson.

“They ventured down pot-hole-and-gravel roads just to see the rural scenes on the way to Union Springs, where they had lunch. Up and down the city streets they wandered, delighting in all the vintage, residential neighborhoods.

“An historic marker was discovered in Seale, Alabama, at the Methodist Church in that scenic, small community, where it was remembered that Earline Mitchell, mother of Maggie Shelley, was once pastor.

“On the way to Columbus, Georgia, the ‘girls’ exclaimed, ‘The Yankees missed a lot of Southern-style, plantation homes in these little towns!’

“Once arriving in Columbus, the quintet enjoyed cruising up and down the main, four-lane street with its median, featuring a gazebo, fountains, historic oak trees, and historic preservation at its finest.

“They passed the 1839 Goetchius House Restaurant, the city’s most elegant restaurant, at 405 Broadway.

“Traveling on to LaGrange, they settled in to their lodging at the Wingate before heading to dinner at one of the exclusive restaurants in the downtown, Mare-Sol.

“The next day, bright and early, they first visited Warm Springs, Georgia, retreat of the late President Franklin Roosevelt, now a national park.

“The next stop was at the Explorations in Antiquity Center, featuring authentic replicas, Biblical meal presentation, and daily-life artifacts of the ancient Middle Eastern life. They sat in a new Roman theatre; they saw sea tombs like those in which Abraham and Jesus were buried and catacombs such as those early Christians used for worship; they visited a village replica and city gate where the lecturer explained the many passages in the Bible where city gates were mentioned; and they sat in a goat-hair tent such as those in which nomadic shepherds have lived for thousands of years.

“This mostly outdoor center helps people encounter the ancient Biblical world through history and culture. Its artifacts and site have been moved piece by piece to America from Israel and are sponsored by the nearby Calloway Gardens. All of the visual exhibits, including the fenced-in area for sheep and goats, the stone well, the water wheel, and the plant life of Israel, all made the Bible stories come alive.

“After the group departed, they headed back home to Alabama, this time, via the interstate. It was a learning experience loaded with lots of conversation and information to share and study!

“One may read all about this tourist attraction on the Internet. ‘There were several church vans in the parking lot the day we visited. It is certainly a recommended destination for church youth groups,’ the Nomads stated.”

Thank you, Miss Sue, for sharing your notes.

On Thursday, September 18, 2014, a Senior Adult Singing was attended at Southside Baptist in Dothan, sponsored by the Alabama Baptist Convention’s State Board of Missions in Montgomery. Over 500 Baptists from Southeast Alabama attended the singing. Over 45 great songs and hymns of faith were sung, including hymns from the old Broadman Hymnal, choruses, Gaither favorites, Billy Graham favorites, and songs about heaven. The singers were led by Frank Jones, music evangelist, who also played several piano solos. Eileen Mitchell from ALSBOM, who organized the singing, also sang a lovely solo. The Southside Baptist Church of Dothan hosted the event and had volunteers to park cars and buses. Southside also served a boxed lunch for those attending. The Covington Baptist Association was well represented by members from Andalusia First Baptist, Opp First Baptist, Opp Southside Baptist, Andalusia West Highland Baptist, and the Opp Adult Activity Center. Those from FBC Andalusia were R. K. and Rose Marie Price, Nancy Robbins, Kittye Wyatt, and Morgan and Wilma Moore.

The celebration of the War of 1812 (1812 – 1815) continues.

Again, I ask the citizens of Andalusia to join the Covington Historical Society and pay its annual dues of $25 to help preserve the history of our county, whether you attend meetings or not. Mail to CHS, P.O. Box 1582, Andalusia, Alabama 36420.

If you collect stamps, now is the time to save those connected to the Sesquicentennial of the War Between the States and the War of 1812.

To commemorate the Sesquicentennial of the War Between the States, let us return to this week 150 years ago.

Skirmishes, clashes, and battles were fought between Northern generals, Sherman, Sheridan, Thomas, and Ewing, and Southern generals, Forrest, Early, Hood, and Price, in the Shenandoah Valley, Athens (Alabama), Rome (Georgia), the Atlanta area, the Siege of Petersburg (Virginia), Missouri, Huntsville (Alabama), Nashville (Tennessee), Florence (Alabama), and Dallas (Georgia).

The mysterian is the answer to a riddle: “I am half, yet I am whole.” What am I?

Recent birthdays are those of William Holmes McGuffey, American educator and author of school “readers,” used by schoolchildren for generations and greatly influential on American character; Thomas Nast, a German-born American and newspaper artist who gave us the modern image of Santa Claus and the symbols for Republican (elephant) and Democratic (donkey) parties; Ford’s Model T (1908); William C. Gorgas, American sanitation expert; Jenny Lind, Swedish singer (said to have had the most beautiful voice in the world), known as “the Swedish Nightingale”; James Whitcomb Riley, Indiana “Hoosier” poet of “When the Frost Is on the Punkin” and “Little Orphant Annie” (both, good Halloween poems); Edward William Bok, Dutch-American editor who lived by his grandparents’ advice to make the world a bit better and more beautiful because you have been in it; and Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer of opera.

Now, gentle reader, allow me to join Buffalo Bob Smith in encouraging each of us to be in his place of worship this weekend, Lord willing.

Fare thee well.