It doesn’t take much for scammers to find new ways of conning us. Now, with the country on edge fighting this invisible virus enemy, the thieves have gotten even more creative and the scams are more targeted.

What they want most from us is what they always want: personal information and money.

With relief checks going out to millions of Americans, the crooks are cashing in by sending email or calling to say you qualify for a coronavirus grant, and that they can help you get it. What they want

As this year has been different than any we have known, I hope you have found a way to make it one of the most meaningful and personal spiritual experiences with God ever.

As the darkness of winter fades and the light of spring emerges, we miss our time of being together, but we can still read, study and worship God, as we take advantage of this time to enjoy His presence.

We recently remembered Good Friday as the day our Lord was scourged, tortured, humiliated and was crucified for those who would believe. What a demonstration of love, as His sacrifice became the only

It’s best we avoid the news, although we do check in once in the morning and once in the evening for weather and to make sure we’re not in a world war. We’ll get the alert on our phones in case of tornadoes, and we can’t do anything about that, either. It’s time to focus on positive things.

For the last two weeks, I’ve been dreaming of eating a ripe cantaloupe. So, on a note of hope, I paged through the Burpee seed catalog and decided to order some Ambrosia cantaloupe seeds. Now, Ambrosia seeds are expensive. I bought 32 seeds for $6.

But if even half of them come up and get the right kind

Sometime between 3:30 and 4 a.m. on the night after Easter Sunday, a miraculous thing happened, or so it seemed.

Kathy and I were huddled in the basement watching the weather radar on my phone as a menacing red line of violent, tornado-laden thunderstorms approached Easley from the west. It was a vertical line of destruction, heading right toward us.

As it got closer, though, it split in two, with one segment moving to the north of us and the other passing by to the south.

We were safe! God had heard our prayers.

But wait. What about those people who lived farther to the north and south of us, those who weren’t in the path of the storm until our prayers sent the hostile winds in their

Importance of upcoming local election

Dear Editor,

The upcoming local elections are important to each of us, and thank you for writing about them. For County Council District 3 (Pickens), Alex Saitta has a genuine interest in keeping Pickens County the great county that we all know and love. He has the financial background to get the most from our tax dollars and to help not only the public, but other council members understand the complex financial issues the council will face. I have observed that in many meetings, Councilman Wes

Coronavirus diary, week 4:

So, we’re a month in, and the virus has not yet directly touched anyone I know — at least not that I’m aware of. But there are still many uncertainties about how long this will last, and how many people it will eventually infect — and kill — right here in Pickens County.

Maybe we’ll be lucky and have no deaths here. Or maybe I won’t be around to write the conclusion of this pandemic.

My mom’s coronavirus test came back negative, so that was good. She’s doing remarkably well for a 94-year-old woman who had a

Be a part of that hope

Dear Editor,

Ever felt out of heart to the point of giving up? Yes, haven’t we all?

No matter how bad we have it, though, in life, there’s always someone who has it at least a little bit worse, if not more.

I have been furloughed for 30 days. I’m not complaining, though. I have sometimes in times past complained when I really shouldn’t have. I’ve complain about my feet hurting and about being tired all of the time. Although I’ve been furloughed, I’ll be retiring in five months and am looking forward

Surely our world will be back to normal this summer … right? Surely we’ll be able to get out of the house without fearing every person who comes near us. We’ll be able to leisurely wander through the grocery store, which will be stocked as it used to be. We’ll stop to talk to friends on the street and sit in coffee shops and chat. We’ll attend church, go to our meetings, stroll through the neighborhood admiring the flowers and

Consider the lilies of the field. They neither toil nor spin, but even Solomon in all his glory is not clothed as they.

Well, the lilies may not be blooming now, but the tulips certainly are. For years, I fought a battle with critters who feasted on my tulip bulbs, destroyed my hostas and made a number of things of beauty vanish.

But, for three years in a row, a bed of tulips has not only bloomed, but has come back. They aren’t supposed to do that, are they? But they are doing it.

This just goes to show that, as an old friend used to say, “Even a blind hog finds an acorn now and then.”

Reblooming tulips resistant to varmints may not be of

Coronavirus diary, week 3:

It seems as though after my dad passed away on Feb. 19, the whole world started to come unraveled.

The coronavirus was already attacking China and several other Asian nations, but most people were thinking it wasn’t going to be much of a problem here. Within a couple of weeks after his death, all that began to change. It was declared a pandemic, and it became obvious that our lives were going to be turned upside-down, at least for a while.

Then my mom had a stroke. Fortunately, she was leading a practice session of the Stone Mountaineers, her old-time musical group at her retirement center, when it happened. Some of her fellow musicians realized what was going on and