Spring in Virginia

There is nothing that will lift your spirits more than spring in Virginia. After a couple of false starts this year, that event has finally arrived. The blooming of the state flower, the dogwood, ushers in my favorite season. There is absolutely no more beautiful place on earth than the Shenanoah Valley and the Blue Ridge Mountains in spring. I am blessed to live right at the edge of the Great Valley and at the base of the Blue Ridge, so I can enjoy both. All nature declares God's wisdom and glory in creation, especially this time of year.

It is sometimes difficult to believe that so many fathers, husbands, and sons marched off to war at this time of year in 1861; many of them never to return. It is not difficult to understand, however, why they wished to defend a land so blessed with beauty.