My Turn - by Lois Brown Dale Sept. 10, 1986

Forty years of living in Clermont County has taught me a great deal.

  * There is an independence of spirit and the need for a little more space around one's self here.

  * The eagerness to keep moving, to look to the future, to make things better, to work together.

  * It may not be perfection, yet when driving from Bethel to Felicity and the lovely rolling hills and the beauty of spring green or the orange, red and browns of fall, it almost seems so.

  * Pleasant-Hill-Wolfpen Road is a joy as it winds its way to the East Fork. Under a full canopy of luxurious shades of green, sometimes I feel myself irritated by the driver behind me riding my bumper and want to say, "Look, a bit at the loveliness of this. You may not pass this way again."

  *Coming North over I-275, the medieval castle look of the buildings at Park-Tech in the dusk.

  * Or the slant water tower on Rt. 131 looks like something ready to land from outer space.
 
  * The calm look of the landscape in the early morning light as you rise to the top of the hill near the hospital. There is a peacefulness, even with the movement of the traffic.

 * One wonders about the people leaving the Ford Plant. Where do they live? Are they eager to get home to families? Where are they going?

 * The mostly old-fashioned look of the churches, the steeples pointing heavenward.

 * The small towns each the same, yet so different.

 * The character of the people clustered together or widely separated, do they look at the changing scene, or do they wonder "What next?"

 * Meeting and being helped by knowing so many people --- people in churches, 4-H girls, League of Women Voters, P.T.A., Civic Clubs, neighbors, politics, grocery stores, all the facets of day to day living that bring one into contact with other beings makes a kaleidioscope as these beings mingle and change when viewed from different angles.

 * Yes, I feel blessed to have had all the opportunities Clermont County has given me. I appreciate its landscape, I appreciate the people and I appreciate their spirit. I appreciate the friendship and the kindness shown to me. Here I have grown old in years, but not of heart.

Lois Brown Dale, Miami Township, is the Executive Director of Clermont Senior Services.

This was published Thursday, Sept. 18th, 1986 in the Clermont Courier.