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The ADVANCE, May 12, 2021/Page 5A
OPINIONS
“I honor the man who is willing to sink
Half his repute for the freedom to think,
And when he has thought, be his cause strong or weak,
Will risk t’other half for the freedom to speak.”
—James Russell Lowell
editorials
The Fever Blister
I knew it was
coming before it
made its grand debut
last week. I could feel
it growing deep with
in my lip — like the
seismic activity that
occurs just before a
volcano erupts violently.
I pointed it out to one of my coworkers.
“I need to run over to the drug store at
lunch and get some Abreva,” I told Cecelia,
who immediately scanned my lip for any
hint of a fever blister.
“Cold sore?” she asked. “I don’t see
anything.”
I pointed to my upper lip and said,
“Oh, it’s there. Just wait. It will be the size of
Mount Everest tomorrow.”
I wish I could say I don’t know much
about ever-so-ugly fever blisters, also
known as cold sores, but I am all too famil
iar. I’ve gotten them since I was a young
girl. Throughout my life, I’ve had them pop
up about every other year, and at the most
inopportune times — like just before pic
ture day in high school. My skin is both fair
and thin, so they stand out on my face like a
flashing red beacon, and they usually leave a
nice scar in their wake.
I’ve always wondered why I get them.
Perhaps once upon a time, some witch
somewhere put an evil curse on me. When
I was growing up and developed a colossal
cold sore on my lip, my mother would take
one look at me and say, “Oh, look at that
fever blister. That’s just the meanness pop
ping out of you. Don’t pick at it, or you’ll
make it worse.”
Worse? I shudder to think what my fe
ver blisters would have become had I picked
at them. They were already unbelievably
bad. I admit that a few times, I attempted
to camouflage the enormous distractions
with flesh-colored concealing makeup and
powder. But my fever blisters aren’t your av
erage, run-of-the-mill variety. Oh no. They
are industrial-strength cold sores. They are
the award-winning divas of the fever blis
ter world. They want to be seen in all their
glory. They want to walk the red carpet with
all eyes gazing upon them. The bigger, the
better. Nothing can successfully conceal my
fever blisters.
But all kidding aside, cold sores are
caused by a certain strain of the herpes sim
plex virus (HSV-l), and most adults carry
the virus, even if they’ve never had symp
toms or a disgusting cold sore. They are the
lucky ones.
And so last week, I felt the fever blister
coming on and surrendered myself to it. On
day one, I purchased a tube of Abreva and
immediately applied it to my lip as I said a
Please see Amber page 8A
From the Porch
By Amber Nagle
LETTER TO THE EDITOR...
To Acute Care Center
and PA Daniel Dasher,
Thank You
This is a letter to thank some wonder
ful people. I do not live here but my sister
does, and I come to visit often. In March
when I came, I began having pains in my
neck and back, and I was not walking too
well at this time. My sister took me to the
Acute Care Center here in Vidalia.
At the Center I was lucky enough to
meet and be treated by a staff that really
cares about people and the health prob
lems they are having. I know God is well
pleased with this staff. It was such a won
derful feeling to be shown the respect and
care of this staff, to be given so much of
their time. They were willing to talk to me,
and most of all they listened to what I had
to say about my problem. They worked to
fix my problem or at least to find out what it
was. They were willing to find someone to
help me if they could not.
My caring God chose to send the most
wonderful PA I have ever had the privilege
of meeting or being assessed by to help me
understand that there are some wonder
ful caring people in this world who take
pride in their work. They are not ashamed
of bringing God into all situations and to
praise Him.
PA Daniel Dasher worked to assess
my problems. He checked his findings and
gave me help that I needed to get better. He
also gave me good advice about my health.
I will forever admire, praise and recom
mend this wonderful staff and the Acute
Care Center.
Gail Reed
Who Shot J.R.F
I know better.
The problem with
being loyal to a televi
sion show is that it
will eventually disap
point you.
“The Fugitive,”
which ran from 1963
through August of 1967, wound down to
two final episodes to find the real killer of Dr.
Richard Kimble's wife.
The star of the show, David Janssen,
died at age forty-eight of a sudden heart at
tack in 1980.
Also in 1980 millions tuned in to CBS to
discover who shot J.R. Ewing the previous
season of “Dallas,” a prime time soap opera.
Seventy six percent of all television owners
watched the November 21 episode.
Suspects were abundant. There were
characters in the show who would have en
joyed watching J.R cool off somewhere.
All during the summer, the question,
“Who shot J. R.," batted about as the favorite
catch phrase.
It turned out to be his sister-in-law.
Larry Hagman (J.R.) was the son of
Broadway and movie star Mary Martin. He
died in 2012 but not from a gunshot.
I followed the television show “Lost” to
the end and discovered that missing an epi
sode or two didn't hurt much.
I was away on the night the last episode
aired and recorded it. I've looked at the re
cording a number of times and still do not
understand the ending. Do you?
My take-away from “Lost” was that my
favorite actress, Julie Adams, had a couple of
small roles during the run of the show. She
died in 2019 at age 92 and is buried with her
parents and sisters in Malvern, Arkansas.
The Kansas Woman turned me into a
“Heartie,” that's a fan of “When Calls The
Heart” on Hallmark Channel.
The one thing I like about the series is
that everybody is positive in “Hope Valley”
Even when things turn sour, the characters
find something sweet in the end. Bad guys
are won over and become good. It's all posi
tive, or was.
As I write this, I'm still pouting because
the season's final episode didn't end the way
I thought it should.
The central story is that the female char
acter, Elizabeth,, had a choice between two
men — a Canadian Mountie and a saloon
owner.
The saloon owner has a beard, and I re
member my grandmother's prejudice against
men who wore beards. I think Elizabeth
chose the wrong one.
There are a number of endearing charac
ters and story lines to supply raw materials
for the next season when it finally gets here,
but for now I'm not happy.
joenphillips@yahoo.com
By Joe Phillips
Dear Me
a SMau_ world arves ai_L J}
Could That C0VID-19
Shot Be Spying On You?
It is my
firm policy that
all members in
my
conglomerate
of companies
must receive
their
COVID-19
shots or risk
losing the
generous perks
offered them as employees. These
include occasional weekends off
(without pay), discounts on zither
lessons, signed photographs of me
kneeling during the playing of
“Ramblin’ Wreck from You-Know-
Where-Institute of Technology,” and
the book, “The Best of Northern
Cuisine” (one page) among other
morale boosters.
As the leader, it is, of course,
incumbent on me to lead the way. I had
no negative reaction to either shot,
except I forgot to tell the nurse that I
am allergic to latex and after pulling off
the little spot bandage following my
second shot, my shoulder nearly
exploded and threatened to sue me for
glenohumeral joint cruelty.
Among the many organizations
that make up my conglomerate is the
Yarbrough Worldwide Media and Pest
Control Company, located in Greater
Garfield, Georgia, and best known for
publishing the much-respected Round
or Square Polls (“You provide the
dough and we’ll cook the numbers.”)
Junior E. Lee is the general manager.
As you know, Junior E. Lee is one
of the most-respected media analysts in
the nation, as well as a certified pest
control professional. That is a rare
combination of skills. Yet, Junior is very
modest when I offer him praise. He
says whether it is a guy in a buffalo hat
storming the U.S. Capitol or your run-
of-the-mill Cabbage looper
(Trichoplusia ni), a pest is a pest.
I asked Junior how the vaccinations
were going at the workplace. He said he
had gotten his shots although he didn’t
think he needed to. He has inhaled
enough malathion and permethrin
over the years that he feels he is pretty
much immune to anything from
COVID-19 to calluses, but Aunt Flossy
Fulmer had told him to forget poking
around in her drawers looking for fire
ants unless he was fully vaccinated.
Junior said most of the staff had
also been vaccinated, and they wanted
me to knowhow much they appreciated
the discounted zither lessons. Several
of them have gotten together and
formed a Zither Club over in Stillmore.
Nothing pleases me more than to see
my employees happy as long as they
remember they are expected to work
weekends for the foreseeable future.
No need to spoil them.
There is one small problem, Junior
admitted. Thurlow Scruggs, the new
hire who is responsible for crunching
the numbers in our latest polls as well
as maintaining our new gas-powered
Tomahawk Turbo Boosted Backpack
Mosquito Fogger and Leaf Blower, says
he isn’t getting the shots.
Junior has warned Thurlow that
with that kind of attitude he might be
forgoing the opportunity to learn to
master the zither and enjoy the
By Dick Yarbrough
camaraderie of the Stillmore Zither
Club.
Thurlow said it doesn’t matter. He
says he has been told by highly-placed
sources in Greater Garfield that a
microchip has been inserted in the
vaccine, and when you get the shot, the
government can track you wherever
you go, including to Aunt Flossy
Fulmer’s house.
Junior said your cell phone can do
that now. Thurlow says that is where
Bill Gates got the idea. Hillary Clinton
told him. Thurlow is sure he saw Gates
loitering around the Hacienda De Gay
International Airstrip in Garfield
waiting for a shipment of microchips.
Soon, the government will be able to
tell who voted for Trump and will send
us all to reeducation camps in Vermont.
Then it will be just a matter of time
before the United Nations orders
Satanic ritual worship and the
harvesting of our organs by Democrats
in Washington.
As for wearing a mask, Thurlow
Scruggs says he isn’t doing that, either.
He says his right to breathe
unencumbered on his fellow citizens is
protected by some amendment to the
U.S. Constitution, if that document
hasn’t already been destroyed by the
CIA.
I asked Junior if Thurlow is
maintaining social distancing as
recommended by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. Junior
said that was no problem. Even Arvel
Ridley’s cows won’t come near the guy.
Why are we keeping him on the
payroll, I asked. Junior says he is a whiz
with numbers and keeps the mosquito
sprayer in tip-top shape. Besides, Junior
thinks it is just a matter of time before
Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie
Taylor Greene brings Thurlow Scruggs
to Washington. I think that is a splendid
idea. One nutcase deserves another,
and I would save a lot of money on
zither lessons.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough at dick@
dickyarbrough.com; at P.O. Box 725373,
Atlanta, Georgia 31139 or on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/dickyarb.
^A&uance
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R.E. "LID" LEDFORD, PUBLISHER
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WILLIAM F. “BILL” LEDFORD SR., PUBLISHER
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Publisher & Managing Editor:
WILLIAM F. LEDFORD JR.
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