In our Good Times publication, there is a section that highlights the prices of the everyday items we all use, like eggs, milk, bread, etc., for a certain year.
In 1958, for example, a house cost $30,000; the average income was $4,650; milk was $1.01 a gallon; and gas was 24 cents a gallon. Yes, 24 cents a gallon. You can’t even get a gum ball for that now.

We watch in amazement as the price jumps 30 and even more cents from the time we get to work until lunch. Then, sometimes, it even changes again that same day.

Someone needs to tell me what  in the world could happen to cause that.

Someone needs to tell me how the big gas companies can stand in front of the American people and announce their profits and not feel guilty because that money is made off the backs of the American people.

How much is enough? You hear where companies lose millions in a quarter and you think, wow, that’s a lot. But what you don’t realize is that is not really how much they lost. That’s how much less they made than the quarter before. Wah!

I am super excited about the sunshine and warmer temperatures we had this week. I am so ready for more. Sadly enough the weatherman is not so obliging. Par for the course, really, we all know when the temperatures rise in the spring, rain is on the way.

I’ve still seen a few snow piles here and there. They look really out of place. So does my winter coat. I think I’m just gonna hang it on a back hook so I can’t see it so well.

I can’t wait for the day you can throw open the windows and let winter air out of the house.

I saw a cute post on Facebook from Jeff Foxworthy on how you might me from Ohio if you’ve had the heat on, air conditioning on and back to heat in the same day. Another one was “you might be from Ohio if 10 degrees is a little chilly.” Make fun of our weather all you want; it will change in a few minutes anyway.

So I saw a few things I could take care of outside over the weekend. Not really big things but they would make a big difference and perhaps get me going. Truth be told, I get a little overwhelmed in the spring when so much needs done. I’m just going to put in a little time each day or so that is nice enough to be outside and I bet I can accomplish more than I think I can.

I do have to say I love the end result. I despise pulling weeds but I love the look of clean, freshly mulched landscaping. Can’t have one without the other.

My knees already ache at the thought of all the work that has to be done on them. I’m not old and I don’t feel old but I’m no spring chicken and I don’t feel like one of those, either.

My husband and I have joked that if we could afford it, we would concrete our whole property. The all we’d have to do is hose off the “yard” and we’d be done. I think we would miss all the color and textures, just not the work.

Perhaps we’ll just put in some awesome AstroTurf like the Brady back yard. My husband and I have been watching the reruns off and on and we notice a lot more of the silliness now than we did when younger. Did you notice there is no glass in the sliding doors to the patio or the back yard? Just checking. That should have been a question on trivia night. I’d have gotten that one.

Anywho, I’m just ready for a little better weather, some sunshine and a fresh breeze that doesn’t chill me to the bone.

I have a plan for the plants this year, too. We’re not going to buy them quite as early. We’re going to hang in there and get them a little later and forgo all this carrying in and carrying out when the temperature dips down. Flowers just don’t look as pretty once you’ve carried them in and out of the house or garage a half-dozen times.

Ah, spring. So much to do, so little time and here it is.

I’m hoping to put on my “big girl” pants this year and get a head start and not wait for the other half to start in. Of course I say that every year and it just doesn’t happen and I have no reason to believe this year will be any different.

I wonder if there will be enough sunshine today to work a few puzzles on the picnic table? Weatherman says not really but what does he know?

I am super excited about the sunshine and warmer temperatures we had this week. I am so ready for more. Sadly enough the weatherman is not so obliging. Par for the course, really, we all know when the temperatures rise in the spring, rain is on the way.

I’ve still seen a few snow piles here and there. They look really out of place. So does my winter coat. I think I’m just gonna hang it on a back hook so I can’t see it so well.

I can’t wait for the day you can throw open the windows and let winter air out of the house.

I saw a cute post on Facebook from Jeff Foxworthy on how you might me from Ohio if you’ve had the heat on, air conditioning on and back to heat in the same day. Another one was “you might be from Ohio if 10 degrees is a little chilly.” Make fun of our weather all you want; it will change in a few minutes anyway.

So I saw a few things I could take care of outside over the weekend. Not really big things but they would make a big difference and perhaps get me going. Truth be told, I get a little overwhelmed in the spring when so much needs done. I’m just going to put in a little time each day or so that is nice enough to be outside and I bet I can accomplish more than I think I can.

DEAR EDITOR:

There has been some time passed since a last review of the pricing of our precious liquid gold. Better know as “Gasoline”. In my past letter, I noted the prices and how they were not consistent in the downward movement (prices dropping) when comparing the pricing of surrounding stations. My previous observations showed our stations to have a difference of 12-15 cents per gallon higher during the downward trending time period.

After the previous letter to the editor, the weekly variation in pricing seemed to follow suit with other stations in the area, within a few pennies. But, I am sad to say, that over time the competitiveness in pricing has gradually eroded and the variance in prices has set a new high.

Today we are facing the same situation as before. Similar/simultaneous pricing as the prices increase and slower reductions as the prices drop in the area. This time, the pricing spread is even more outrageous.

On today’s pricing, I recorded a whopping 21 cents per gallon higher price here within our city, compared to other stations in the area. It looks to me as though we have returned to the same glutinous, monopolizing organizations of earlier last summer/fall, taking advantage of a captive audience unable, for what ever reason, to shop elsewhere for their needs.

Is the 21 cents extra per gallon in your pockets worth it?

John Grothouse

Delphos

The key to solving many our problems is often less complicated than we make it. Sometimes they aren’t problems at all but something we need to experience to grow.

A necessary evil if you will.

I ran this before and I came across it while I was researching for the News Then column that runs each day. I thought it was worth sharing again, this being the season for sacrifice and humility.

“I wish you enough ... ”

I recently I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport. They had announced departure. Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said, “I love you and I wish you enough.”

The daughter replied, “Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom.”

They kissed and the daughter left. The mother walked over to the window where I was seated. Standing there, I could see she wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed me in by asking, “Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?”

“Yes,” I replied. “Forgive me for asking but why is this a forever good-bye?”

“I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is, the next trip back will be for my funeral,” she said.

“When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say ‘I wish you enough.’ May I ask what that means?”

She began to smile.

“That’s a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone. When we said ‘I wish you enough,’ we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them.”

Then turning toward me, she shared the following as if she were reciting from memory:
I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright;
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive;
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wants;
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.
To all my loved ones, friends and readers: I wish you enough!