Blog draft mar 4 26

Bits & Pieces

Changing Retail: It is fun to search the internet about products and services. Who has the best features and prices. How available are the goods, and when can I expect them? Should I visit a store and see and feel the products? Or should I simply order online and wait for the box to appear at my address? The latter is rewarding. Getting a package, almost like Christmas! Oh good; yes, I’ll order it online.

This scenario is rapidly changing the retail scene in America. Store traffic has dropped enough to slow and even stop building new stores. Malls are closing completely. Individual shops are staying in strip malls and downtown areas, but store shopping is thinning. Our ordering online has caused shop closures. It is inevitable. The convenience of online shopping is real and saves running around and a lot of gas. But in the end, store fronts will disappear. Sad but true. I’m not so sure this is a good thing.

Seasonal Blasts: Seasons are what they are. Sometimes typical, often not. Winter is cold and snowy in the northern portions of our nation. Higher altitudes as well spell winter weather. Spring is usually wet, warm and often very pleasant. Summer is drier and much warmer. Fall is the cooling before winter sets in. This is how the weather marches through the year. We can expect most of it. We like to be prepared for it. We are guided by forecasts, but we must live what actually happens. This is not rocket science. Forecasters say what they do partly because of their training and analysis, and partly because of their bosses seeking higher ratings. Weather headlines are thus often sensationalized. Don’t fall for it!

Elections: We own our elections. You and I. we vote. Hopefully, we vote after reading the news and keeping up with public affairs, so our votes are thought out and intelligent. If we don’t do that, elections mean very little. Couple that with millions of people who seem to not care about public affairs unless it affects them personally, we have a lot of people who do not vote intelligently. Still, democracy is worth our sacrifice of time and effort to be a well-informed voter. If we don’t do our duty, elections will fall to those who will manipulate and empower themselves.

So, beware. Be informed and then vote. Discuss issues with others so you feel confident you understand what pending elections are all about.

March 4, 2026

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Intimacy

As we mature, we become deeply involved in relationships. Some of this is basic family relations – siblings, parental – and the like. Next is friends who enter our homes and we theirs. Neighbors, classmates, mutual hobbyists and so forth. Then we develop friendships that go much deeper. We comfort one another when we are hurting physically or emotionally. We discuss the matters of life and learn much more about ourselves and each other. We can even anticipate how others will react to various situations and stimuli. Good friendships do not spread to everyone we know. No, good friendships are special, close and deeply personal. We focus attention and brainpower on these few friends. Some special relationships focus on specific topics of interest and importance. Yes, we have specialized friendships. Most common. But one day, we get to know one person very well. An emotional connection forms with deep roots. A need to know the person more fully expands in personal ways. We sense this b...
Read more

Bits & Pieces

Pie: Apple pie more specifically. With Thanksgiving just passed, many of us enjoyed a good apple pie. Sure, there was pumpkin to accompany the turkey, but in our family multiple pies are offered in the holidays. Apple is surely one. Pecan, pumpkin and others, too. But I almost always choose apple. When I was in college, I was asked what kind of pie did I eat most often. In front of my mom, I answered apple, because I was always looking for a pie as good as mom’s own. Of course my mother was pleased, but it was a true statement just the same. When I was married, Ann’s pie was darned good. Her mother’s recipe. But we fiddled with the recipe until it took on its own generational name, and boy, was it good! Today I still order apple pie for dessert because I am always looking for a great pie to challenge our family recipes. I rarely do find such a prize. Do others do the same? Do you search for a great pie of choice, continually? If you do, what’s your story? Why do you do this? ...
Read more

Remembering Tom Sherlock

Tom Sherlock died on Wednesday, April 3rd. He was 65 years old and did not survive a heart surgery. That was his unexpected end and sad enough. But there is more to his story. Tom joined Dan Schuyler and George Safford to create what became the Village Chronicles, a weekly newspaper serving Warrenville, Illinois. That paper expanded to serve Winfield and then West Chicago. The paper published for eight years and built a good reputation for itself. Tom served the paper in several ways. He was our information technology guru, provided hardware and software to support the paper's operations. He was our sole bookkeeper, accountant and financial manager. He designed our distribution process and provided office space for meetings and layout and typesetting. His efforts supported the work of 32 volunteers who wrote and reported on the communities we served.  The newspaper broke even financially most of the time, but it was a struggle. Tom managed to find money to keep the newspaper afloat...
Read more