Five dollars per gallon. I have never seen such a thing. A $20 sits at the bottom of your gas tank, feeling alone. I remember when any trip included the important consideration of how much the gas would cost. Folks did not drive for pleasure…they could not afford to. Public transportation is not an option for rural people. The cost of a gallon of gas has doubled in less than two months. This means the cost of all goods and services will be going up. Affordability is real.

It is not unusual for workers to drive 50 miles one way to work at Southern Illinois University, which affords a living wage in Southern Illinois. Their work travel has doubled in the blink of an eye. The cost will be more than many can bear. Something has to give. A high percentage of people do not have $1,000 saved for an emergency. They do not have $500.00.

Political leaders dance while those they represent suffer…they have no clue… oblivious to common sense. One thing I learned in the late 1970s was that we need the Strait of Hormuz. Big Beautiful Bombs, as with the Big Beautiful Bill, are not the be-all and end-all of peace and prosperity.

Political rhetoric does not produce real-world answers to real-world problems. A leader may live in a fantasy world of his own construction, but the camera does not lie. Hard Times require Hard Writers…

The Old Man walked through the Woods in the light rain. His friends, Mr. Badger and Mr. Mole, walked beside him. They spoke of good times and happy days. ‘I think it is when the lying starts that trouble begins,’ Mr. Badger said. ‘When we cease to tell each other the truth, we cheapen our friendship,’ Mr. Badger continued. ‘Soon we are a bit aimless, going too and fro in our lives seeking pleasure above understanding,’ Badger said. ‘Honesty is the bedrock that we are built upon,’ MB noted. ‘We can all agree on basic truth…it is immutable,’ MB laughed. ‘My Old Friend…you must write of the Old Ways,’ Mr. Badger told the Old Man. ‘If we Old Baby Boomers do not remind our colleagues of the good paths…we all will be lost in the Woods,’ Mr. Badger noted solemenly.

‘Life is somewhat dim for me until I put on my spectacles,’ Mr. Mole noted. ‘Often I leave them on the side table when the world is too hard to look at,’ Mole continued. ‘I have discovered that not seeing the world clearly does not prevent evil from occurring…I have decided to face it with my spectacles firmly planted on my nose,’ Moley laughed.

‘Look ahead, there is the Preacher and the little flock,’ the Old Man said. ‘This is where the meeting of Truthtellers is meeting in secret,’ the Old Man smiled. ‘Let us join them and tell the truth together,’ the Old Man said. ‘We will sit by the rushing creek and remember Jerusalem,’ the Old Man said softly…