Monday, August 25, 2008, 18:26
The State of The Economy
Well. So much for that.
I was a vendor with my books at a large two-day craft sale this weekend. And it was very disappointing. I didn't even make back my vendor fee of $150! Other vendors that I have seen at other craft sales urged me to go to this one.
Other vendors who have been at this craft sale for a number of years said the attendance was way down over what it used to be. One gentleman, who used to go with his wife, for 15 years, in fact, they were vendors, although they haven't gone for three years now -- said that it used to be there were so many people, you had trouble walking around.
There was no problem walking around this weekend.
I was hoping to at least make back the vendor fee but it didn't work out that way. It would seem to me that gas prices are just too high for people to want to drive very far to go to a large outdoor craft sale. And even if they do want to drive to the craft sale, they don't feel they have the money to spend now that they are spending so much more for gasoline to get to work.
One vendor at the craft sale who was a vendor there for the first time last year said she didn't bring in half this year of what she brought in last year. Interesting. Gas prices were around $3 a gallon last year. Gas if $4 a gallon now.
Other vendors say they really noticed a drop in attendance at craft sales and a drop in the amount of money that people spent right after gas prices went from $2 to $3 a gallon. It appears, then, that attendance and spending at craft sales is directly affected by gas prices.
I am thinking about making a sign to take with me when I'm a vendor that says "Buy American Made Here." Or "Made in the U.S.A." Or "All Items Here Written and Printed in the United States of America."
Two weeks ago, our coffee pot gave up the ghost. So, I went shopping for a coffee pot. There was a whole long shelf of coffee pots . . . "made in China," "made in China," "made in China," "made in China," "made in China," "made in China," "made in China" . . .
Until I came to the last one -- "Assembled in Canada."
It was a Bunn coffeemaker. I spent about three times more than I had planned. But at least it wasn't "made in China."
I am going to be changing my wardrobe soon, too. If jeans, t-shirts and sweatshirts made in the United States of America are the only clothing items I can find that are made in America, then that's what I am going to wear.
I already know what shoes I am going to be wearing. Thorogood work boots. They are made right here in Wisconsin. I have a pair right now, and they are about the most comfortable work boots I have ever worn.
Of course, Mason shoes used to be made in the next county over. But they moved all of their manufacturing overseas. Displaced many workers, too, to do it. I am ashamed of them.
I think there is no hope at all for the United States, though. Last week I heard an economist on public radio say that money is not a problem and that we, as a country, have all of the money we need to fix infrastructure and pay for education and whatnot because money is like points in a bowling alley: you can never run out of points at a bowling alley, and in the same way that you can never run out of points at a bowling alley, you can never run out of money.
All righty then. I guess that means all I have to do is write in a balance in my checkbook of, say, $2,000, and then I can write out checks on that until it's gone and then I can write in another $2,000.
What I want to know is -- how did this guy get to be considered an expert on the economy? And I'd also like to know what planet he's from?
We still haven't gotten any rain, either. It is painfully dry now. The temperature last night got down to 34 degrees.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Tuesday, August 19, 2008, 18:21
A Taste of the Past
When I was growing up on our farm, my mother used to buy boxes of peaches at the store. "Lugs" of peaches are what Mom and Dad called them.
Mom would can peach sauce, and we always had all of the fresh peaches we wanted to eat with cream from the cows and lots of peach pie, too. The kitchen smelled so good with the sweet scent of ripe peaches.
A man who used to own a grocery store in the area told me that they would order peaches and the peaches would come in on the train. They would take a truck to where the freight car was on the siding and would load it up with fresh peaches. I told him that my family had bought many lugs of peaches from his store.
Much to my regret, I find nowadays that I cannot buy peaches like that in the store. The peaches I buy now are hard and woody and fibrous and sour and not very much like peaches at all. If they do start to ripen up, I find they often get rotten in just a day's time.
So, you can imagine my delight when my husband said that one of his Internet customers, who owns an orchard, was making a trip to Michigan to haul home peaches. "Do you want any peaches?" Randy asked me.
Do I want any peaches?
What kind of a question was that?
Of COURSE I want peaches!
I ordered a bushel.
Randy brought home the peaches Monday evening. And I nearly cried. I never thought I would find peaches like that again in this lifetime. They are large, fresh, ripe -- and they smell like peaches! They taste like peaches, too. They are sweet and juicy, and it seems to me, it's a little like a taste of Heaven.
So, I'm going to be in the peach preservation business this week. I'm going to make peach preserves, and I'm going to freeze some peaches, and I'm going to make peach pie. I am also going to indulge myself and eat all of the fresh peaches I want . . .
LeAnn R. Ralph