Will somebody please, please burn some leaves?

When I was a kid, I remember the smell of leaves burning as vividly as any photograph of fall scenery. You could walk along and kick piles of them and watch as they floated back to ground. I could even rake them up for the neighbors and make enough to get something at the Five & Dime.

Nowadays, the Five & Dime's history and there are books of ordinances requiring homeowners to ensconce their leaves in sanitary plastic for pickup at the curb. There are laws against burning leaves, and future generations won't have that olfactory memory around Halloween time.

I wonder when some enterprising new-ager will come up with a way to compress a dry leaf into a little pellet and market it as incense or potpourri for yoga moms to meditate over while they enjoy a soothing latte in the sauna. Maybe burning-leaf car fresheners will be the vogue in a few years, or eau de Leaf cologne (his and her flavors, of course).

I have surely lived in a golden age, and am thankful when my neighbors out in the country burn leaves in the fall. They don't have to, mind you, but I have a hunch they do it just because they can.
I'll post a photo here when I get one.

'nuf said

Why is it that stores and businesses regularly raise prices on everything - all the while crying about their costs - and the consumer just has to suck it up and knuckle under to get by on less and less?

I'm sure it's no surprise to anyone when I say that real wages are falling in America. More and more stores are raising prices regularly on everyday things like food, while many employers have forestalled giving their employees cost-of-living wage adjustments for a long time. The result is that many food items now cost twice what they did a couple of years ago and the purchaser is making the same wage as before.

It's still easy to buy cheap food, like cereals, cookies and other sugar-laden crap, but nutritious food, like vegetables and meat have commonly doubled in price over just a couple of years. No wonder diabetes and other health problems are on the rise. There there, Johnny; eat your Frosty-Os and shut up.

More later..................