Here we are, entering the sixth month of a global pandemic, and in many places, conditions are getting worse rather than better. I don’t think anyone wants to have another shutdown of businesses, factories and services; I certainly don’t. What will it take to get this thing under control? My brain says: “Everyone just needs to be smart and do their part.”

THIS AND THAT * With the Rooks County Free Fair going to just a 4-H Fair this year due to COVID-19, I wanted to give a nod to the many notable musicians, entertainers, athletes and political figures who were part of this special organization. Here are just some people who are on the 4-H list: former president Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, First Ladies Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis and Pat Nixon, astronaut Alan Shepherd, athletes Johnny Bench, Reggie White, Herschel Walker and Archie Manning, actors Julia Roberts, Sissy Spacek and Tom Wopat, musicians Luke Bryan, Johnny Cash, Trisha Yearwood, Faith Hill, Reba McEntire, Vince Gil, Glen Campbell, Charley Pride, Dolly Parton, Roy Rogers and Jermaine Jackson, and Robert A.

Hanging around grandkids gives us reasons (or excuses!) to enjoy doing some of the things we haven’t done since our own kids were little, or maybe since we were children ourselves. Things like: • catching fireflies; • running through a sprinkler; • letting your toes squish through mud; • swinging so high you feel like you could touch the sky; • standing in the rain and catching raindrops on your tongue; • waiting anxiously for a parade with a plastic bag to fill with candy; • making soap bubbles, trying to see who can make the biggest or the most in one slow-blow; • watching a caterpillar crawl, and not worrying about what you really “should” be doing; • squatting by a stream to catch minnows or watch a spinning bug; • reading stories at bedtime, and then being tucked in and kissed goodnight.

THIS AND THAT * One afternoon while I was playing superhero with my sweet Trent, he started getting out his Marvel action figures, which include Captain America, Black Panther, Ironman and Spiderman. We started playing and had an entire scenerio worked out about how we were going to fight off the villain Thanos, when Trent said he remembered that he had another hero who could help fight.

Well, I’ve gone and done it. I was asleep at the wheel when it happened, of course, but last week my life’s odometer flipped to another number. A bigger number. An older number. And because of that, I’ve elected to start receiving that monthly paycheck from Uncle Sam. It’s actually my money anyway—money that I’ve been tucking away in a government account, withheld from every paycheck, from every job I’ve ever had, all of my livelong, adult days. It would be more exciting if it wasn’t just one more reminder of how old I am.

Dear Editor: This month marks a third of this year with a Stockton address after fleeing my home in Johnson County when the pandemic first hit this spring. Details are in the most recent Stockton Chamber of Commerce newsletter by long-time friend Jayne Prockish, Executive Director of the Chamber, if you’re interested.

* Found out my sweet niece did the same thing that I did for the Fourth of July holiday! I didn’t have time to mow my entire lawn before that weekend, so I only mowed the front lawn to make it look presentable. My niece did the same thing! We must be related!

Imagine a world where you had to pay a royalty fee every time you sing the “Happy Birthday” song. We actually lived in that world, up until 2016. And who knew? To be clear, the copyright issue actually pertained to “public performances” of the song, not those sung around your dining room table when candles are a’blazing. Even so, the most recognized song in the English language (according to Guinness World Records) went through quite a squabble for many years, all about money.

Dear Editor: I had a collision with a deer on Highway 24, about five miles west of town, on the 9th of July, and I wanted to say “thank you” to those who stopped to check on my brother and me. Several people stopped to see if we were alright, and my brother called 911 for asswistance.

A LITTLE OF THIS AND A LITTLE OF THAT! * At the end of the day I am thankful that my blessings are bigger than my problems. * Dear Optimist, Pessimist and Realist, “While you guys were busy arguing about the glass of water, I drank it!” Sincerely, The Opportunist.