It is time to plan the festivities for yet another Labor Day long weekend.

I have been watching the misery in the South on television this week whilst at home with my wife, taking the week off.

I have also seen the news reports indicating that the increased gasoline prices are the oil companies’ method for discouraging potential customers while they try to figure out how to produce more.

The warning speech from our President this afternoon was, “If you don’t need gasoline, don’t buy it”.

Having lived through the oil embargos of the 1970's I can tell you that waiting in line for hours and then engaging in a fistfight just to get the two-gallon limit of gas is unpleasant. Especially for those of you who now commute half way across the state to work every day.

High prices don’t begin to compare with shortages.

So perhaps the real patriotic thing to do this Labor Day vacation weekend is to sit in the back yard and be thankful we still have one. For those in apartments may I recommend the local park.

I couldn’t believe that blonde twit on the Weather Channel this afternoon, trying to drum up enthusiasm for a nice long road trip to the beach on Saturday.

This would be an excellent time to do landscapes of our own land behind the house. I would be too embarrassed to join those merrymakers on the interstate who are exacerbating the problem.

Let’s all raise our plastic glasses of iced tea in a salute to aluminum chairs and Kingsford charcoal.

And of course, a prayer for and a donation to our fellow citizens would very much be in order.