Last night, Farmer Gary replaced the light bulbs in our ceiling fan. We have a vaulted ceiling in our bedroom, so he used a stepstool and replaced all four, even though only one was out. The other three would be saved for use closer to the ground.

Practical as always, that man.

As is typical in our house, that quick chore touched off a series of stories. In this case, stories about light bulbs.

The first involved Grandpa Mehling.

Gary says Grandpa Mike was a frugal fellow who was in no hurry to add electricity to the farm. It was in the late 1940s or early ’50s when he took the leap:

Oh, how Gary’s mom loved the dollar store! She was forever quoting prices to him, delighted with the great deals offered for a can of peas. When Rita passed away in 2003, I remember nudging Gary at the grave site and nodding to the west. “You can see the top of the dollar-store sign from your mom’s grave. She’d have liked that.”

Gary nodded solemnly. “I believe you’re right.”

Please drop in your email address below (I promise not to sell or share – ever!) and we’ll send you a notice with each new story: