Closings

The Sears store in the College Mall is now closed--forever, according to the sign on the door. Sears was for many years the dominant retailer in the United States and it had a big presence in Rensselaer when I moved here in 1974. Its local decline has paralleled its national decline. Still, it is sad to see it go, and I hope it is not forever. The closing happened because no one wanted to buy the Rensselaer store from Sears, which had taken it back from its last owner.

A smaller closing that I only recently noticed was Tub Time, a dog grooming business, though I hear that the owner still works out of her home. (The other vacant store in the picture was briefly occupied by the Texas Mercantile Exchange.)

Rensselaer has joined the places that have gas prices above $4.00 a gallon.

There is a bright side to this, sort of. Last time gas prices were really high, in 2008, the dollar was worth a bit more, so the price of gas has to be $4.23 today to be equivalent to the $4.00 in 2008. (That calculation is from the inflation calculator at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.)

(This time I cannot take any credit for raising the gas prices.)

With all that gloomy news, we need something to brighten the day (or night). This afternoon I saw a sight that reminded me of the geysers in Yellowstone National Park. Hot steam was shooting out over the Iroquois River, and it not only looked like a geyser, but it had a whooshing sound much like a geyser.

Do you know what it was that I saw?