Is it just me? After I rhapsodized about Thanksgiving last week, was the holiday weekend as unsatisfying, as unsettling, as dangerous as it seemed? I think the economic uncertainty has everyone on edge. Or maybe it’s just me.

I hope what we’re about to do here will kindle some holiday spirit. If nothing else, it should be fun. Sunday evening, the original drawings for three Arlo and Janis comic strips were listed on eBay. The cartoons are being sold in three concurrent auctions, lasting three days. You will be able to keep up with the bidding by clicking “The Auctions” at the top of the page.

All money raised through these auctions, above eBay fees, will go to the food bank of The First Universalist Church of Camp Hill, which will match the bidding up to $200 per auction. Every year at this time, the members conduct a food drive to collect canned goods and money. The money is used to purchase staples which, along with the goods, will be given to several distressed families in Camp Hill, once a thriving farm community but now another by-passed town where many families routinely live below the poverty line.

I have strong familial and personal ties to this old congregation in rural east Alabama. These are good people, but don’t let me exaggerate. It’s a small group, doing what it can, for a small number of beneficiaries. However, a little goes a long way in these circumstances. It is neighbor directly helping neighbor, and it is a good deed.

Whether or not you bid, enjoy watching the auctions. And I told you I’d have some more really old cartoons. Today’s is from 1993.