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I read someplace recently that the biggest regret in life most people have when it comes to the end of a year or near the end of life is not the things they did and wished they hadn’t, but the things they didn’t do but wished they had.

How many times have you said, “I wish I had but didn’t because …” and then give some silly reason why.

Over the short term we tend to regret actions, things we did that we wish we hadn’t, but over the long term we tend to regret inaction, things we didn’t do but wish we had.

Fear of failure or rejection were two of the reasons given for inaction by some social psychologists who studied the issue of regret.

Too many times just not doing anything is seen as a way out and leads to the biggest regret ever — the things you didn’t do but wished you had.

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Darby Gilmore, who attends Belmont University in Tennessee and works in the Performing Arts Center there, has had an exciting week. He had the experience of working with a world famous jazz pianist, Fred Hersch, and then a few days later with Ricky Scaggs and Peter Frampton.

Darby posted a photo on Facebook of Frampton’s guitar amp … not a picture of the performer or his performance, but his amp.

Now that is just like Darby who has an intense interest in sound.

“He is his father’s son,” said Mary (his mother) when seeing the picture. “Roger has been involved in performance and sound for years.”

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It may only be February but Beth Shaver, director of the Meigs County Council on Aging, is thinking about June when kids are out of school and no longer have access to a nutritious lunch, and wonders what some of them will be eating.

Last year, a summer lunch program was started at the libraries by the Council on Aging. Food was prepared at the Senior Center and then transported to the libraries where it was served to the children who were there for a reading program.

Beth would like to expand that program this year and get into places where any child, not just the ones in special programs, would have access to a nutritious lunch.

She is currently looking for locations where the prepared food can be served by community volunteers.

By the way, funding for the program doesn’t come out of Meigs Council on Aging money. It is provided by the Ohio Department of Education and the United States Department of Agriculture.

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Jeff Shank sometime ago brought by a copy of the Pomeroy’s ninth census dated 1870. It lists population figures, a total of 39 manufacturing establishments, 86 business houses and 45 saloons. That indicated to me that those early settlers, many of whom came here from Germany, were not only hard workers but hard drinkers.

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This past week I received a note about my column from John Carey, who for several years was State Representative for Meigs and Gallia counties. Frankly I didn’t know what he had been doing since leaving politics so it was nice to learn that he is now Assistant to the President for Government Relations and Strategic Initiatives at Shawnee State University.

Thanks John, for the nice words. It was good to hear from you.