In the land of plenty, less is better. The message has yet to move the masses, but slowly many are catching the beat.

Think smaller. Downsize. Economize. Conserve. Remember President Jimmy Carter, clad in cardigan sweater, chatting with America by television about saving energy.

A discussion overheard recently: The young homeowner asks the older one, &8220;Do I buy a gas or an electric water heater?&8221; Answer: &8220;Well, it really doesn’t matter any more. It’s all going to be expensive, gas or electricity.&8221;

Thinking of generations past, we have to admit &045; even the most frugal among us &045; things have gotten out of hand. Buy a burger and get the question: &8220;Would you like to super-size?&8221;

Need a new family car? Instead of the only slightly huge sports utility vehicle, how about the military size, the Hummer, a tank for Main Street, the grocery parking lot and the trip to and from school with the children.

Do you have trouble keeping the dishwasher unloaded and ready to go again? Well, buy two. Are you a family of four? You’ll need the new oversized clothes washer and dryer.

Plenty of families do a great job of recycling cans, paper and clothes; conserving water, gas and electricity; stretching food and household budgets; and saving for the rainy day. Many more get along with less because that’s all they have.

Still others are blessed with a natural trait possibly handed down by Scots ancestors. In my own family, we look to the Glasscos as a link to Scotland. Were they the usual frugal kind of people Scots are expected to be?

Grandpa Glassco, my mother’s grandfather, ran the newspaper in Bolivar County. Having lost an arm in an accident earlier in life, he nonetheless did most of the newspaper work himself, writing, editing, publishing, including the old-fashioned type setting &045; pretty amazing.

It was Grandpa Glassco who kept alive a grand and admittedly strange table blessing that he said was a long-standing tradition in the family in Scotland. Occasionally, he recited it before a meal, to the delight of his grandchildren. Here it is:

&8220;Wiggles and wobbles and long-legged things

Gangle up and down the stream

Crying, &8216;Craven! Craven!’

Zounds, Molly, hand down the spoons,

And, boys, don’t scald yourselves.&8221;

With a little imagination, we can see strange, gangly creatures with names like &8220;wiggles&8221; and &8220;wobbles&8221; wading in a shallow stream and calling out &8220;Coward! Coward!&8221;

And, no matter the lack of transition, we can picture a big family around a table eager for Mother’s stew and the hungry boys admonished by Father not to eat too fast.

The word frugal has an interesting origin, traced to the Latin word frugalis, which had two meanings &045; virtuous and frugal. Moreover, the Latin word frugalis is akin to frui, which means to enjoy.

It was not without a little guilt that, tempted by a great sale price, I recently brought home a new television set with a screen slightly larger than we’ve ever had. I had super-sized and gulped a bit.

Living a frugal life is a challenge in the land of plenty. And it does not mean giving up all the small luxuries enjoyed across the socioeconomic strata in America.

What it means lies somewhere between frugalis and frui &045; virtue and pleasure, both appealing to Americans, like Mom and apple pie. And top that pie with low-fat cheese.

Joan Gandy

is community editor of The Democrat. She can be reached at 445-3549 or by e-mail at joan.gandy@ natchezdemocrat.com.