Chet wondered what Billy B. was up to on this fine Sunday morning. The talk of Russia having so many nuclear missiles pointed at the United States and then to hear that they had placed some of these missiles 90 miles from the State of Florida…caused him to fear the worst. They were going to the Orpheum Theatre at 1:00 P:M: to see Invasion Of The Body Snatchers…and Chet hoped that the movie would take the present distress off of his mind. Jane was going to join them as she thoroughly enjoyed Science Fiction movies. Billy B. had been talking with his mom, Neva J., and Neva J. believed that there could be an attack from Russia. She noted that she had read the writing of Edgar Cayce extensively and that they had prophesied regarding impending atomic warfare. Billy B. remembered his Grandma A telling him on more than one occasion that the Book of Revelation foretold the battle of Armageddon and that the blood would run to the horses’ bridle…although Billy B. did not completely understand what that was… She also read him the scripture from Revelation, ‘And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;’

Jane wanted popcorn and Chet wanted a Coke…and Billy B. was buying. The three settled into the plush seats and the lights darkened. The movie was about alien pods taking over the bodies of humans and becoming clones of the human that they absorbed. Soon every person that you thought that you knew…both family and friends…were aliens. At the conclusion of the flick the actor, Kevin McArthy ran up the street and cried…’ They’re already here…you are next.’

The Author…writing these small stories years later learned that the movie, The Body Snatchers, was a Cold War allegory and the human absorbing pods were stand-ins for Communists.

As Chet and Jane and Billy B. exited the Theatre they heard a strange siren and people were exiting their automobiles and leaving them in the middle of the road…Billy B. looked up at where the Sun had been…and it was black as sackcloth of hair…Jane said…’What if Chicken Little was not wrong?

Chet exclaimed…Look behind you!’ There stood a horse wearing a bridle…standing in blood up to his chest…

What a difference a day makes. Or especially a weekend. Last Friday the trees were bowed with the weight of the ice that they bore on their limbs. Today it is 57 degrees and sunny. February bought more winter weather for Southern Illinois than we have seen in some time.

I have been thinking about passive-aggressive people. I have witnessed ministers who became angry or peeved with members of their congregation and thus sought to preach sermons that were directed toward their anger issues. The same can be said for supervisors and managers and administrators. People who are sweet as Maple Syrup…but have a switchblade held between the shoulder blades of their perceived nemesis…are to be avoided. Our human interaction and communication are often muddied by the games that people play.

Russia is lying through its teeth regarding its motivations for invading and declaring war on Ukraine. I listened as the Russian Ambassador to the United Nations lie in virtually every sentence that he passionately enunciated to his colleagues. Almost everyone in his audience knows that he is lying…and he knows that he is lying…and this substitutes for diplomacy… During my career, I often called out administrators and others who had insulted my intelligence by lying to my face… We will never understand each other unless we speak the truth to each other. When obfuscation becomes an accepted form of communication in the church and the workplace and in international relations…we are all in a terrible conundrum.

Last night was the culmination of the Days of Celebration for MJ. We enjoyed a lovely dinner at Mary’s Restaurant in Herrin, Illinois. As I was reflecting on our many visits, through the years, I calculated that we have been enjoying special occasions at Marys for 25 years.

When I look at the photos above I see a family that has learned to make Lemonade out of Lemons’. We are a happy lot and grateful for all that God has given us and his profound mercy and protection. We are members of the Giant Club of Little People. We are the people that work and laugh and cry and those that attempt to make life better for those that we meet. We did not draw the short straw…no one told us where the straws were… Rather we took whatever was given us and made use of it for a better life. We are no better than anyone…and we are not our fellow humans’ lesser…

Success in life is primarily attitudes. If you believe that others have control over your destiny…they will. If you feel that the education of a colleague places them in an elite status that you will never attain you will forever be at the bottom of the Caste System of Your Mind. Many times others have attempted to marginalize me and put me in my prescribed place…until I went around them and ignored them and succeeded in spite of their nefarious intentions.

Jody Murphy said of me when we were colleagues at the University that she could not tell who my enemies and my friends were as it appeared that I treated my enemies like my friends…and according to her…perhaps a bit better…

When someone places a hurdle in your path…deconstruct it and build a ladder…

‘All Day…all night…Angels watching over me…my Lord…’ The old Spiritual song has been rummaging around in my head. It is a good thing and fits with my philosophy of life since I was a child…that we all have a Guardian Angel. So many times I have believed that I was a goner or that destruction awaited me around the next corner of my path…when suddenly what men meant for evil…God meant for good.

October 10, 1978, is the day I began working for Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale as a Building Service Worker I…which is a Janitor. I was thrilled to have a job that could become a career and double my income and have wonderful benefits. My Pastor and Friend told me to be a friend to everyone…and I took his advice. I made it my mission to become friends with all that I encountered. Prior to my first promotion, a colleague told me that I was going to get the job as he had spoken to one of our foremen and the person told him that everyone liked…Jay. I did not develop so many friends by false friendly rhetoric or self-serving compliments…but by a genuine desire to uplift those that I interacted with and to demonstrate my respect for them. I met people on a daily basis that had different religious and political beliefs than me…and I chose not to talk about those issues. Now lest you think that I came from easy and bright circumstances…not the case. However…I did feel that I was a blessed man to be given the opportunity to work at SIUC. I was happy and possessed an air of contentment with having a position that was respected in the Southern Illinois Community…and I did not feel that anyone owed me anything.

The negative side of management was a learning process for me…and I strove to create a positive atmosphere even when dealing with terminations. None of us are perfect and we all have a plethora of motivations for what we do. We, humans, are complex and it is vital to respect the uniqueness of each person that crosses our lives. The diversity of our human family is what makes it so beautiful. The goal of making everyone your friend is a worthy assignment. Our attention is immediately focused on another person who has our best interest at heart.

Through the years I observed members of the University Community who in their effort to be perceived as professional…sacrificed their humanity. Genuine is compelling. When a person is being real with me…I am mesmerized… When I hear a canned speech…I am insulted…

Our trees are heavy with ice from the Ice Storm yesterday and the night before. I think that it was the most freezing rain that I have witnessed falling in Little Egypt for many years. The interesting development is that our streets and walkways are by and large clear while the trees are a winter wonderland. We enjoyed a lovely birthday meal with our friends, Joan and Jim, this evening at Hunan’s Restaurant. Both Joan and MJ have birthdays occurring close together in February. The pleasure of joyful routines is to be savored like fine wine. We all enjoy holidaying in Maine and spend each visit talking about the wonders of our favorite state.

The Ice Harvest is one of my favorite, Dark, Christmas Movies. Although the movie is set during the Christmas Season…everything about it is cold from the iced-covered landscapes to the hurtful and duplicitous emotions of the characters in the film. I reflected on the cold and unfeeling manner that I have seen wonderful people at my beloved University, Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale, treated after they have worked for countless hours both unsung and unrecognized. I thought of how many who can spin a good yarn and sell ice cubes to Eskimoes…are lauded and lifted to the highest seat of career advancement…while others labor in the dark in the hold of the great ship…go unrecognized year in and year out. Certainly, our University has paid a price and is currently paying a horrible price for the abdication of its responsibility to its most valuable citizens. More times than I care to remember, when I was working as the manager/administrator of the Building Services department, I was told that this person or that person was trouble or that I did not want to hire them or associate with them…only to insist that I discover for myself my opinion of the maligned person’s value to the organization. More often than not my most powerful and skilled staff came from those who others sought to marginalize…

I tire and am weary of watching our and other nations’ government officials insist that they are foursquare behind the Ukrainians. Mothers are running for their and their small children’s lives. An old man of 80 years is signing up to fight the Russians. The President of Ukraine says…’ We are alone…’

God help us…when our turn comes…

Prime Minister Neville Chamberlin proclaimed after a meeting with Adolf Hitler, ‘in his 30 September 1938 remarks in London concerning the Munich Agreement and the subsequent Anglo-German Declaration.’ Wikipedia. ‘The phrase is primarily remembered for its bitter ironic value since less than a year after the agreement, Hitler’s invasion of Poland began World War II after France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany following Hitler’s refusal to withdraw from Polish territory.’

No one believed Putin would invade the entirety of Ukraine…but he did. Western governments thought that he was an incrementalist…but he is not. War does not follow the asymmetrical line of anticipated outcomes. World War I began with much less than what has already happened last night. The appeasement of Mr. Putin has proven to not be the answer. The former presidential administration continues its bizarre effusive obeisant comments regarding the Dictator of Russia.

Backing up to a Bully…engenders continual backing up and backing down…until the democratic governments are no longer recognizable… Bullys look carefully for fear in the eyes of those that they are bullying. We believe that we have grown beyond armed conflict…until armed conflict presents itself. Megalomaniacs have no borders.

Putin desires to reestablish the former Soviet Union. When I was a child in the 50s and 60s…I believed that the Soviet Union was fully capable of bombing the United States and my little town of Eldorado, Illinois. Everyone that I knew fully believed that Russia was not only our enemy but that we were in danger of a nuclear strike at any time. When the Cold War ended…it seemed that many thought that we had joined hands and began to sing, ‘Kumbaya.’ History has proven that nothing could have been further from the truth.

Many of my neighbors and friends had dug backyard bomb shelters in the very real fear that Russia was fully capable and willing to bomb our little community. When I began working at Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale I oversaw the custodial maintenance of the Engineering and Technology Building on the Campus. In the tunnels that spider-webbed throughout the campus…there was tin after tin of Civil Defense foods and toiletries and cups and kitchen items to see the population of Carbondale and the surrounding Southern Illinois region through a Nuclear Attack. Those items were placed in the Campus Tunnels by the World War II Generation…who knew the catastrophe and the vagaries of War.

President Ronald Regan said of his productive relationship with Soviet Union Leader Mikhail
Gorbachev…’ Trust but Verify.’ Gorbachev seemed to be a Rusian leader that had a desire for peace…Putin is not…

Billy B. loved his Bomb Shelter. His dad had the hole dug for it back in 1961 and he and Chet had played Daniel Boone and Stony the Army Man in it…for the past year. They enjoyed the mystery of a little room in the earth in their backyard.

1962 promised to be a special adventure. It was already October and that was the month that both Billy B. and Chet were very fond of as they were both born on October the 24th… Chet said, ‘Have you noticed how Mrs. K has been talking a lot about our class being aware of the difference between a fire alarm and a bomb alarm?’ Billy B. said that he not only had noticed the increased emphasis on School Bomb Drills but that he had wondered how walking out to the hallway and kneeling with your head against the wall…and then covering it with your hands…would protect you against an atomic bomb? Chet said, ‘Yes…and if we did not file out in a single-file to the hallway…we ‘Duck and Cover’ under our desk…and how does that protect you against a Bomb that destroys schools…and not just desks?’

Billy B.’s mom and dad seemed increasingly preoccupied with Walter Cronkite and the CBS Evening News. There was adult talk about a missile attack on the United States…and missiles that were dangerously close. Billy B.’s dad moved some cots into the Bomb Shelter…and Billy B. and Chet planned their joint Birthday Party. Chet said that his mom had been crying when she watched the news and had begun reading her Bible often. Neva J. told Billy B. that the three of them and Chet and his mom, Thelma, was going to start spending the nights in their Bomb Shelter.

Billy B. wondered why his mom had given him his birthday gift of a Big Swinger Polaroid Camera…4 days early. He began snapping photos of mom and dad and Chet and Thelma….. and a brilliant light that filled the sky…and looked like a mushroom…

Mylo has become quite a man about town for the week and one half that he has lived with his new family. He never seems to worry or fret about his taxes or other human worries. He has no need to travel as his new home is a magnificent adventure that he is still exploring. He has quickly learned that kisses are the key to success. He has developed a round little belly…

Once in a while he become a bit aggressive with ‘Bear Bear’

But…then again…we all have our moments. The thing about Mylo is that he accepts the life that the Creator has given him…with gusto. He does not waste time thinking about who likes him and who does not. He does not plan his financial portfolio. His needs are simple…but direct. We can learn some elements of a happy life…from Mylo…

Spring is on its way and with it many joys for our souls. The blooming of flowers and the singing of birds…and ‘The sound of the turtledove…’ We look for the Big Event…the excitement of doing something that we have never done…the sound of the symphony and our transportation to another reality…another stupendous universe…somewhere special that we have never been before…we seek to enter Alice’s Looking Glass… How sad it is that we do not realize that we live in a magical and mystical place that is unlike any other in the Universe…and we have the key to its’ delights…