We had a lovely Mothers’ Day at Brixswood Winery. The food was plentiful and delicious and the Bloody Marys were to die for… Then back home and a card game of Golf…and finally the last episode of Outer Range on Amazon Prime. At the conclusion of Outer Range which is a Science Fiction Western…I had more questions than I had answers. Suffice to say that the Science Fiction element of the 8-episode first season was regarding time travel and time running on parallel tracks.

‘My goodness I had a deep sleep,’ said Neva J. ‘I actually do not recall when I have slept so soundly,’ she continued. Grace looked at her daughter intently and decide to tell her what she was thinking. ‘Neva J., you must finish High School…I have been talking with the principal of your school and he has assured me that you have tested in the Genius percentile and that there is no telling how bright your future will be if you finish high school and then he has promised me that he will help you enroll in Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale,’ extolled Grace. ‘You will not have to depend on a lazy man as I did for my first marriage nor a drunkard…your dad…for my second marriage.’ ‘You may even discover a cure for a terrible disease like cancer or a medicine that will enable old people to remain sharper mentally…,’ said Grace. ‘But I want nice clothes and money in my pocket and I like that cute boy…Junior,’ replied Neva J. ‘All of that will be yours…and many times over…if you can defer gratification for a short while as you keep your eye on the prize, exclaimed Neva J.s’ mother.

Neva J. was flummoxed. She vividly remembered going to sleep in the Shawnee Christian Nursing Home…and waking up as a girl of 16 years with dreams of embarking on the world. She had a son who had sons…her grandsons…and she had been very old and frail…and extremely forgetful. Neva J. thought about what Grace had told her and she decided to change her direction and listen to her mom.

‘Mom…hurry up…it is almost time for you to receive your award,’ said Billy B. ‘Will Neva J. Bump please step forward, said President Joe Biden. ‘For her work in eradicating the dreaded disease of Alzheimer’s…I proudly award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Dr. Neva J. Bump. Neva J. slowly stepped forward with her grandsons…Aaron and Jonathon on either side of her…as she was 94 years old and of a crystal clear mind…and a happy heart…

We journeyed to St. Louis, Missouri yesterday and had a lovely visit. The Galleria was full of people and if you did not have a good memory you would not believe that our Pandemic had been so virulent just a few months ago. A few people were wearing face masks but many were not. Then and nice lunch at Bella Milano in O’Fallon Illinois. I reflected yesterday and of course today on what a Supermom MJ is. Since the day of Aaron and Jonathons’ birth…they have been her life and singular focus. She loves her boys! She homeschooled them for many years to afford them the opportunity to be with me during my off hours from the University as I worked nights for nearly 20 years. Now MJ is a certified teacher…but the dedication that is required to homeschool effectively is herculean.

Neva J., my mom, was a wonderful mom. She was a compassionate person with a fiery temper. If she had two dollars and you were in need she would give you one of the two dollars. She quit high school after her sophomore year to go to work in the shoe factory…because she was so poor. She would wake me in the morning for school by proclaiming, ‘Hit the deck…you rubberneck!’ She loved to dance and have an occasional Slo-Gin Fizz. She loved Jesus and attended church…for the last half of her life.

Moms are the foundation of our society. So much of what I think and say and do…came from Neva J. She taught me to care for those who are in need. I have her temper…although I try not to show it…too often.

Billy B. was having some difficulty wrapping Neva J.s’ Mothers’ Day present. He had found an antique mirror at one of the Antique Stores in Eldorado…and it seemed to have Neva J.s’ name written upon it. Neva J. was a great collector of antiques. Billy called Jane and asked if she could come to his house and assist him with the mirror wrapping. Jane said absolutely and that she would be there in thirty minutes. Neva J. had been reading a book about the Sleeping Prophet, Edgar Cayce, and she was enthralled with it. Edgar had been reputed to heal many of his patients by sleeping and then entering a spiritual state whereby he could diagnose their ailments and prescribe the cure. He also was said to have seen the future and prophesied events that had not yet happened.

‘That should just about do it,’ said Billy B. Jane then placed a large red bow on the neatly wrapped antique mirror, and then she asked, ‘Do you think that it really is magic…Billy?’ ‘Let’s watch Mom’s face when she opens it, replied Billy. ‘Mom…come into the New Room…Jane and I have a present for you,’ announced Billy B.’ ‘Oh my goodness…what an exquisite mirror,’ exclaimed Neva J. ‘There we are in the reflection…but who is that behind us,’ Neva J. asked. It looks like Grandma Askew…but she is much younger…and who is that little dark-headed girl standing next to her,’ asked Billy B?

Neva J. wept tears of joy as she gazed at her precious mother and the precocious girl that stood next to her…who loved the needy and who had a fiery temper…

Another of my kind of days has arrived…rain and cool temperatures. Ask me if I am concerned that it is May 6th…I am not. I would like a cool summer… My memory strays to the happy days of my youth in Chicago. We lived on a lovely tree-lined street in Sauk Village, which is just outside Chicago, where I was born. My friends were many and included both children my own age and teenagers and several adults. I prided myself that I could engage in a conversation with adults and they would comment how I spoke much older than my years. Dad looked like the Harley Davidson aficionados of that time. He wore a leather jacket and a motorcycle hat and he carried a concealed weapon that he did not have a permit for. He was a tough guy…with a big heart… He was a mechanic for Semi Trucks. When he came home from work he would pick me up and place me on his shoulders…and I felt like the king of the world. Mom looked like June Cleaver from the popular television show of the day, Leave It To Beaver. I watched it each day and soon found parallels to our lives in Sauk Village.

Steve was a master puppeteer. He had a plethora of marionette puppets and a stage to perform puppet shows on. He had Punch and Judy and Bozo The Clown and puppets in the likeness of President Kennedy and his lovely wife, Jackie. Steve and Susie, his sister, lived down the street and they were somewhat older than me. Mom was great friends with their mom, Ivy Anderson, and her husband Bob. Ivy talked incessantly and Bob rarely said anything…just smiled…and lit a new Pall Mall cigarette off of the one that he currently had in his mouth. Most adults in those smoke-filled days had either a two or three or often a four-pack-a-day cigarette habit. Steves’ puppeteer skills often were much better than TV and I could while away the hours imagining that I was a member of the puppet world and that their reality was mine…if just for a moment. Susie hugged me each time that she saw me…and I had a crush on her. She was one of my favorite people. Ivy would come into our house without knocking on the door…and mom did as well at the Anderson home. Ivy and Neva would talk and gossip and play rock and roll on the radio…especially the singer, Chubby Checker, as he sang his hit…The Twist. They loved to Twist…

George and Helen lived next door to us. They were retired and both smoked and drank profusely… but were never drunk. We often enjoyed backyard barbecues with them. Neva and Helen would play Badminton. Neva J. loved to play Badminton. Much later in life, I heard people speak of enjoying Tennis and I thought that it could not be half as good as Badminton. As I reflect on George he reminded me of a good-hearted mobster. If you were his buddy…you were, ‘In like Flynn.’ George referred to me as ‘Doc’ and both he and Helen spoke with pronounced accents.

Beaver said, ‘Why Jay…I did not know that you were here…hold on and I will get Wally.’ ‘Hey, Jay…do you want a hunk of milk before we go, asked Wally? ‘Is Lumpy coming,’ Jay asked? “I don’t think so…his mom said that he had to wash better behind his ears,’ Beaver responded. ‘Now you boys do not get into any trouble,’ said June Cleaver. ‘We won’t…Mrs. Cleaver..and by the way may I say that you look lovely in that dress, smiled Eddie…

‘Wake up cutie,’ said pretty Susie. ‘Oh my…I must have fallen asleep during the Leave It To Beaver Puppet Show that Steve put on,’ replied Jay. Jay then looked to his right and there stood Beaver…and to his left…was Wally…

‘Rain is my friend… the rain has always been my friend,’ thought Billy B. When others bemoaned the presence of the falling water…Billy B. was in his element. He often wondered if he had been born on a rainy day. Billy B. thought that he would write a story about a story. He so enjoyed the stories of the author, O Henry, where the ending typically revealed an unknown surprise. Then, Billy B. heard a knock at the back door. It was Chet and he was smiling from ear to ear…and his eyes were dancing with delight. ‘Are you ready for ‘Sherlock Holmes Hunt,’ he happily asked? ‘Why it is the day for it isn’t it…my dear Chet,’ responded Billy B. ‘We must see if there are any clues regarding the missing Garbage Man,’ Chet stated.

The Garbage Man was a beloved character in Eldorado. Billy B. had never seen a Garbage Professional that was more in love with his job or who took it more seriously. He came to each home that he served once per month and collected the $1.00 that was his pay…and he would knock vigorously on the front door of Billy B. and Neva J.s’ West Street home and announced for all who cared to listen, ‘Garbage Man.’

The Garbage Man had not been seen for over a month. Garbage was collecting everywhere and the bins were overflowing and the rats were feasting. Chet said, ‘Let’s begin on the Brick Road by the Methodist Church…as he lives on that road.’ Thus they began to look for clues on what they called the Ancient Brick Road. The only person that they encountered was a woman wearing a backpack and looking at them in a curious fashion. ‘May I ask what you are looking for,’ she said. ‘Have you seen the Garbage Man,’ asked Chet? ‘Well…It depends on which Garbage Man that you are speaking of…as my husband is in our house and well into a case of Budweiser Beer and he will not even take out the garbage,’ she fumed angrily! ‘I did see him a little over a month ago when he came to collect his garbage removal bill,’ she went on to say. At that moment the Methodist Church Bell rang out the noon hour…and in the Bell Tower…was the Garbage Man…faithfully pulling the Bell Rope.

Chet and Billy B. ran up to the rickety steps of the Bell Tower and flung open the tiny door on the floor of the room and when they entered…there was no one pulling the rope… Later that afternoon Billy B. was taking a nap and he awakened to a loud and friendly voice on his front porch saying…’Garbage Man!’

It Is much cooler today as we say, ‘May the 4th be with you.’ Just my kind of day for traveling to the Southern Illinois town of my youth, Eldorado. Although this is my fourth trip within the past few months…there were still photos that I did not snap on the first three journeys. I recall Eldorado being so much larger than it seems now. The streets seemed longer and wider…especially when I was riding either my bicycle with the knobby tires that looked like a motorcycle…or later my three-speed. Mom and I lived in somewhat mean circumstances for our first years in Eldorado and everyone seemed to be my better…while now I feel fully qualified as an alumnus of the Eldorado Education system and a former resident in good standing for over twelve years.

When I lived in Eldorado…I was excited to leave. Now that I have been gone for almost fifty years…I am happy to return and good memories flood my mind. During my early childhood years, everything about Eldorado seemed larger than life. In those halcyon days it was a bustling community…although we were told on numerous occasions by the Life Long Veterans of Living in Eldorado…that, ‘We should have seen Eldorado in its’ Heyday!’ Jackie Brooks and I spent many a fun Saturday visiting at each other’s homes and I especially enjoyed going to Jackie’s where his mom, Thelma, prepared hot dogs for each of us…straight out of the package…just the way that Jackie liked them. I began to like the cold hot dog…as well. Jackie’s dad was a bricklayer and he was a dark and swarthy man…and kind. He was the first man that I had met who was named Carol.

Mom and I particularly enjoyed living on West Street where she could walk one street over to attend her adult education classes at Lincoln School. She was taking classes to become a photographer…and she was good. It was a peaceful tree-lined street full of friendly people. My friend, Steve, lived next door and the Cunninghams lived across the street. The Cooks lived on the corner and it was the finest house on the block. Bozarth’s Market was at the end of the lane and to the right. I was saddened to see the condition of the former Pearce Hospital…that I had attended to see Dr. Pearce on numerous occasions. The hospital closed many years ago and has fallen into extreme disrepair. Mom considered Dr. Pearce an outstanding physician.

I photographed the Gospel Assembly Church where my Grandma Askew and her kids were members and dated back to the founders of the denomination… My earliest memories of this church were of a low-profile stone building that was lovely except for the extremely worn carpet on the inside of the sanctuary. The photos that I did take were of what we often referred to as the New Church…that is at least 50 years old. There was a low-profile group of buildings just down from the New Gospel Assembly…that looked remarkably like the old church…but clad in brick instead of stone.

Big John is an Eldorado Icon. There is a Big John’s Supermarket that dates back to my grade school years…but I remember when it was built. My friend, Doug P’s, father managed the initial store…and the current humongous statue of Big John is not the original…but it has been there for many years. As I came out of Hucks Market I heard a car horn honk and I subsequently looked around wondering if one of my old classmates was greeting me…and enchanted that they could recognize me… Seeing no one I walked out to Big John and strained my neck to look up into his massive grinning face and snapped a picture of him…whereupon someone honked again and waved…and I waved back…but I could not see the friendly person through the window glass…

Billy B. and Chet had the house to themselves. Neva J. and Demetrius had gone on holiday to the Ozarks. They were going to visit Silver Dollar City and eat dinner at the Sunken Mineshaft Restaurant and see the popular singer, Andy Williams, perform. Billy B. and Chet had more nefarious plans that included obtaining some cigars to smoke without fear while the Cats were away. The well-laid plan for avarice included Junior…the next-door neighbor. Junior and Velma lived in a humble abode with their daughter, Lori Lynn. Lori Lynn was a pretty girl but her teeth were black and in need of dental care. Junior worked at the feed store and was an easy-going man. Billy B. and Chet visited him and Billy B. began to spin quite a yarn regarding Demetrius cigars…of which he had none…and how that he had accidentally knocked them into the toilet and that they had sadly… become destroyed. Billy B. and Chet combined their money and asked Junior if he would purchase two packs of…strong cigars…to replace the destroyed ones. Junior told them that he customarily smoked Charles Denby Cigars and that they were strong. So…the adventure began.

Dennis and Lanny were Billy B.s’ other neighbors. Billy B. invited them over to the parent-free house for a smoking and drinking meeting of the minds. Lanny brought Peppermint Schnapps and Busch Beer and the fun ensued. Chet asked why he was seeing double and Billy B. said that it was probably just the thick smoke from the Cigars. Lanny laughed…as he was older than the group and had a Drivers’ License…and said, ‘Why don’t we go to the Spillway…and climb it.’ Chet and Billy B. did not know what a Spillway was…but felt strangely courageous as they puffed the Charles Denby’s and sipped the Peppermint Schnapps. ‘I am in…and what is a Spillway,’ said Chet. ‘It is like a waterfall…that you can climb,’ responded Lanny. Dennis, who was Billy B.s age noted that it was a bit difficult to climb…and Billy B. saw that Dennis was a strange shade of green.

You could hear the Spillway before you could see it. The sound of rushing water is pleasant. Billy B. unwrapped the cellophane off the second box of Charles Denby Cigars…and lit his second thick and rich…smoke. Billy B. noticed that when he walked or even turned his head…everything seemed to spin…and he felt sick to his stomach. Lanny began by running up the Spillway as the water rapidly ran down it. He looked somewhat like the antelopes that Billy B. had seen on Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom…with Marlin Perkins. Billy B. announced, ‘I have got this,’ as he took a puff of his second cigar and began to climb. The first few steps seemed easy and Billy B. thought to himself that he was going to visit the Spillway on a weekly basis just as he visited Pounds Hollow often during the summer. Suddenly he was on his face and felt the wet concrete beneath him. His upper lip was cut deeply and bled profusely…and he has a scar until this day. Dennis poured a little Peppermint Schnapps over the wound…and they proceeded to the Starlight Drive-In to see, ‘The Attack Of The Fifty-Foot Women,’ along with the movie on the double feature…’The Creature From The Black Lagoon.’ Chet slept through the second movie.

The Adventurers threw the remainder of the second pack of Charles Denby’s away and they chose 7Up to drink at the Starlight…Billy B.s’ Aunt Guelda had told him that 7Up was wonderful for settling your stomach…

We all like good news. In our troubled world, the good news is hard to find. As the old folks used to say, ‘As scarce as Hen’s Teeth.’ Have you ever searched for Hen’s Teeth…then you understand the comparison… Our society has brought an insular and a loner mentality to most of us. I fondly remember when all of our neighbors sat out on their front porches during the spring and summer and most of the fall and walked to each other’s houses and ‘sat a spell’ and visited with their friends. There was no internet nor Facebook or satellite television…and people were the connection to happiness and community. Trust in our human family was in good supply and loneliness and depression were kept a bit more at arm’s length as we communed with each other and compared notes on the vagaries of life.

Pastor Kerry spoke of a church survey that is now circulating among our congregation that has illustrated that we are concerned about declining membership. I heartily agree that declining church membership is a serious and ever-increasing problem. The misplaced notion that people today are no longer into church…is not correct. They may not think of an answer to their loneliness or hunger for human companionship…as a church…but they are seeking someone who cares about them. Also, the old adage of, ‘Let George do it,’ is not the solution to the declining membership often thought of like the old almost unsolvable puzzle of a Rubiks’ Cube. Church is family. Church is love. Church is someone to accompany you on the often rocky path of life…

During my 32-year and 2 months and 3-week career at Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale, I served on several committees whose primary purpose for being was the examination and subsequent solutions to our declining enrollment problem. The University is a person or a few people to the lonely and missing their home student. Often it is not a professor or the chancellor or the president…but the janitor or the clerical assistant or the librarian working at the Circulation Desk in Morris Library…who represents the friendship and love and concern of SIUC. We tend to overthink issues and develop massive three-part plans that miss the forest for the trees. Student enrolment at Southern or membership in a church is a person to person equation…1+1=2…

‘You do still have the pole…don’t you,’ asked Jane.’ ‘Yes, it is under the carport with a tarp tied around it,’ replied Billy B. ‘It is a little early for the Festivus Pole…like 6 months…right,’ said Chet. ‘Not the Festivus Pole…Kiddos…The May Day Pole…tomorrow we will dance around the May Day Pole and each hold a brightly colored streamer and make and take May Baskets to our friends’ doors and porches and then ring their doorbells and run and hide to watch their faces when they open their front doors to find the brightly colored basket that we have made for them,’ replied Jane.

Daryl was excited about the coming of May Day and said that he and his father, The Wiz, had celebrated it in England before they moved to Eldorado. He recalled the sweet cakes that they had consumed on May Day. ‘I always remember VE Day on May the 8th in 45’…when we declared Victory over Hitler and the end of the horrors of World War II.’ ‘When May Day comes with its’ beauty and pageantry…I think of our winning that terrible war,’ said The Wiz…almost in a whisper…

‘May Day means that it is almost the end of school for the year,’ said Chet. Pounds Hollow and Picnics…here we come, he said with a sly wink. ‘Long days and hot nights are what I think of,’ noted Billy B. ‘We have no air conditioner…and no color television…we are behind the times for May Day…1964,’ Billy B. sighed. ‘But…Billy B….there will be a double Creature Feature at the Starlight Drive-In…every Friday night throughout the summer…and we will be in the front row,’ smiled Chet. ‘And, the three or four trips to Pounds Hollow to swim…each week…will be outstanding,’ exclaimed Jane! ‘This year we will go to the DuQuoin State Fair…twice…I hope,’ said Billy B. ‘Also, do not forget the new 3-speed bicycle that you received for Christmas…that will take you as fast as the wind,’ Chet said with wider eyes than normal.

‘By the way…what is Festivus,’ asked Billy B. ‘Oh, that comes much later…but your much older self…was thinking about it,’ said Chet. ‘You see…we time travel in Old Billy B.s’ mind…first we are young and then we are old,’ Chet went on to say. ‘A bit like real life…and Gods’ Story of Us,’ said Jane.