The past few days have been more springlike than fall. Parents and grandparents had their kids and grandchildren at Giant City to slide and swing. I remember the teeter-totters. Where did all of the teeter-totters go? When I first met Jackie B. and we would play on the seesaw on the playground at Hillcrest School… he could hold me in the air until he grew bored of doing so. When I protested that I wanted to come down he looked up with squinted eyes into the sun and a large grin. Neva J. bought me a hat that buckled up in the front and the ear flaps connected to the top of the headgear. The idea was to unsnap the ear flaps and re-snap the strap under your chin. If I was not wearing this weird hat I was wearing a sock hat. I hated sock hats…they had no character. As soon as I was financially able I began to wear classic fedoras and hats with some class. Almost no one in Little Egypt wears these types of hats. The most loved hat in Southern Illinois is a ball cap. I have never worn a ball cap well. I had a pastor who advised me that I should bend both sides of the straight brim of the ball cap down severely. He assured me that was what the style of the day demanded. I chose not to do so and subsequently forgo to this day…ball caps.

My wardrobe dream was to own a leather coat. It seemed to me that people took those who wore leather coats seriously and with some respect. I noticed that my doctor had a leather coat. So, I purchased the first of many leather coats through the years. Today wearing a leather coat means little to me…but they still look good. Today the lighter the coat…the better I like it.

Leather gloves were another aspiration of mine in my teeter-totter days. I purchased a pair of leather gloves from the L.L. Bean Store in Freeport a year ago in September and I am pondering wearing them today. We have our first snow of the season. A few days ago we had record breaking temperature of 81 degrees now 31 degrees and snow.

Jonathon and I tried the Bar at the Giant City Lodge out yesterday and found it outstanding! We found ourselves surrounded by a Crocodile Head a stuffed Turkey and an Opossum hanging from a limb…what a unique Restaurant and Bar.

Teeter-Totters remind me of life. One day you are up…and the next day you are down. There is a manifest reason we humans appreciate good times…we fully understand what the bad times feel like.

Raiment is necessary and indeed vital for us humans as we have mostly hairless bodies that do not respond well to the elements. Life clothes are important as well. Early in my life, I discovered that I could be a primarily negative person and that there was some bitter joy and satisfaction in the process. After all…how can a person be blamed for their mistakes or maladies if Life’s Card Dealer has simply dealt them a bad hand of cards…

Focus it takes to wear the clothes of acceptance and forgiveness and mercy and empathy. Sometimes the sweater of optimism does not fit perfectly. Perhaps your hat has to be stretched to allow acceptance of others. Indeed you may be compelled to give your fine leather gloves to the homeless person whose hands are freezing…