I had the pleasure of watching the Palme d’Or-winning film ‘The Triangle Of Sadness on Hulu the other night. The movie highlighted the differences made in society for the rich. It illustrated the privileged due to their money and position and those who serve them in order to make a living. During the first dinner on a luxury yacht cruise, a lovely old couple was enjoying dinner while visiting with others at their table. When someone asked them what business that they were in they responded nonchalantly that their company made hand grenades and land mines. They noted that a recent economic downturn had been difficult for the business but that they were soldiering on.

A Cruise Staff meeting was held just prior to the elite passengers boarding where the head of staff reminded the group that the passengers were always right and that if they did whatever the passengers requested it would redound to their benefit with large monetary tips from the rich before they disembarked. She then led them in an uproarious cheer of, ‘Money…Money…Money!’

The evening of Captain Dinner…the seas were exceptionally rough. As the passengers began to consume their heavily cream-laden and rich gourmet food…they began to vomit. Soon everyone was throwing up and the staff was attempting to clean up the mess. As the volatile evening progressed and the sick got sicker…pirates lobed a grenade onto the luxury and vomit-strewn yacht. The gentleman and his lady picked up the grenade and she said, ‘Why it is one of ours…!’

The survivors of the explosion were tendered to a nearby island. There was one of the staff with them. They quickly discovered that she understood how to survive and they quickly became her servants in the expediency of eating and having a warm fire. The Staffer rose to her newfound elite prestige and began to give orders and to meat out punishment to those who did not follow her directives. Suddenly the roles of slave and master were reversed. The rich did not mind so much as they knew how to do little and they were hungry and cold at night.

So it is with us. We have taken several cruises through the years and I am struck by the herculean hours that the staff works to make our cruise enjoyable with a broad smile and weary eyes.

No matter what organization you are a part of there are a few at the pinnacle and many at the bottom. It is a myth that the 5% of our country got there by their abilities and their brain power. It is a myth that they arrived at the top because somehow they pleased God more than the rest of us. It is a myth that some are born to be leaders and the rest require the blessing of a leader.

Often I made the case to leaders at my University that they should seek to understand and avail themselves of the tremendous talent that they were surrounded with. I contended that there were many in the Civil Service ranks that could aid Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale if they were only called upon. Sadly most leaders can not see beyond their noses. Titles and the novelty of bringing someone new and different and especially from the outside usually grabbed the brass ring.

The conclusion of the movie demonstrated how loose the trappings of elitism are. The Staffer and a young woman who was a passenger as well as the girlfriend of the man that the Staffer had chosen to sleep with due to her sudden elite status among the survivors discover that they are marooned on an island that has a luxury resort on it. The rich woman tells the Staffer that she will take care of her and that perhaps she will make her an assistant. The Staffer lowers the large rock that she was holding behind the young rich woman’s head…

I purchased the iPhone with the most memory. I thought that I was set for life. But Apple apparently did not factor in a Mad Photographer! So…I was forced to delete 29 thousand of photos of which most are in the Cloud…I hope… My last Cloud Backup was in November. You see I carry my phone everywhere with me to record my steps. Steps are a big deal to me. Then it dawned on me that I had visited Eldorado on 3 separate occasions in January to snap some pictures with the theme of ‘Where is this in Eldorado.’ Thus a trip to my old hometown to snap a few replacement shots.

There were more people out and about than the majority of the time that I have visited my Fair City over the past year. Evidence of the powerful winds that we received a few days ago could be seen about the town square. A kind lady in a long dress stopped in front of me and exited her vehicle to retrieve a blown-off piece of aluminum siding and deposit it on the sidewalk. The Public Works folks were busily power-washing the brickwork around the Circle where I remember the many Town and Country days that I attended so many years ago. A young man of what appeared grade school years was helping and working diligently. As I passed him and probably his younger sister I said hello and he nodded. As I walked on the little girl said, ‘Who is that?’ to which he replied, ‘I don’t know.’

As I walked down by the old city hall I heard a gentleman replying to his colleague who was seated in a car, ‘He looks a little like him…but he has gray hair and is wearing a cowboy hat,’ and I knew that my old man disguise was effective…

I stopped in my regular gas station for a comfort break and was pleased to see that they had remodeled their restroom facilities and they were quite nice…I regularly purchase a few White Owl Cigars as I feel guilty for entering and just using the facilities. A pleasant young woman waited on me and I am certain would have not thought less of me if I had not purchased anything.

I enjoy taking a few photos of my old high school. So much of it has been rebuilt since 1975 and I attempt to photograph what seems to be original to my time there.

Time travel to my youth is always a morale booster when I visit Eldorado. When I see the former Orpheum Theatre where I spent so many happy hours I can visualize myself walking through the doors to a world that sparked my imagination and created a fire in my soul for adventure and travel and mystery and magic.

The Methodist Church is photogenic. It sits along a brick road. As I was walking by I heard one lady call out to her friend that she was sure that she had locked the doors and even had double-checked to be certain. Eldorado like most towns in Little Egypt has many churches.

Neva J. and I lived in several houses during my 12 years in Eldorado. We began on Ilinois Avenue and then to West Street and a house that I loved that set on a side road off of Illinois Avenue and finally off of Shilo Road in the country.

Happiness is what you make of it. Although for most of my years, we had little money…we had the joy of living and many of my friends seemed to have little more than I did. We made our own fun riding in Neva J.’s 57 Chevy Convertible and swimming 3 or 4 times per week at Pounds Hollow and five hamburgers for a dollar at the Moo & Cackel in Harrisburg on our way home.

As I walked the familiar streets of Eldorado this afternoon I heard a man say to his companion, ‘Well he looked kinda like him…but he has gray hair and he is wearing a cowboy hat.’

‘I can not wait to hear what the aliens have to say…perhaps they will have a solution to stopping war,’ Jane said gleefully! It had been discovered by our most powerful telescopes that we were being watched by residents of a planet that looked just like earth but was a thousand light years away in another galaxy. ‘I have always thought that there was life on other planets,’ said Chet with a wry grin. ‘Well, it stands to reason that with the countless planets that we are aware of and the untold planets that we are not that there has to be intelligent life in space somewhere,’ Neva J. said. ‘Where do you think that Phillip K. Dick got his inspiration from…he was in contact with aliens who told him many of the secrets of the universe,’ Billy B. added. ‘I bet that they are amazed at our technology and our civilization,’ Jane contended. ‘I hope that they do not want to have us for dinner,’ Chet laughed. ‘How are they watching our lives…we do not have a telescope that is remotely powerful enough to see what is happening on their world…which the scientist calls Earth 2.0…and the Hubbel Telescope has only recently revealed the similarities in their planet’s topography and ours,’ Billy B. noted.

The Flying Saucer landed in Eldorado, Illinois…not in New York City or London or Paris…but in the little Southern Illinois former coal mining town of Eldorado. This was a major event! The mayor of Eldorado and the town fathers and mothers came out to be the official greeting party for this singular worldwide event. CNN was there and the New York Times and ABC and CBS and NBC and the London Telegraph. When asked why they thought that the Aliens from Earth 2.0 would make their visit to Eldorado the Mayor said that he believed that Eldorado personified small-town America. He also mentioned that he had been a Science Fiction aficionado for his entire life.

‘I am sure that they have come to learn from us…we have unparallel science and understanding of the cosmos,’ said Daryl. ‘Dad…better known as the Wiz…told me that they may be more advanced than we are and perhaps are coming to warn us of imminent disaster, Daryl contained. The Wiz had told Daryl that the Earth could not continue down its destructive path and that our passion for war would ultimately consume us. Also, our disregard for our home and our constant pollution of the Earth may be coming home to our destruction.

‘Greetings Earth.’ said Ralph of Earth II. We are extremely happy to see you and feel what it is like to live on Earth,’ Ralph continued. ‘Do any of you have questions for me before I launch my presentation,’ Ralp asked? ‘What have you noticed about us that has impressed you,’ Jane asked? ‘Your love for your families and your consideration for your neighbors and friends,’ Ralph answered. ‘How is our technology and do we measure up to yours,’ asked Chet? ‘Well your technology is our technology two thousand years ago,’ Ralph answered. ‘You see…all of you are dead in our world and we are your ancestors that left Earth a millennium ago,’ Ralph noted. ‘Worldwide nuclear war destroyed most of humanity 2,000 years ago…a few of us escaped to colonize on Earth II,’ said Ralph. ‘I am the great-grandson of the founder of Eldorado…many times over…and that is why I wanted to visit the town that he loved so much,’ Ralph said with a tear in his eye.

‘Dead…you say…how could that be,’ asked Neva J? ‘By the time that the images of Earth reach our most powerful telescopes the inhabitant of Earth have been dead for over a thousand years…watching each of you is a wonderful history lesson,’ Ralph said dispassionately. ‘We have watched this day countless times…and wept for our past,’ Ralph said. ‘We all are a bit like the subatomic particles that can be watched in more than one physical place at a time…it seems that our relevance is in…the eye of the beholder…

I write in blogs of three and once in a while six or seven. I was on the beautiful Campus of Southern Illinois University University @ Carbondale this morning as well as on a trip to the Woods. I was amazed that many of the Campus trees are already resplendent with blossoms. When I saw them I wondered if winter had really taken place or if it was but a cold dream. This is our life. As we are coming home we find ourselves in what appears to be inextricable circumstances. We ask where has the Sun gone and if has God hidden from our upturned faces.

As I was progressing in my career it seemed that retirement was out of my grasp. Reversals happened and a bad supervisor or two. I would look out my window and see the happy retirees and what appeared to be their carefree lifestyle and wonder how that feeling of freedom must feel. I watched my friends travel and enjoy the fruits of their labors as I was pushing the stone uphill like Sisyphus. When it rolled back down I wondered if life is but a long-playing 33 & 1/3 vinyl record. When the needle reaches the end the listener simply places it back at the beginning.

I moved from Eldorado the day after I graduated from Eldorado High School. I had plans to become a minister and study the Bible and do anything that was not in Eldorado. Now that I have become old nothing pleases me more than a photography trip to Eldorado. Mom woke me each morning with her battle cry of ‘Hit The Deck…You Rubberneck!’ I can see the 57′ Chevy full of myself and mom and Jackie Brooks and often my cousin Brenda on our way to Pounds Hollow to swim and eat hot dogs and hamburgers while away the summer hours.

Home is contained in our hearts and it is projected onto our environment. Our sense of place is a spiritual thing and is different for each of us. Home is my sons Aaron and Jonathon. Home is MJ and we will celebrate our 45th anniversary on the 24th of this month.

You remember how you felt when you were so sick and you thought that you might die. Then, suddenly you were well again and the weeping of the night gave way to the joy of the morning?

Perhaps we must learn to enjoy rolling the stone up the hill as our honest and dignified vocation. We are getting our exercise and building muscle. We do not have time for worry as the stone takes most of our concentration and focus.

Reflection is important to our arrival home. The surprises that we were taken aback by that turned out to be good things for us and that pointed us home. The love that was shown to us and that is being demonstrated to us by our fellow homeward-bound travelers…is inspiring! Our lives have many chapters and each of them is part of our story. Enjoy your homeward-bound story as you put the key in the lock of the front door and enter into refuge and safety and hope and peace.

Longing is a bedrock emotion that we all possess. We come into our world crying and cold and wondering what the heck just happened. Soon we find the kind faces of our parents and wonder where we are and how did we arrive. It is not long before we are told by our mom or dad that we have achieved one year of age. What is so special about one year old…we think before we dive into the birthday cake. Often there is a table of our supposed friends surrounding our revelry and we think who are these people and what am I to them. Seemingly overnight mom tells us that it is time for us to go to school. We think about what is wrong with me staying home with you…it has been a sweet ride so far. The school has all kinds of kids. There are skinny kids and fat kids and nice kids and those who are not so nice. The teacher asked the class who could write their name and I put my hand up. Thus I was chosen to go to the blackboard and demonstrate my prowess for a precocious five-year-old. Soon the teacher said, ‘Oh my Bradley…that is not your name…you can take your seat.’ Thus the challenges of first grade.

We seek our place in the chaotic and beautiful world that we did not ask to be a part of…but now that we are here…we attempt to navigate our surroundings. We make a lot of mistakes. Slowly we see opportunities and hurdles to jump and hills to climb. We roll down many of the hills similar to Jack & Jill. We want to be adults as it appears that they have all of the fun and they can stay up as late as they like and they even drink coffee and beer. We discover that adulting is hard…Herculean Hard! Instead of taking advantage of our ability to stay up late…we seek naps and rest and regeneration on a daily basis. There are many doors before us…but so many seemed to be locked…others have been slammed in our faces. We sit in our corner and decide that the brass ring is just out of our reach and the gold star has been given to someone else and the cloud with the silver lining is not over our heads after all.

Perseverance is the key to success in our maelstrom existence. We look for inspiration beyond mendacity. The light of loved ones and friends and the Helpers of our world speaks to us in our quandary. We see in other humans the light of God and his smiling face and feel his love. Love is a word that is difficult to define…you know it when you feel it or see it…or experience its healing of your soul.

Health concerns are debilitating. Financial reversals are robbers of sleep. Domestic issues are divisive and destructive. We seek someone who will be our mentor. We long for someone who cares with a concern that we do not feel every day. Easter is coming. We, Christians, take Easter seriously. This is the story of Jesus Christ who had a loving and caring message for humanity. His message is a blessing if you are an agnostic or atheist. There is little to find fault in loving each other as you love yourself.

We look for the good among the bad. We seek love among the hate. We seek hope among the despair. Good is just beyond the veil of tears. If we conscientiously pull the veil back we are exposed to the profound meaning of life…to help other travelers on the path back home.

Stop…meditate…pray…help someone who is unseen and unheard and unloved…and you will see the cloud with the silver lining and the throughline of the meaning of life…

Temporary problems dissolve in the light of our halcyon experiment. Once we decide that there really is nothing that we can not overcome as long as our Team is with us…our focus becomes clear and our purpose is grounded in our sense of place as integral members of the story of mankind.

I love clouds. Today has provided the most unusual variety. Many are of the wispy kind. Their profile against the azure blue sky is compelling. As I have aged I look up more all of the time.

What a new halcyon gift this life is! Even when life is the darkest there is light just ahead of us. We had a lovely Birthday Weekend for MJ! Dinner at the Global Gourmet on Saturday night and brunch on Sunday. She says that she has not enjoyed a Birthday Dinner so much in many years. Mission accomplished!

Aaron told me over Birthday Dinner that he admired me and called me a humanitarian. I was humbled and honored by his kind words. I told him that I had experienced a childhood marked by some sadness when my mom and dad divorced and then the pain that my mom suffered. I felt very dark and morose and had a very dim view of life…until I saw that mom looked to me for emotional support and thus I determined that I would find the good in the midst of the bad. This is a turn in the road for me that has served me well throughout my life. Most days I have to remind myself of my vow as a youth and then I feel better and all is well with the world.

We all are seeking a home. We want to feel wanted and needed and a part of our family and our community. So many of us feel lonely and often alone. Bad things happen to us and we tend to dwell on the suffering. However, there are so many others who are counting on us. It has been said that no man is an island. We feel lost in a crowd and are quite certain that others would not understand our struggles. Senator Fetterman checked himself into the hospital to receive treatment for depression. What a courageous man! Help is close by if we will avail ourselves of it.

Actually, our walk back home is short. It feels long because we are in the midst of it. When we look back on the walk back to Jerusalem…we will see that it was but a moment. We see our fellow human beings through a ‘Glass Darkly’ thus assuming that they do not care or have better vocations than being our friends. In reality, they are searching just as we are for companions and teammates to join them on this lives bumpy and rocky road!

I watched the most interesting documentary last night. A French couple was Volconaligist in the latter part of the last century. The film footage that they captured of active volcanos was breathtaking. I identified in part with them as I love to observe nature in all of its forms. This intrepid couple was infatuated with their and our home…earth. We live in a volatile sphere in the cosmos. All is calm for some time…and then the eruption of the magma and chaos…and confusion…and yes…death. But…what a beautifully magnificent and awe-inspiring journey…

‘I’ve grown accustomed to your face,’ the song lyric proclaims. Indeed life with its ever-changing hues and prisms brings us innumerable opportunities to become accustomed to a person or place or condition. So many years ago when I began working at Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale I started on the second shift. The hours were 5:00 P:M: – 1:00 A:M:. At first, my working hours seemed very strange but I determined that I would get used to them as I had secured the best job that I had ever had.

The vacillating vicissitudes of our lives can deliver us lifestyles that are onerous for us and damaging to our psyche. Being Food Insecure is a terrible condition that millions across our planet have become horribly accustomed to. Their waking hours are spent primarily in the search for enough coins to purchase the very basics of sustenance. Poverty and food insecurity and lack of economic opportunity are generational self-fulfilling prophecies made by conditioning people for many years. Finally, they become accustomed to their lot in life as members of the Untouchable Cast.

Some are in churches where increasing demands are placed on the congregation to provide money for the leadership’s targeted needs which often enhances the leader’s own bank account. The minister gets increasingly wealthy and the members become increasingly poorer. Yet many of these folks have become accustomed to their subservient lifestyle in order to achieve the pronouncements of the minister. Many at Jonestown 45 years ago willingly drank the Kool-Aid in their blindness to the bizarre situation that they found themselves in.

Certainly, the New Normal has touched all of our lives at one time or more. Our Pandemic changed our world and it is yet to be ascertained how deep the movement of the geological plates of our world has been disturbed. We learn to live with the changing chapters of our lives. Readjustment is required. A sense of place is necessary. Faith in something bigger than we are is essential.

It is another warm day but the temperature is dropping now. I had a little walk on Campus and enjoyed it very much. I have been visiting Giant City State Park daily for the past several months…but today I did both. It has been said that the years are short but the days are long. I do not find this the case. The days fly by like a weaver’s shuttle. Each day gives me a sense of place. The older I become the happier I am with who I am. I am happy with my Southern Illinois Roots. I have found a renewed interest and affection for my second hometown…Eldorado… like Chicago was my first. MJ and I have had the opportunity to travel to several countries and yet I am content and pleased with my home.

I recall in my youth wishing that I had the family of some of my friends or the lifestyle that they enjoyed. Even at a young age, it dawned on me that I really had a good heritage, and decided that I would not trade it even if I could. Often I reflect on things and actions that I took place in my life. Some of those actions were deemed controversial by others. I worked diligently as did MJ to befriend some people who after years walked away from us. I would not change a thing as I know that my actions were who I am. There is something to be said for being your authentic self. Agreeing with others is a pleasant enterprise and a comfortable vocation. Agreeing for the sake of being agreeable…is hypocrisy.

Understanding the feelings of others has been my passion. As a manager/administrator at Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale I had many friends…but also some who did not like my management style and very possibly did not like me. Those people received my undivided attention. I endeavored to treat them fairly and as a partner in the success of our department…which they were. Some of these folks came to appreciate my manner of management and we united in our dedication to excellence at SIUC. Today when I visited our Campus and since my first day of employment on October 10, 1978…Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale was and is my home.

I am at home at Church. I have the same sense of place that I have had for 55 years. I know that I am supposed to be there. I have always offered my heartfelt advice to church leaders and have taken that responsibility seriously.

You are a unique creation of God. You need not pattern yourself after another nor apologize for your individual personality. We are members of the history of our home…earth. As we play our role in the Stage Of Life we are fulfilling our sense of place and our presence in our life. Each of us has a distinct role in our grand experiment. Each of us is vital to so many in our lives. We touch more people than we are ever aware of. My Blog tells me that at times hundreds of people have viewed it. Perhaps only 20 or so have pushed the like button…but hundreds could have read it and been influenced by it. This is our life…only a few have hit the like button…but untold numbers are watching…

I grew up living in Tornado Alley. My stepfather was so afraid of tornados that he would wake my mom and me up so that we could run to his car and attempt to outrun what he believed was an imminent tornado. It was my job to grab Chetah his mean chihuahua. Cheetah loved only Earl and she would regularly show me her fine teeth in a snarl. Mom decided that she was no longer going to the car to outrun the oncoming tornado as she deemed it futile. I continued to go…several times a summer…although I told Cheetah that if she bit me…I would leave her behind for the whirlwind.

The wind is unseen but very vocal! It wakes me up at night…but Mylo and MJ sleep right through the gale. Seemingly from out of nowhere Wind blows into our lives and brings change. Whether it be a Derecheo like we experienced in May 2009…or the Wind of Life Changes that bring a new normal to our lives.

We batten down the hatches and trim the mainsail and steer our boat to have the Wind at our back…and wait to see the moon and stars…once again. We had a Black Lab who became so nervous that we had to give her a nerve pill several hours before a storm. She wanted to climb onto our bed and then place herself on the headboard…where there she felt safe…a bit like Earl’s Car I think.

A light breeze brings smiles and harmony and laughter and peace…a tornado brings devastation and death. Such is our lives. We long for the cool breeze on a hot summer day and we fear the destruction of Wind gone amok… There is no playbook or manual to prepare us for every eventuality…there is great comfort in scripture. Our little Blue Orb is a manic and destructive place to live. There are people with love and care in their hearts…and those who wish their neighbors ill. There is the placid sea of tranquility and there is the ‘Slough of Despond.’ We have the pristine view of the mountaintop…the thirsty view of the desert…and the lowest view of the deepest valley where the sun does not shine.

We get it all on our majestic and mad and merry rollercoaster ride of life…what an experience!