I took a journey to Eldorado Wednesday. I do not think that I have ever enjoyed a visit more. The Christmas decorations were still up and I was inspired. My friend Marlene had offered an idea to take photos of various spots in Eldorado and ask where the picture was in town. As I walked the streets of my childhood I reflected on how old I was and how many years ago I lived in Eldorado. Soon to be 50 years!

Cynthia of the Eldorado Museum has graciously posted several of my photos of our town on the Museum’s Website and I am more than honored. I vividly remember the Eldorado of the 60s’. I recall with great affection going to the Orpheum Theatre almost every weekend and often on Friday night as well. As my friend Debbie reminded me yesterday we called going to the Orpheum as…’Going to the show.’

I have excitedly observed the great efforts of many Eldoradians to restore our proud community. Eldorado was a town of note in Little Egypt when I was a lad in the 60s’…and it can be one again! I enjoyed some of the finest teachers during my grade school and high school years. I have carried their lessons with me to this day…and I am 65.

Good things come in small packages. This is true of Eldorado!

The Brick Streets of Eldorado inspire me! The Christmas Decorations that I saw and photographed took me back in time to when my young eyes marveled at the magic of Christmas…and of living in Eldorado…

Sixty-seven degrees on January 3rd. Incredible! 2023 is off to a good start! Giant City State Park was a special enjoyment this morning as it rained so much that the water streams were flowing heartily over the rocks. When I am in the woods I am surrounded by the miracle of life. It is easy to fall into the deep ditch of doubt in the magic of our most wonderful gift…life.

I remember my youth in Eldorado. There were so many possibilities that I did not know which envelope to open first. Hours spent in the Orpheum Theatre caused me to see worlds that I was not a part of and adventures that would take me several lifetimes to pursue. The little former coal mining town was peaceful and yet exciting. Some of my teachers took an interest in me and I rallied to fulfill their confidence. Mrs. Barton and Mr. Feazel advised me that I had a talent for writing and I never forgot their words. Mrs. Bramlet loved my speeches in her speech class. While those who might have encouraged me had better things to occupy their time…others stepped up and caused me to seek an exciting and fulfilling life.

When MJ put her little hand in my big mitt…I could not believe my good fortune. As the song says, I was just a poor boy from a poor family…’ The births of Aaron and Jonathon continue to be the preeminent miracles in my life!

I sat in the back pew of our church on Christmas Eve and reflected on the wonderful people that I have witnessed sitting in the same pew over the past 25 years. People who I looked up to and admired and who built our little church through much toil and faith in the future. I reflected on the miracle of being a part of such a lovely group and heard the voices of those who have gone on to discover the Secret…’Do not let our church die for lack of attention.’

Neva June believed in people who many did not believe in. If you were hungry she fed you. If you had no clothes she bought you some. If you had difficulty paying your heating bill…she gave you money for it. She was a walking miracle among many who were unseen and unheard and unwanted.

From my first day as a member of the Southern Illinois University Community I received encouragement and mentoring. I soon believed that I could become a success.

Kindness is a miracle. When a fellow traveller on this bumpy road of life extends a word of greeting and fellowship and love…you are experiencing something that is more valuable than the ‘Gold of Ophir’ that the Bible speaks of. When you are lonely or depressed or feel that no one cares…the person that listens to you and sits just hearing and not offering easy answers but instead offers their time and care…is a miracle.

I watched the most interesting movie about time travel last night. It was one of the best that I have seen on the mind bending subject. It was Predestination with Ethan Hawke. It offered food for thought as to how we got here…and who we are.

It feels like autumn in Little Egypt. Nearly 60 degrees. It is 2023! I remember 1963… Time flies when you are having fun. New Year resolutions are easily made and difficult to keep. The secret is that you are the same person you were last night when you were ringing in the New Year and enjoying adult beverages and copious leftover Christmas Sweets! Today I am committed to losing weight and writing a book. I have written enough blogs to fill several books…and I eat less than ever. But…I have never published a book and my weight remains high probably due to carbohydrates. January 1, 2023, affords each of us a good beginning and a mental trick to convince us that now is the time and we are in the place to improve and change and become what we fully know we can evolve and be who we were meant to be!

Resolutions are realized. Each of us really can change. Change involves a bit of willpower and the trading of one habit for another. I have heard that it takes 21 days to change a habit. I decided in 2014 that I was going to become serious about being a writer and henceforth write almost every day. If I do not write I do not feel right… Years ago I decided that I was going to walk daily for my health. I walk every day. Around 20 years ago I decided that I was going to lose weight. I lost 95 pounds.

We carry a lot of baggage on our sore backs. Our assumptions often rule our actions. We think that people are judging us or thinking about us in negative ways when in reality we probably are not entering their minds and if we do their thoughts of us are kind and they are indeed fond of us. Life is as open to possibilities at any age as we are. The Naked Pastor said in his end-of-year newsletter that he had turned 65 in October and that he had several improvement goals for 2023. This resonated with me as I too turned 65 in October…I thought if NP can do it…so can I!

Focus is the key. My friend Jo Ann told me years ago that she had the ability to focus on the tasks in front of her with laser-like detail. To make a positive change we must have it in front of us and not easily ignored or forgotten. There is a bit of pain with change. If it was easy everyone would be doing it.

Don DeLillo’s classic White Noise has been made into a movie that can be seen on Netflix. The movie examines our preoccupation with the plethora of distractions that command much of our cerebral attention. At one point in the film, the central family is eating an elaborate dinner while their neighbors are evacuating a toxic cloud event from an exploded tanker truck. Suddenly the increase of the sirens and the observance of their neighbors running for their lives…spurs them to evacuate also. We have so many competing interests for our precious time that we have difficulty focusing on any of them to completion.

Multi-Tasking is a popular illusion. Our hurry-up world requires Multi-Tasking from time to time…but none of the tasks are done well. The perceived compliment that she/he is so busy all of the time…does not necessarily mean that they are productive. Sisyphus was busily rolling the stone up the hill…only for it to return to the bottom for him to begin the process again.

Satisfying it is when at the conclusion of 2023 we can look back and say…I did it!

Fifty-nine degrees in Little Egypt…while it had been below zero just last week. It was a bit difficult to know how to dress for this peculiar winter. Two days left until the New Year and the decision of how Billy B. wanted to conduct himself in this New Year and his new world. He thought of his dad a lot and wondered how he was and where he was. Billy B. had a mental photograph of dad with his motorcycle hat on and his leather jacket and a Pall Mall cigarette hanging from his lips. Dad was a bit of a tough guy and had a little Al Capone in his genes. He was not a tall man but he cast an imposing figure. He carried a concealed handgun before they were in vogue and he did not have a license to carry. Billy B.’s dad’s passion was his Harley Davidson Motorcycle. Dad seemed to always have a wallet full of cash and he was generous with it. The last time that Billy B. saw him he was driving an old Cadillac that had silver dollars affixed to the trunk. He dislodged the silver dollars and handed them to Billy B. and he drove off into the sunset…

‘I have been looking at the Sears and Roebuck magazine and I want a motorized bicycle,’ Chet announced. ‘They are $159 dollars and mom told me to wait for New Year…for a New Year Suprise,’ Chet explained. ‘Chet, if you had one of those you could easily ride from your house in Parrish Addition to my house on Sixth Street and then we could go to the Orpheum to see more movies, Billy B. commented. ‘You know…Chet…we will all want one of those motorized bicycles if you get one on New Year’s Day…gosh we could ride to Broughton and Wasson and even Muddy…on the back roads’ Jane exclaimed!

‘Your dad loved his Harley Davidson Motorcycle…do you remember riding between him and me all over the country…and even a trip from Chicago to Eldorado,’ asked Neva J.? ‘I not only remember the Harley trips but I remember dad telling me that he would buy me a motorcycle when I got older and bigger,’ Billy B. answered. ‘I can not think of a more happy and complete memory of dad than when he was riding his Harley,’ Billy B. added.

1964 is going to be an interesting year with Johnson as our new president and the war in Vietnam raging…I fear that both you and Chet will be drafted one day and sent to fight in the jungles of Vietnam,’ Neva J. lamented with a tear in her eye. ‘Your cousin Gene received his Draft Notice and he is endeavoring to go as a Conscientious Objector, Jane said. ‘What does that mean…Conscientious Objector,’ asked Chet? ‘It essentially means that he refused to carry a weapon because he does not believe in killing,’ Billy B. said. ‘What if someone shoots him and he does not have a gun to defend himself,’ asked Jane? ‘Then he is dead as a doornail…I think that I would want some protection if I was in a war zone,’ Billy B. answered with a serious expression on his young face. ‘A lot of young men are moving to Canada to Dodge the Draft…they will be prosecuted when they return to the United States,’ Neva J. remarked. ‘I hear Walter Cronkite tell how many Americans were killed in Vietnam each evening on the Evening News With Walter Cronkite…and he announces how many Vietnamese

were killed as well,’ Chet said in a whisper.

‘McLintock is on at the Orpheum with John Wayne,’ said Billy B. ‘If John Wayne was in Vietnam fighting for us…the war would be over in a few days,’ said Jane.

‘Mom this is just what I wanted…a bicycle with a motor on it,’ announced Chet! ‘Well you must be careful Chet and only ride it on country roads…and do not forget your hand signals that Carol taught you before he died,’ Thelma said with a slight smile. ‘I believe that Billy B. and Jane are both getting the same thing…which was originally for Christmas…but was delayed due to Western Auto not being able to receive them from their manufacturer in time for December 25th,’ Thelma added.

January 1st, 1964 contained the joy of the late Christmas presents and freedom that they brought…while also holding the winds of change. The war in Vietnam went on throughout 1964 and escalated until 50 thousand Americans lost their lives in the conflict. Billy B. moved away from Eldorado and Chet stayed to care for his mother. John Wayne continued to portray courageous American heroes who never lost a battle.

The snow is melting. It is forecast to be 60 degrees on New Year’s Eve. The Old Year is exiting our view and the New Year is waving at us as it approaches us with a smile and an extended hand of friendship. I listen carefully when I hear people exclaim that they are glad the year is ending and hope the New Year is better. The years fly by like a weaver’s shuttle…each one represents a significant chapter of our lives. Although each of us experiences difficult times there is always the opportunity to find roses among the thorns.

Last evening I was watching a documentary regarding our obsession with ‘Keeping up with the Joneses,’ or who has the most possessions and money. We endeavor to focus on our own life…but our eyes wander to consider what our colleagues have. Sadly we have not escaped the Class System. Money has become so intertwined and interwoven with all facets of society including the church. ‘Love Jesus and get rich…,’ is the proclamation of many religious groups.

2023 is full of possibilities! The greatest among these is the expansion of your world. Make a point of having lunch with someone of a different race or nationality or ethnicity or religious affiliation…than you are. Search for the marginalized and the forgotten and those who are not seen…and see them and befriend them and help them.

Guard your dignity and let no one convince you that you are lesser than or not equal to them. Do not let anyone…as the great quote from the movie Dirty Dancing…’ No one puts Baby in the corner,’ put you in the corner!

Find the good in people. Be a good finder. If you look… you will see something that you like and respect in most folks that you encounter.

Get out of your own head! Take an interest in someone other than your own wants and needs and inner thought life.

Stop listening to your assumptions. Quit judging others by negative thoughts that you make concrete in your reality. As a popular Seinfeld episode extolled us regarding a Black & White Cookie…’ Look to the Cookie!’

A new Congressman has been found to have grossly lied on his resume. Never feel the need to obfuscate or mislead where you have been or what you have done…or who you are. During every day of 2023…You Are You…not who others want you to be or expect you to comply with. Authenticity is refreshing.

Curious it is to see people around you as they carefully stay within their lines of demarcation according to religion and wealth and prestige and perceived power. The author G.K. Chesterton said, ‘We are all in the same boat in a stormy sea…and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.’

This has been a good Christmas. Christmas Eve began with a trip to Cape Girardeau, Missouri for a great lunch. Not only was lunch delicious but I was able to park directly next to Mary Jane’s Restaurant, which I have never been able to accomplish on our numerous visits. Christmas Eve Church Service is a perennial favorite for us. I swear that some Old England Magic is contained in the observance. Each person has a bit of a glow about them and some Christmas Etheral Vibes ensue from wishing each other…Merry Christmas…

It has been bitter cold over the past few days with a light snow cover. Or as someone said Christmas Day…this is what we have been singing about and dreaming of. I continue to be in awe of the magnificent Fleeman Family. Tara and Mike and Paige and Tyler are a joy to be around and an uplift to my holiday! Ron and Ira Kay graciously hosted us for Christmas Dinner and it was delicious.

Jonathon showed me a photo that Paige had taken of him while he was enjoying a Christmas Nap. I thought that his face looked unique and about that time she told him that she had used a filter on the image. The filter transformed his face as well as his uncle Ron’s face into a humorous caricature. I subsequently joined Snapchat to endeavor to find the coveted filter.

The pursuit of happiness continues. Pastor Kerry preached a timely Homily on Christmas Eve. Kerry spoke of Jesus’ ministry to the poor and the primary focus of his ministry focusing on the marginalized and on those who have. no voice…the invisible of his day. Pope Francis’s Christmas Eve message focused on the poor and the homeless as well. I was inspired to hear the words of hope commemorating the birth of Christ…to be the message that he came to the world to deliver and the foundation of the Christian Faith.

Christ’s message was not about the flashiest or the wealthiest nor who gives the most money to the church. It has always been about the widow and her mite…

‘Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth, but she gave out of her poverty, put in everything…all she had to live on.’ Mark 12: 41-44

Right now it is zero degrees Fahrenheit and it feels like 21 degrees below zero. Overnight the temperature fell to five degrees below zero and chill factors were around thirty below. This winter in its early days reminds me of my youth. We had very cold weather and quite a lot of snow and ice when I was a youngster in Eldorado.

‘Do you think we will be able to drive to Grandma Askew’s house for Christmas Dinner,’ asked Billy B.? ‘We will have to put the chains on the tires of the 57′ Chevy…that will give us traction on the ice and snow,’ said Chet. ‘Did it really snow fifteen inches,’ Jane asked? ‘Yes and the drifts are three feet high in places,’ Neva J. noted with wide-eyed wonder. ‘We still must get to Muckley Ben Franklin Dime Store to purchase a present for your Grandma,’ Daryl added.

Billy B. and Jane and Chet and Daryl put on their snow boots and their winter coats and their woolen hats. Each wore mittens that Neva J. had purchased for them for Christmas…but gave them to each due to the inclement weather. Mister Rogers had shoveled the sidewalk in front of their house on Illinois Avenue. He had a new-fangled snow remover that ran on a gasoline engine and could shovel the snow of ten men and one little boy. The walls of snow on each side of the sidewalk were taller than our intrepid travelers.

‘Look…there is the Dime Store ahead,’ exclaimed Jane! ‘That is a store…but it does not look like the dime store…we have not walked far enough to have reached Ben Franklin…yet,’ explained Chet. ‘There is a little old woman looking out the window and she is dressed as Mrs. Claus,’ Daryl said.

‘Come in children and get out of the cold..would you like some hot chocolate,’ asked the kind lady dressed in red and green. ‘Where are we…did we take a wrong turn,’ Billy B. asked? ‘The snow is so deep that we could not see anything but what was in front of our eyes,’ Jane remarked. ‘You are just where Santa wants you to be…he is out helping the elves load the sleigh for tomorrow night and asked me to help you pick out a gift for your Grandmas Askew,’ Mrs. Claus said. ‘Grandma loves to read and study the Bible,’ Billy B. noted. ‘What about a Scofield Study Bible…there are loads of notes included in the Bible that assist the reader in learning about the time of the book and the geography of the Holy Land,’ asked Mrs. Claus? ‘Your Grandmas would love that Bible,’ said Jane with Christmas joy written on her face!

‘Let us finish our hot chocolate as we must go and see Chet who is unable to shovel his sidewalk…and we will take him a Scofield Study Bible…you know what a Bible Scholar he has been for the past over 50 years,’ Jane extolled. ‘The cold makes me think of the time we walked through the snow that was over our heads to the Dime Store to buy Granma Askew a Christmas gift,’ Billy B. said with a wide grin. ‘Was it just a dream…or did we meet Mrs. Claus…

Winter’s First Day in my neck of the woods is mild…but it is the calm before the storm. Rain will rapidly change to snow on Thursday with temperatures dropping 25 to 30 degrees within an hour. This will cause what is called a flash freeze. Wind chills will range from 10 degrees to 30 degrees below 0. Holiday travel across the United States will be negatively affected by this unusual weather event that is called a Bomb.

So…four more days until Christmas. The lights of our Christmas Trees aid us in holding back the darkness of winter. At this time of year, we reflect on life and its meaning. The cold and the dark tend to compel us to pause and consider what has happened and what is to come. We would like to believe that our Pandemic is in our rearview mirror…but is it really… We hope for good health, peace on earth, and food for all hungry. The flickering light of our Christmas Candles shines bright in our eyes and warms our hearts. Remembering the joys of Christmas past and our loved ones who are with us…and those who have traveled across the river to learn the Secret that each of us wants to understand. Some of our support systems are strong…while others of us have seemingly no one to lend us aid and help us when we fall.

Home can be found in many places. When we are accepted and loved and our opinion valued…we are home. Home is the place where we are valued for our authentic selves. The place where no explanation is needed…Love covers us like a warm blanket. We will be traveling across the world over the next few days. We hope for appreciation and love and admiration of the unique human being that we are…not their cardboard cutouts of who our family and friends have in their minds regarding us.

Seeing each other takes focus…and time…and immersion in the project. It requires removing all of the colored glasses that we wear when we are with others. Understanding another person takes time and listening with love and no preconceived ideas.

Christmas allows us to begin again…

It is a lovely almost Winter Day in Little Egypt. The last day of fall is sunny and 45 degrees with a weather forecast of a high temperature of 8 degrees on Friday. Everywhere I look are happy people purchasing their last-minute Christmas gifts and thawing the turkey and anticipating the Christmas Eve Lunch and the Christmas Eve Church Service where we end by singing by candlelight Silent Night…and a tear or two always clouds my vision. We will travel to Salem to enjoy Christmas Dinner with Ron and Ira Kaye and Tara and Mike and Paige and Tyler…and leave warm and well-fed and full of Christmas Cheer!

The Old Gentleman holding his little dog with a blanket wrapped around it…perhaps did not feel so lucky. It is moderate in temperature today but it is still cold to be standing by the stoplight smiling and waving as the plethora of SUVs pass you by. He as well as someone at every intersection of the four-way stop was hoping for a small donation to assist them to buy food…perhaps to enjoy Christmas. The little dog was shivering.

Many of us have enjoyed good health during our salad days. We bought and we sold…we worked from dawn to dusk…we enjoyed Christmas Parties and social soirees…and now we are sick and alone. Time and chance happen to all of us. When you gaze at the Christmas revelry from your chair that due to your physical ailments you spend the majority of your time in…the perspective is different. Others of us feel alone when we are in the midst of the Holiday Throng…seemingly no one has included us…no one has said, This will be the best Christmas ever…God Bless us every one!’

Unseen we feel…and magnified much the more at this joyous time of year. Invisible we are to the strong and the ones who are surrounded with a mighty bulwark of loved ones to protect them…and to love them…and to see them. We unseen search for a smile…a kind word…a blanket for our shivering dog…a home that is warm…a bit of turkey and dressing and a woolen cap for our poor heads…and mittens for our frostbitten fingers.

We the Unseen can sing and love to lift our voices in Christmas Carols…as we hope that someone will join us in commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ…who loves us all and cares about the weakest and the loneliest among us…

‘Christmas is only six days away,’ said Neva J. I have the roast beast purchased and today I must search for just the right wine for the feast, Neva J. continued. ‘Are you going to make your Christmas Coffee Cake,’ Billy B. asked? ‘Indeed I am and this year a double batch…because you like it so much, Neva J. laughed. Blackfoot and Mumer came into the kitchen to ascertain if they could discover a dropped morsel of food on the floor. They were Neva J.s cats and family as far as she was concerned.

‘I love dressing and mashed potatoes,’ Chet announced as he took a generous portion of both onto his holiday plate. ‘Neva J. your aluminum Christmas Tree is simply stunning…I especially like their light wheel that shows different colors on the Tree,’ Jane said. ‘You know I wondered if an aluminum tree was the way to go this Christmas until I saw that Bob Hope had one on his Christmas Show this year,’ Neva J. said with a smile. ‘I love Bob Hope and consider him the best comedian performing today, Neva J. continued.

‘How about a little Jack & Coke to put us in the Christmas Spirit…it is 1 degree outside and I need a warm-up,’ uncle Gene said with a hearty laugh and his trademark…’Get the Point…Get the Point’ as he danced first on one foot and then the other! Aunt Guelda knocked at the door. Guelda brought Christmas with her wherever she went. She was a bit urbane…she had lived in St. Louis…and she had stories. Next was Susie and Steve from Chicago and Ivy chain-smoking her Salems. Susie brought Missle Toe and subsequently placed it above the kitchen door and took all applicants for a Christmas Kiss…

‘The Roast Beast is wonderful and the coffee cake melts in your mouth, Rosie said as she cut herself another slice of Roast and gingerly grabbed the last piece of coffee cake. ‘Nevie…I do not think everyone is here…perhaps you had best check the front porch…I heard a knock,’ said Guelda with a wide smile. ‘Oh my goodness it is Bob Hope and Bing Crosby,’…said Neva J. with a nervous and joyous laugh. ‘I am dreaming of a White Christmas,’ sang Bing. ‘I met a man who told me that he had not had a bite in three days…so I bit him,’ Bob said with a deadpan look and a sly grin.

Aunt Guelda knew both Bing Crosby and Bob Hope and had asked them to Christmas Dinner at Neva J.s. They were performing at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis. Both of the famous performers had on Santa Suits and large bags that were overflowing with gifts. With the Two was the actress Dorthy Lamour who performed with Bing and Bob in all of the Road Films. ‘I tell you Neva J. I have never eaten a more delicious Christmas Dinner,’ Bob said with a wide smile and a few mashed potatoes on his nose. ‘Indeed my dear lady…this is a wonderful blessing for Dorothy, Bob, and me and we thank you for your generosity,’ Bing said with a song in his voice. ‘Neva J. we would like for you and Billy B. and Chet and Jane to join us in our next Road movie,’ Dorothy said with a grin.

‘Wake up Neva J…Wake up…Jane extolled as Neva J. stood up from the floor of the dining room…