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.

April is about to leave us and we have not but barely become acquainted. The Netflix Series, Ozark has premiered its’ last seven episodes and I was somewhat taken aback to see that the end of one of my and MJ’s favorite Series was here for our viewing pleasure…when I thought that it was not going to be shown before the end of the year. According to a character on an Amazon Series, Outer Range, his assessment of Time is that it is an ‘M—-r F—-R… although somewhat crude language…it accurately describes the fluidity of Time. As the kind young woman who cut my hair today spoke about her, ‘Kiddo,’ and how she was going to pick her ‘Kiddo up after work,’ I thought of my mother and how she referred to me as Kiddo…most of the time…unless she was awaking me for school whereby she announced in a loud and friendly command, ‘Hit the deck you rubberneck!’ Those days seem like last year…instead of well over 50 years ago.

I am convinced that what we see with our eyes and hear with our ears and experience in our short lives…simply scratches the surface of what is unseen and unheard and concepts that are well beyond our mental capabilities. From time to time you get a glimpse of these unseen marvels in art and literature and theatre…and faith. There are so many deja vu moments that we encounter during the busy course of our lives…that we neither truly understand the significance of the event nor do we have the time to devote to analyzing them on an in-depth basis.

Shadows follow us and go before us on our life walk. We are characters in a grand story…and we have not read the beginning and have not understood the ending. Our brains strive constantly to make connections and that is how we understand our reality. Those experiences that do not connect easily or readily are placed in our to-do box…and sometimes they do not rise to the top…

Navigating life is exciting and challenging. Faith is a wonderful compass. Also, a heart that is open to new experiences and new ways of doing things and people and places and customs…that is different than what we are accustomed to. What we experience is based on our physical reality…but our unseen spiritual reality is rich and rewarding and often guides our actions.

My years in management/administration taught me that there was so much more to my co-workers than what I saw before me. They had rich lives outside work as well as significant challenges that from time to time affected their productivity. Managers need to be more understanding. The popular motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar, said, ‘I really do not care how much your know…until I know how much your care…about me.’

Trees can often obscure the forest. I have seen this in church government on more than one occasion over the past 50 years. Programs and rules and surveys and vision statements seem to occupy much of church leadership’s time and talents and create dedicated and extremely busy people…but the problems…soul…and spirit and heart… are often obscured through our diligent efforts at crossing every T…and dotting every i…

Nature clearly models the spiritual. The majesty of God’s Creation is not molded by Committee and governed by a handbook…

It was a hot night in Eldorado when Neva J. and Chet and Billy B., watched ‘Attack Of The Fifty-Foot Woman,’ at the Starlight Drive Inn. The Starlight could be seen from Grandma Askew’s house…but you could not hear the dialogue. The movie was on the cutting edge for the late 1950s. Chet remarked, ‘What if Mrs. Blackwell was 50 feet tall?’ Billy B. noted that she not only would not be able to sit at her desk…but that the school would have to take the roof off of the classroom to accommodate her size.

B Movies and Kitsch and Monster Magazines and Action Figures were important components of Billy B. and Chet’s upbringing. They loved the Action Figures of the day, such as Johnny West and Chief Cherokee and Stony the Soldier and the prize of all…Daniel Boone. Before Action Figures there were tiny green soldiers and western figures…but the foot tall Action Figures were reminiscent of the 50-foot woman. The size added a realism to the fantasy that was compelling.

When discussing magnified realism…there was nothing more potent than to enjoy popcorn and a coke and other somewhat obscure snacks at the Starlight Drive-Inn. The projected film images were much larger than the IMax Screens of today. The movies also had cartoons before their showing. At the Starlight, it was exclusively the Pink Panther. Billy B. and Chet really did not see the Pink Panther anywhere else but at the Starlight Drive-Inn. Now…at the Orpheum Theatre in Eldorado there were the conventional snacks such as; popcorn and candy bars and Coca-Cola…but at the Drive-In, you could get a slice of pizza or a hamburger or hot dog. Many of the viewing audience came in by way of their friends or families…trunks of their automobiles. When the Sun was just about to set…trunks popped open all over the lot. It cost 75 cents to enter the Starlight…while it was 35 cents to see a movie…all day long…at the Orpheum. Although you could often view a double feature at the Drive-In. Chet and Billy B. entered by way of a car trunk to see the movie, Midnight Cowboy, which they were not old enough to attend. After, Chet asked Billy B., ‘What was all of the hubbubs about?’ The speakers for the Starlight Drive-In weighed about 5 pounds and were made of metal. You took it off of its hook next to your parking space and placed it on either the driver’s side or the passengers’ side of the car window…after you rolled down the window. This…of course, left a gap at the top of the rolled-down window for the mosquitoes to enter the car. Cars would park on a gravel road near the Big Screen and watch the movie for free and strain to hear the ambient sounds of the screen and metal speakers.

Television was not the varied entertainment option during the 1960s that it is today. There were 3 channels and 2 of them were fuzzy. The channels also ended at midnight and closed with a rendition of the National Anthem. Eldorado was a Dry-Town…meaning that there were no bars or liquor stores within the city limits and the thirsty people of the City of Gold had to drive to the much smaller town of, Muddy, to Molinarolos Package Store to obtain libations. Never on Sunday was a popular movie of the time and also could be said for sinful quests such as purchasing alcoholic beverages or mowing your grass. In those halcyon days, the idea of paying for TV was as laughable as…The 50 Foot Woman…

The leaves around Campus are blooming. The flowers are resplendent in their spring glory. The songs of the birds have that spring warble. Life is renewing and beginning again. When Old Man Winter comes knocking on our door…we are a bit sad to see the seeming death of our beloved plants and flowers and leaves. Our grass turns from vibrant forest green to a burnt tan and brown and withers and seemingly dies. We feel the cold winter’s breath and break off an ice cycle and slide on the ice rink of nature. We hope for renewal and another chance and one more bite at the apple… Christmastide brings us the birth of the Christ Child and the hope of salvation…but we wonder if we will live to experience the renewal of the resurrection…

Life is a circle. There is no beginning and no end. We are watching an Amazon Series called Outer Range with Josh Brolin and Lilly Thomas. Josh Brolins’ character discovers a large black hole in his west pasture. When he throws something in it…he does not hear or see it hit bottom. He later is pushed into the black hole and is found at the top of the hole…unhurt…the next morning. Early on in the series, he remembers his time in the black hole and when his wife meets him in the Hole and tells him that he has been dead for two years. Time is an interesting and mysterious subject. Is it linear as we experience it…or is it circular…and all events of our lives are occurring…concurrently…

Control is what we want. We seek to dictate the paths of our lives in totality. We want to measure our success by our monetary value. We hope to be recognized for our sublime skills in the arena of life…and we worry about the outcome: ‘And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the Lillies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin.’ Matthew 6:28. KJV

Today is the first day of the rest of our lives. Today is the day to spring forth with new life and vitality and vigor and determination to live the gift that The Creator has given you…to help your fellow members of the Human Family on our shared journey back to Jerusalem…

‘May is just in front of us,’ said Billy B. Chet asked if it was still too cold to go swimming at Pounds Hollow…and Billy B. replied that it did not open until Memorial Day. Jane announced that she had purchased a new swimsuit and that she could not wait to wear it to the sandy beach of the Hollow. It was April 25th of 1964 and the three friends along with Daryl and his dad, The Wiz, were working daily on attempting to solve the mystery of the JFK Assasinatohn that had shocked the world just last November. Billy B. could vividly remember sitting on his living room sectional couch and watching Jack Ruby come into the television’s camera view and see Ruby fatally shot Lee Harvey Oswald on live TV. He knew there and then that there was more to the story than what the news was reporting. President Kennedy had been an icon in his home and the homes of most of his and Neva J.s; friends. He was doing so many good things like the creation of the Peace Corps and Civil Rights…and it was said that he would have us out of Vietnam in a year or less. The Wiz told the group that the assassination of the President had been a conspiracy and that he could prove it.

Chet and Carol, his dad, had been in Dallas, just in front of the School Book Depository when the shots rang out. Chet said that the sound of the gunfire and the subsequent smoke had come from the Grassy Knoll and that he would swear that Lee Harvey Oswald was standing next to him when Kennedy’s head exploded. Carol had called the Dallas Police Department and they told him that they would get back to him…but when he said that his son, who was in the first grade had seen Oswald standing next to him in front of the Depository at the time of the assassination…they seemed bemused.

‘We must return to the scene of the crime,’ said the Wiz. ‘And how will we do that,’ asked Jane. ‘Why we will use Neva J.s’ Magic Mirror,’ laughed Chet. And so they did…and Billy B. and Neva J. and Chet and Daryl and Jane and The Wiz..walked on to the busy Dallas street in front of the School Book Depository…two minutes before the first gunshot. There was Lee Harvey Oswald drinking a Coca-Cola and watching the street. Chet grabbed him by his arm and said, ‘Do you know that President Kennedy is about to be assassinated…and that you are going to be blamed?’ Oswald’s eyes became as wide as Silver Dollars and he said that he had thought that the plan was canceled and that he must stop them. About that time the Presenditial Limousine turned the corner and began to come down the street in front of the Depository…and Oswald ran out in front of the Limo and was tackled by a Secret Service Officer…as Officer Clint Hill jumped upon the President and First Lady…and shots rang out…and the car sped toward the hospital…

‘Chet…Chet…would you read aloud next please,’ said Mrs. K. ‘Chet…wake up…you have dozed off,’ Billy B. exhorted him.

‘Don’t forget…children…President Kennedy is coming to Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale on May 1st…and we are taking several school buses to see the President and the First Lady…