As I am enjoying my halcyon days I have bonded with our home…Earth. It dawned on me a few years ago that I am outside much of my waking hours. Everything about nature intrigues me. What at one time was in the background of my thoughts has taken center stage. As I was driving to the Woods this morning I saw a parade of Wild Turkeys crossing the road in front of me. As the Blues Brothers were fond of saying…’They were on a mission from God.’

I took our home for granted…a bit during my younger years. There was money to be made and places to go and people to see and things to do…and after all, Earth had been here before me and no doubt would be here after I am gone. The majesty that surrounded me was the landscape of my next adventure…but it seldom entered the foreground.

Earth is somewhat sad at our neglect. Ask our friends about the animals. Extinction is rampant. The polar bears have no where to lay their weary heads…and we are next…

A sense of place is what we all seek. That quest is hard to realize if our feet are in water while we are at church or the theatre or at home. If you have never experienced this unique situation…visit Venice.

It is in our nature to love those who love us. Earth has shown us, love, since the day we were born…

It was going to be an excellent performance. Steve had prepared the marionettes for days and each one knew their role. Since the Christmas Play at Steve and Susie’s house, they had been hidden away over the entire winter. A few of the puppets did not like the staring role that Santa Claus had taken…but the title was…The Night Before Christmas. ‘And what about our Annual Easter Performance…did I miss that…,’ said Peter Rabbit? ‘You know that is the highlight of my entire year,’ PR continued. ‘If you ask me Steve and Susie seem a bit secretive lately,’ Judy whispered. ‘I am afraid I do not know what it is but something is happening in the Human World,’ Punch agreed.

‘Ask not what your country can do for you…ask what you can do for your country,’ JFK intoned with a smile on his face. ‘Happy Birthday Mr. President…uh…oh shit,’ Marilyn sang as Jackie smacked her with her designer handbag. ‘Marilyn…let me say…you still look good even after my wife hit you,’ JFK winked. ‘Let us do the Cuban Missle Crisis as a production of our own…no Steve or Susie…our own casting and direction…with a twist,’ JFK asked with a wicked smile. ‘It was my finest hour…I have heard said, he continued. ‘We will capture you without firing a shot…we are so far ahead of you in the space race that all you can see is the contrails of our rockets,’ Kruscheve bellowed! ‘Now Mr. Premier…you know that we have already beaten you in the Nuclear Arms Race and will soon be victorious in Vietnam, McNamara said. ‘We have only begun to fight,’ Little Kruscheve said as he removed his tiny shoe and began to hit the desk with it.

Opening night for The Cuban Missile Crisis Redux had arrived. In the audience were Steve and Susie and Ivy and Jim and Neva J. and Billy B. and Jane and Chet. ‘Are you certain that you know your lines,’ McNamara asked Kruscheve? ‘Yes I know my lines and yours,’ he responded with a huff. ‘Why is Marilyn here…she was not in the original Play,’ Jackie asked JFK. ‘I enjoy her perfume,’ he said.

Suddenly nuclear missiles began to fly across the night sky. Someone had misjudged. Brinksmanship had gone over the Brink… The humans were gone…and the Marionettes…slept in their beds…

There is little debate in the United States that storms and tornados last longer and are more devasting than in the past. It is windy today but then again is it windy most days of late. I met a gentleman in the woods today that agreed with me that it had been windier here the past couple of years…but he was quite certain that humans had nothing to do with the problem. In my youth, you might be able to avoid a tornado but their cone was small…while today they can be a mile wide and stay on the ground for upwards of an hour. ‘But what about the Ice Age,’ my Woods Friend asked.

It has been said, ‘Guns do not kill people…people kill people.’ ‘The cavemen and cavewomen killed each other with a rock,’ semiautomatic weapon defenders will tell us. Yes, but not very quickly…

‘We must have any and all guns to defend ourselves against intruders into our homes…and to protect our Second Amendment way of life,’ we say. ‘Stand your ground,’ the Old Man thought as he shot the young African American who was ringing his doorbell…

‘Books are bad…remove the books from school…prohibit them from being read,’ The Governor said. There is one way to think and to hell with the damnable humans who do not accept the One Right Way!

The Old Man Of The Woods said that the storm warnings are very good these days. Rome was the most prosperous country of its day. Its political power reached across the seas. Nero was quite a musician. He could smell the smoke…he felt the heat…and he continued to perform his masterpiece…as nothing was more important than the recognition of his supreme abilities…

It is an especially nice day in Carbondale. I am sitting on the Writing Porch and reflecting on how peaceful and serene the afternoon is. Mylo has been for his annual Vet Visit and has received his required shots. He groused all the way there. He does not like going to the doctor any better than I do. However, when the Vet examined him he was a perfect gentleman…kids!

As I walked the streets of Herrin this morning I admired the historic buildings and the quiet rhythms of the city. I have been watching an Apple TV series entitled Extrapolations. It prognosticates the condition of our lives a decade at a time up to 2070. The controlling factor is Global Warming. The program does not make science fiction assumptions but common sense extrapolations of the effect of increasing temperatures. It caused me to think that we humans do not understand what we have and how fragile it is.

As the saying goes, ‘We doth protest too much.’ We hold our Second Amendment rights so sacred that the lives of our children take second place to the supreme right of the gun…

Our home is dying…but probably we will die first…so we will not have to experience it…

America for the Americans…we cry as we wrap ourselves in the flag and hug it and kiss it. Someone told me once that Native Americans were foreigners… We must protect our jobs we proclaim…while crops rot in the field for lack of harvesters…do you want to pick some fruit?

Many of us are still in the locked room after the resurrection in fear of what will happen to us if it is discovered that we followed our leader who the religious/political world crucified…

Perhaps it is time for us to unlock the doors and let the sunlight in…and go to work as…peacemakers.

It was a dark day. But then again it had been a dark day since the incident. Fear hovered like a cloud over the friends. The conversation had been replete with rumors and stories and unbelievable renditions regarding what had happened since the death of Hope. ‘I tell you…I saw him in the marketplace and he was buying some figs,’ he said. ‘Well, he did enjoy the occasional fig…and fish…he loved a good plate of fish,’ she added. ‘My crew asked me what I was planning on doing now that he is gone and some suggested we move away to avoid the danger that is obviously in store for us as his followers,’ the Old One said. ‘Oh it is not so dangerous as long as we do not venture outside until the heat of the moment has cooled…the doors are securely locked and I check their security hourly,’ DT noted.

‘Nic told me that it is not safe to attend synagogue as they have sentries posted to see if we attempt entry,’ the boy lamented. ‘I saw him…he looked wonderful too except for the wounds that he received in the house of his friends,’ she said with a glowing smile. ‘We saw the tender mercies of the Romans when it came to our leader…what do you think that they have in store for us,’ the Doctor asked? ‘No one treated me as if I mattered…before him…he treated me as an equal,’ little Z said.

‘Peace friends…DT I heard that you wanted to see my wounds…I have purchased us some figs…does anyone have some fish… let us have dinner…’

Reverend Beyler told us yesterday that Jesus’ disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders after his crucifixion, as many times as I have read the scriptural reference regarding the locked doors Judy’s clear explanation of how afraid the disciples were resonated with me for the first time. She likened their feelings a bit to how we feel today. We are afraid. We are surrounded by concerns and dangers and potential threats. We are a little housebound. Of course, we are not far removed from Our Pandemic and the fear of encountering another human.

Hope happens when we are with others. Fear subsides in the smiling faces of friends and loved ones. Peace is prolific in the shared experiences of our fellow travelers. It has been said that we are a generation that lives more in our heads than any other. The social experiences of many of us are engaging with our many screens. Direct human-to-human conversation can help to ameliorate the dark thoughts that have developed through loneliness and lack of input from others.

‘Later on that day, the disciples had gathered together, but fearful of the Jews, had locked all the doors in the house. Jesus entered, stood among them, and said, ‘Peace to you.’ Then he showed them his hands and side.’

Peace can come in no matter how securely we have our doors locked.

‘The end draweth nigh,’ said Chet with a hood over his head and eyes. ‘What end are you speaking of,’ asked Jane? ‘Why the end of school for the year, of course,’ Chet answered. ‘Don’t forget the exams and then the field trip to Six Flags,’ added Billy B. ‘I hear that their roller coaster is wicked,’ Daryl said with a sly grin.

‘Six Flags could not be better than New Harmony, Indiana…it was fascinating,’ Billy B. noted. ‘I had just received my Big Swinger Polaroid Camera and did I ever snap some fine photos,’ he continued. ‘New Harmony was historic,’ Jane said. ‘Yes and no rollercoasters…they make me nauseous,’ Chet said with a sick look. ‘The year of New Harmony is the year that I was playing the Tenor Saxophone…Mr.Prince told me that he had never heard a beginner play the musical scales better,’ Billy B. said with a grin. ‘Do you remember the strange woman that we saw dressed all in black and who told us to come into her home…that was built in a hollowed-out massive tree,’ asked Daryl? ‘She looked like a Witch to me… directly from Salem,’ answered Jane as she shook her head. ‘Buddy went into the tree and never came out…so I am told…he certainly did not return with us on the school bus nor to our class,’ Chet said.

Jane spoke to the class and asked them to take a vote as to whether or not they wanted to go to Six Flags or New Harmony. The vote was overwhelmingly for New Harmony! Jane had received a curious note in the mail with a postmark of New Harmony and all it said was…Come And Get Me…

Truth is truth as we all were taught in school…but the reality is another matter. As I walked the streets of my hometown of Eldorado this morning I reflected on who I was 50 years ago when I lived there and how my life experiences have changed me. We wonder a bit why others can not understand life as we conceive it. They wonder the same about us.

Two people can see the same automobile accident and report it completely differently. As we walk under the same sky one of us sees a cloudless day while the other says it is too hot.

As a child in Eldorado when the Theatre Department McLeod Performers from Southern Illinois University would visit Hillcrest School I could not visualize what a wonderful place University would be. A few years later I became a member of the staff at SIUC and realized a big dream that I had harbored. The University students revealed to me how big the world was and the wonder and mystery of it. I dreamed of traveling to distant lands and reading the pages of Earth’s Book.

Eldorado gave a profound sense of place. A sense of place is important as you explore the secrets of life. No matter if you are in Edinburgh or Eldorado…all of us are hungry for understanding and purpose and the answer to…Why…

Each of our lives gives us different experiences. Those experiences form our view of community and in fact the world. We embrace what we have learned does not hurt us and we stand apart from that which seems separate from our perceived reality. Indeed the only way to understand your fellow woman and man is to get to know them. Breaking bread with another race or religion or ethnicity…and listening to understand rather than listening to reply…is the beginning of wisdom.

Our life is a bit like the three blind men who were asked to describe an elephant. One said he is like a snake…as he felt his trunk. Another said he is like a fence…as he felt the creature’s massive rib cage and the third said he is like a tree…as he felt the elephant’s leg. So…the only way that we will ever understand our sense of place on Earth is to seek and explore and reflect…

I remember when I was 39. I loved having one more year in my thirties. Today is Jonathon’s 39th birthday. I recall one of my favorite comedians Jack Benny typically answered when asked his age…39. 39 years ago today MJ, Aaron, and I were excited about his imminently joining the family.

Jonathon is a captivating personality. Once you meet him you never forget him. He seeks to make all whom he encounters feel welcome and appreciated. Jonathon is a Librarian. He loves the job. He is a voracious reader and a published writer. He is a Karokee Singer and a Trivia Master. He is the person his friends call on when they need a friend…

Jonathon is an artist of words but there is one word that he does not partake of…Gossip! When it comes to others he has no guile. I feel like I know his coworkers and friends from the lovely comments that he tells me regarding them.

Jonathon does not speak of his faith…he lives it…

Tonight it will be Toms Place and Pasta and much laughter and light hearts and deep memories of days gone by and of those to come…next year…40…

Jonathon and I were in the Cricket And Red Brick Antique Mall this morning and I said to one of the owners that before we knew what happened it would be July 4th. She told me to not hurry the year and I agreed. Time flows by like the rushing waters of Giant City Creek that I sat beside many days this past winter. Rhythm helps as our days have a bit of music about them as does our weeks and months and years. Addictive personalities…and let’s face it we all suffer some from this human characteristic… we are searching for an outside element that will give our day-by-day existence some additional spice…like a measure of extra salt or jalapeno peppers. The regular motion of the ocean that is carrying our little boat is seemingly mundane and ordinary and lacking in spice.

Ordinary days are what make up the majority of our lives. They carry us from babies to senior citizens and there is much to appreciate in each of them if you attune your ears to hear the symphonic music that they play. I love classical music. I have ever since I took a music appreciation course at university. Everything has rhythm and rhyme. That glorious feeling that you have when you awaken from a good sleep and the day is new and fresh as it was when you were young. The joy of your sense of place in your daily routine and the pleasure of thought. The pervasive peace of nature and inspiration of your surroundings. The hope and quest of understanding your mission and which path to take to attain it.

Have you ever been worried about a loved one or felt bad and wondered if you would feel better. Worry is a heavy weight to bear. It saps your joy and happiness. As it has been said the economy can be humming along but if you are out of a job…it is the Great Depression. Do you recall how light and free and full of purpose and life’s zeal that you felt when your worry was lifted from your shoulders or your health improved?

Our brains seek connection. The world makes sense to us when we are able to relate one thing to another or one happening to another that was similar. When life fits us…it rhymes. Like a family celebratory meal at Cunettos. When it is going well it is like living in a poem. It is easy to see the bright future and to understand how the past has brought us to our glowing present…