It is another beautiful day in the neighborhood as Mister Rogers daily reminded us for years. Some folks brought their children or grandchildren out to Giant City Park to play on the playground equipment…although I am certain that the slides were cold. I stopped by the University to capture some photos of the spring buds but they had already been bitten by the unusually cold snap that we experienced the past few days. As I pondered the frost-bitten buds I thought that we are a bit like them in that cold human actions beget similar responses. Being an old guy I remember when the conversation was civil and especially public discourse. When speaking with someone older than your self you did not use their first name unless they invited you to do so and you addressed them as mam or sir or Mr. or Mrs…and later Ms. Certainly profanity in the open arena was verboten. Many blue words were off-limit completely… though you could hear them in the pool hall.

Several years ago I was surprised when walking among a lot of students at SIUC I heard the F— word in every other sentence among many speakers in casual conversation. At the last State Of The Union address, President Biden was shouted at on numerous occasions by members of the opposition. Differences of opinion are what makes this country great…but there is a time and a place for such rhetoric.

Facebook dialogue reveals too much personal information. Now Facebook is not doing this without the willing participation of its membership. I know much more than I need to by reading the posts of those who are probably upset and want to tell their friends about why they are. Remember…not everyone who reads your passionate posts is your friend.

Christian has taken on a false definition. Bellicose strident speech under the moniker of Christian is a false narrative. To take the grand vision of Christ’s teachings and say that your little sub-group of people who hate anyone who is not like you…is a lie!

To be human is an unparalleled miracle! Being a temporary inhabitant of our planet with the possibility of not seeing tomorrow is a gift. The ability to do as much good as you can for as many people as you can is an awesome responsibility. When I look inward I wonder how I could ever criticize anyone.

Kind words and actions beget kind words and actions. We knew this truth at one time. We were not so much concerned with posturing and preening for political or personal aggrandizement. In politics we understood that compromise and finding the middle road was the key to accomplishing something good for our constituents. Christians were taught that Jesus loves the little children…all the little children of the world…

A financial secret I learned several years ago is that many monetary institutions are not working in their customer’s best fiduciary interest. As a youngster mom took me to the local Eldorado Bank and opened for me a savings account. I received a bank book that each deposit was hand recorded and the banker initialed the entry. You could not borrow money unless you could demonstrate that you had the resources to pay the money back. Senator Elizabeth Warren said the other night on a television interview that, ‘Banking should be boring.’ I agree with her statement. The second-largest bank in United States history failed the other day. When did finance become let me get rich…and the hell with you?

The love of money is the root of all evil…mother often said. I really did not know as we had little money…but a lot of love! I think our endemic monetary problem goes deep into the unbreakable bond that many politicians have with those who are the leaders of the industry. When the government looks the other way and lauds removing checks and balances and oversight from Wall Street and our banking system…the common people suffer. It is business as usual for many financial advisors to push investments that enrich them and make poor the investor.

There is a reason when a big bank fails we all quake. It has not been long since we experienced almost the meltdown of our financial system in this country. Confidence in finance is engendered by logical and bedrock principles of banking and investing. When it sounds too good to be true…it usually is.

I vividly recall when it looked like the stock market was the best game in town. Pension systems in most states saw an opportunity to get out from under the fiduciary responsibility of doing their part for their state employees and sold the idea to their staff that they could do much better by having their pensions based on the Market. In those halcyon days, it seemed that the Market was going to keep going up. State Houses had borrowed from their employee’s pension plans until the debt was herculean. Now those retired employees are left with a fraction of what they could have had if many States had kept their end of the Pension Agreement.

Blood may be thicker than water but the love of money is thicker than both. If you do not think so let someone who has resources die in your family and enjoy the Wake with all of those loved ones who you have not seen in many years.

Mundane is not a bad word. Quiet and effective principals of finance or any worthy vocation lack the thrill of immediate riches or political experimentation but they engender confidence in the stewardship of our resources.

There is a chill in the air today. Spring is a week away…we have sprung ahead by an hour… we feel the loss. I have heard that time and chance wait for no one. Opportunity is knocking if we are watching the door and listening.

Each day is a bit of a new world. A new beginning. An embarkation on the rest of our life. Since our Pandemic, we have not traveled as much as prior to it. However, the Trip Of Life is more exciting than any holiday. Spring brings us hope for new life and a renewal of our spirits. The mystery of how we came to be here and where we are going is a daily unveiling. If we are not careful we are in danger of losing the through line or forgetting the plot of our journey. Each time we have taken a Europen Holiday…somewhat like Chevy Chase and family…we have attempted to prepare and think of all exigencies in order to facilitate our smooth enjoyment of the wonders that we expected to be exposed to. There is the currency exchange and the packing in a small suitcase and a backpack. Will we require warm clothes or summer wear or both? We research the popular tourist destinations and book tours that were applicable. Then there is the issue of transportation. How busy is the area that we are going to visit or how remote is it. Most important…where do we eat!

Now, life is much more of an adventure than a month’s holiday in Europe! Each day can bring a new surprise and holiday at home. Much of life’s pleasure is discovering the fulfillment of your abilities. Contentment is somewhat elusive to many of us. As it has been said…’ Happy In Your Own Skin!’ Is your skin fitting well? Mine is a bit looser as I have aged. I enjoyed the actor Brendan Fraser’s Academy Award acceptance speech. His humility and gratitude were overwhelming. Well, we have been given the Oscar Of Life…each day that we are here…what an honor!

Sunday has a beautiful cloudy sky. The woods were lovely and dark and deep as I borrow the phrase from Robert Frost. Of course, I love clouds and rain and woods. I love the many facets of ambition. You know that is what gets us up in the morning and fuels our efforts during our days. Indeed there is a plethora of ambition that is not about money. Being blessed with two wonderful sons has been the passion of MJ’s and my life!

Our lives have been exciting and exhilarating and a magical and mysterious tour of enjoyment in Aaron and Jonathon! They each are their own men. They most certainly are not clones of mom and dad. Each day they reveal to me what new roads they are traveling. I think that we both live vicariously through their energy and uniqueness! Just being with them energizes me!

Ambition is often associated with how high a person can rise in the work world. It is in turn associated with how much money you can make. Now we all require money. But money is not the key to happiness or fulfillment. Money is a means to an end. That end is the realization of your dreams. I seriously doubt that we will require money in the afterlife. Ambition can be redirected to what makes you happy.

I wanted to be a salesman in my young days or a minister…which is a form of sales. I also had aspirations of becoming a lawyer in the halcyon days of yore. It seemed to me that I must become successful in the definite definition of what my peers and mentors described success as. Lo and behold I was hired as a Building Service Worker I at Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale. I was neither ashamed nor did I feel that I was doing something beneath my abilities. I determined that I was going to be a Housekeeping Professional! As the years whisked by I received promotion upon promotion and ended my career as the head of the department. This was not where I saw myself as a young man but it was just fit for me.

The opportunities that I was afforded to help others were plenteous during my career. Offering career opportunities to those who were unseen and unheard was a highlight of my work life. I had the best benefits of being a minister and management/administration is a sales profession on a daily basis. People are my strength. Helping others is my passion. The success of SIUC was my vision!

‘A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside an Enigma,’ has been my life story and I would not have it any other way!

This is the day that we have been waiting for all week. When work starts again on Monday we will know in our hearts that another Saturday is coming down the track! I enjoyed watching the demeanor and faces of my colleagues when I was working. Monday is a bit of a dour day. Tuesday follows Monday and there appears to be some hope for another Saturday. Thursday was always a big day for me as I knew that I almost had the week whipped. Friday is replete with all of the wonders of childhood and Christmas Eve and Santa Claus. We know that tomorrow we get to do whatever we want! No Boss! Why we might stay in bed until noon if we so desire. There are movies to see and hiking to do. We will go out for lunch with our dear family…the Fleemans! Now that is Christmas in March! Then Sunday comes and it is quiet and nice and peaceful. Church or reading or writing or a visit to the local pub. A Sunday Brunch! Perhaps a Bloody Mary or two? Soon it is Sunday afternoon and in the recesses of our memory, we vaguely recall…work. Now it is Sunday night and Lassie is on, or Mutual Of Omahas Wild Kingdom…and the Wonderful World Disney…and School or Work the next morning…

Hope springs eternal…Saturday is coming again…

Sometimes someone has to turn on the light switch. Every now and again it is much too dark to make the evening tea. Not long after MJ and I were married we were visiting her mom and dad in DuQuoin. It was winter that had grown dark early. Berl asked Fernie if she would like for him to make her a cup of tea. We were sitting in their little living room that was quite drafty and we were warmed by an electric space heater and had but the light of the electric coils of the heater and the blue light of the television for our illumination. Fernie replied that she would enjoy a cup of tea and thus Berl walked into the totally dark kitchen to do the job. As he walked into the kitchen Fernie said to MJ and me that we should watch and see that he will turn on the stove light to make the tea. I wondered how he could possibly see what he was doing if he did not. Indeed Berl turned on the dim stove light and began the tea. Fernie looked at us with a wide smile and said, ‘See I told you that man would turn on the stove light!’ Berl and Fernie had lived during the Great Depression and they did not waste money.

Fernie often asked me if I was 30 years old yet. This bothered me a little as I felt that I was mature and did not need to be reminded of what seemed to her to be my perpetual youth. Now I would be overjoyed to be reminded!

As I journeyed through Eldorado last Sunday I was struck by how events of 50 and more years ago seemed as if they had happened yesterday. What seems long to us due to our short lives is really just a moment in time. We go along for some considerable days with little new ideas or innovative plans…and then suddenly there they are in front of our faces. Suddenly someone has turned on the Stove Light…and we can see how to make the tea.

Dim light is much better than no light at all. Our lives are governed by our past experiences…unless we turn on the little light of mystery and magic. In that light are visions of things that we did not see in the dark. Possibilities and opportunities are illuminated in the little light. The little light brings hope and comfort and fueling of our engines to move forward and discover what awaits us that is just beyond our view…

Enjoy your tea!

Early spring is back after a temporary displacement. It feels right. MJ and I were engaged in some house cleaning this morning and I was reminded of how I enjoyed cleaning during the early days of my career at SIUC. The rhythms of cleaning suit, my soul. Many an evening work shift in 1978 and 1979 whisked by quickly while I was immersed in my housekeeping duties. I enjoyed it to the extent that I suggested we dismiss our cleaning service and do it ourselves for a while. As I said to MJ we will never be more able to do so than we are now.

We, humans, function best when we are moving. Our brains become more engaged and our spirits brighter. Performing a job and admiring the end product is essential to our self-worth. I have discovered that every day that I miss blogging…I feel diminished somewhat. When I do not take my daily nature walk I feel lacking. I enjoy having something to do throughout the day.

Older folks do not so much wear out as we rust out. Projects give us purpose. When I see that someone has enjoyed one of my blogs I feel that I have accomplished something. I have always wanted to make others feel better.

Hope is the fuel that feeds our engines. Hope comes from being involved in life. When we surrender to our aches and pains we become reclusive and removed from what inspired us to reach the point of senior citizens.

I never relished following orders. I have always enjoyed doing my own thing. I have a melodious drummer that I listen to. Since my retirement over 12 years ago, I have been much more aware of the intricacies of each day. When you have the opportunity to slow down from the frenetic workday world you see the beauty that has been surrounding you for the entirety of your life. We really have been dropped into a world that is more lovely than any artist can portray. To be engaged both spiritually and mentally and physically is ideal living.

The rocking Chair lifestyle for we oldsters is not ideal. Activity with purpose is the ticket to happiness and well-being! There is much to be said for doing your own thing. I have been practicing the Creed for my entire life. I have never cared or concerned myself with what the group was doing or what the ‘In Kids’ were involved in as I purposefully sought what my mind and heart told me to do.

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…