The Climate Changes

Tonight is cold, supposed to freeze a little. The remaining leaves, of which there are many, will splat instead of fall. The daily life has changed as well. We had our opening last Friday, about 150 people showed up. Most were past students, friends, business friends, political friends, neighbors, fellow artists.... people we could relate to, our type of people. those who lived in the neighborhood, and did business on Main Street, at Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery, Jehling's Hardware, Elmel Feeds, and frequented the same restaurants. This is where we belong. But we also belong here on Sundays. The church we attends now is in the middle of Vinyl Village. Three car garages... starter castles we call them. If one of them misses a house payment and comes to our church for help that would clear out the deacons fund. So we have almost completely decided to break with Grace Presbyterian, and check out a local Reformed church that is just forming. (forgot the name).

I want to be able to bring friends to church that live nearby. I took some friends to Grace once, but it was just not the thing to do. People in the village of St Charles are home town, been here their entire lives, and want to be surrounded by familiar...or fermiliar people. It is hard for me to care for neighbors all week, then run off on weekends to a church that has nothing to do with this part of town. The PAstor agrees with me, so that will make it easier.

pray for us just the same...

pause, think about it...

It happened again yesterday. I was on a brief rant with some of the things that happen regularly on Main Street, and some things that have been promised for years and are still, "being reviewed". One responded with a simple answer. He was once the Bulldog of Main Street. But now, since he found out his wife has cancer, he has decided to slow down and pay attention to what is important. He cannot fix any of the problems on Main Street. He has been on Main since forever, and still problems occur. So what is important: family, friends, God, church, helping others, being aware of what really is your responsibility. There is a lot more, but I now believe that what was lurking on the horizon, is now seeping under the front door....

HARD TIMES

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom , it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only!" I know that the quote does not match the masthead. Hard Times, begins "Facts, all I want is facts!" And it goes from there about facts, facts, facts. But we no longer have just facts, we have opinions. And everyone opinions are valid, as we are taught to tolerate others opinions. Those are just as valid as yours... but it is not so. Many people are given the gift of speech, of talking, of stirring the brain cells in others... like Charles Dickens. But far too many just talk to hear their own voice, no thought process whatsoever. It is rampant and we no longer have a stake in the ground for truth. " Facts, all I want is facts!"

The words of Charles Dickens wander through my brain as I watch the drama unfold before me. The Wall Street Wizards, the Oil Barons, the Politicians. the people... When was the last time you really took stock in what was happening around you? Take an inventory of your own life and behaviors. As a country, we have sold out.. oil from the Middle East, food from South America, clothing and everything else from china, phone service from India, etc.. Have we done the same as individuals? Why do we put up with it? Because we don't care.*James Madison, in 1787 Federalist Paper 10, said, " Complaints are everywhere heard from our most considerate and virtuous citizens, equally the friends of public and private faith, and of private and personal liberty, that our governments are too unstable, that the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties, and that measures are often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority. However anxiously we may wish that these complaints had no foundation, the evidence of known facts will not permit us to deny that they are in some So, where am I going with this.... We are living in the absolute lap of luxury. we are the most materialistic society ever. We have things instantly... but it is all going to change. But it will change in more ways than we realize right now. If credit fails, as it is, then we will go to cash. but what if the dollar is no good? (as it is becoming) We get food from China, but what if the food is no good? ( as we have seen) We get fuel from the Gulf, but what if we can't get it? (as in Atlanta) Is it doom and gloom, or are we seeing a false picture. It is not only like Dickens, but also of Hamilton. " Public good is disregarded..." Even as the Congress tries to muddle through this financial dilemma, they sneak an extra little bit of pork in the barrel, and pull a fast one. This is just the epitome of cheating. it's like stealing the wallet from an injured man.

I have been here in the area, about 12 years. We have had our business on Main Street for about four years. We enjoy both. We moved from the foundry Art Center and our new studio is walking distance form our home, and the shop on Main looks better than ever. I walk by the Foundry and see Dan'l Boone still sitting there; I see all the things on Main that has upset people ever since I have been here because it is not historic! Well friends, in the words of George Harrison, "all things must pass, all things must fade away". It was my intention to get this rag sheet out to stir some interest, to get some response... I got very little. And even if we did get a stir, our local government where " measures are often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority."

I just wonder how much it is going to take to get the American People off their dead duff and do something about the country. Protest what we know is wrong... civil disobedience is an option. Learn from our past, don't just go down the road in a gas sucking pig of an automobile, demand a new method transportation.... I could go on, but I won't. Signing off, this is the last rant... see youin the bread lines...