RESTAURANTS AND DR. SUESS' ADMONITION

In the 70s, many small family owned and operated restaurants opened in cities and towns across the country.  Some restaurants revitalized blighted areas. They offered eclectic menus. Locally- grown American fare was served along with dishes from around the world. The ambiance was often one that included music, poetry readings and wall hangings by local artists.

These restaurants became places to meet neighbors and people with like-minded interests. Politics, sports, the trials and tribulations of raising children, and  the complexity of human relationships all could be heard at tables or in booths sometimes placed close together.

Such a restaurant was Duff's which was opened in 1972.  Family owned and operated, it soon became the "in" place no matter the weather. In wintertime, the interior was plain and warmed by the sun as it streamed through the restaurant's stained glass front windows.  In the summers, outside tables and chairs were hard to get. Year round, writers and authors held readings and once in a while a violin could be heard.

Many restaurants here and throughout the country that were established in the years since the 70s no longer exist .  Now, this ever popular St. Louis spot  closed its doors too on June 21.  It will have its final literary reading on June 22nd.

Above Duff's front door hangs a quote from Dr. Seuss:

              "Don't cry because it's over... Smile because it happened."

WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT MISTAKES?

Two small children and their mother came into my favorite coffee shop.  The children looked as if they might be brother and sister.  The boy was about three.  The girl about five. Both were beautiful, exuberant children.

The mother ordered breakfast while the children selected a table and then roamed about.  When the mother brought the food, they all sat down. I returned to reading  my paper until I heard the mother yell, "Say you are sorry!" When I looked up the mother was on her knees on the floor trying to clean up a mess and the little boy was running to the other side of the restaurant shouting, "I won't!"

I do not know what happened but the whole scene made me wonder.  Do we use "sorry" as an acceptable response to excuse our mistakes instead of doing the hard work of cleaning up the mess we sometimes make?

THE VILLAGE OF BRUSSELS ILLINOIS

Brussels is a small Village between the Illinois and Missouri  Rivers not far from the Mississippi reached only by water. On one of our last pretty days in May we drove out to visit it.

We used the super highway surrounding St. Louis to cross over to Illinois.  We traveled past Bush Stadium, home of the Cardinals baseball team,  crossing the bridge of the Missouri River to where the River meets the Mississippi and took River Road to the city of Alton, home of the Bald Eagle.

Once on River Road, old salmon colored cliffs with caves from another age escorted us along the way.  The City appeared to be one visited by tourists and summer people. Artsy dress shops stood beside bait shacks and a large marina had boats of all sizes in its docks.

Past Alton the heavily trafficked highway became a two-lane country road weaving up and down  around hills and farm land and corn fields distressed by rain and flood.  We saw no live stock. The homes were modest with recreational  vehicles parked in the driveways and children's swings and plastic pools on the lawns.  The one or two McMansions we saw looked out of place.

We arrived at the ferry dock.  Owned and operated by a private family, the ferry was small but carried about a dozen cars, a truck, and a group of people on bikes and us across  the Illinois River to Brussels.

Inside the Village, we learned that Brussels is in the National Register of Historic Places. The Village covers 0.56%  of land. The Census of 2000 found that 141 people were citizens of Brussels.

The Historic Wittmond Hotel is situated on the Village's Main Street. Next to it is the town's cemetery, and the old Jail.  The front of the Hotel features a wide front porch down on which I could imagine Wyatt Earp or John Wayne striding, spurs click, clicking away on the wooden planks.

Once inside, we found a bar, gift shop and small dinning rooms all in dark woods. Built in 1874 the hotel featured black and white photos of the original owners, and other important figures of the time. Windows were hung with old lace curtains and lunch was served family-style.

Old medicine bottles lined the shelves of the gift shop.  Among them St. Joseph Mineral Oil and something called Tyrone Tonic.  An old poster was displayed for the book "Crooks Kill, Cops Lie" by Bill McClellan of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper. Glass display cases held old and new bric-a-brac.

As we left Brussels we noticed a large sign, "Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge." We had planned to take the ferry back over the Mississippi but we returned the way we came, with the ferry over the Illinois River hoping we would not encounter more flooding.

MEMORIAL DAY LETTER TO FELLOW CITIZENS

Memorial Day 2013 commemorated the sacrifices so many made in foreign lands and here at home. We remembered in small cemeteries and national ones. We remembered them and their families in community and veteran hospitals across the land.  Religious services for the dead and wounded were offered in tabernacles and mosques.

We draped flags, barbecued favorite dishes, played baseball, golf and croquet and favorite games with children and grandchildren.  We tended our farms and animals. Others worked through the holiday caring for the frail and ill among us. Still others spent the day working to rebuild national and man-made structures devistated by wind or flood, sometimes both .

Bands played.   Radios blared.  We strummed guitars and banjos and sang old and familiar songs.
Some festivities were well attended, others canceled by storms. Speeches were made. Officials spoke of freedom, liberty and  opportunity.  Yet, many of these same officials seem to have forgotten  what the treasure of  this country is all about.

It seems somewhere along the way to "governance" legislators are consumed with a process known as nullification.  The term is often used as an excuse for lack of enactment or implementation of laws which already or would  provide for the "good and welfare" of people.

So it was that on this Memorial Day in particular, amid all the colorful parades, decorations and speeches, I wondered why we, as citizens, continue to elect and support officials whose greatest achievement is to nullify laws that have served us well in the past?

Is it not time that as citizens we lose our fear of "government"?

Sincerely,
Beverly D. Rehfeld, Citizen

ANOTHER MILESTONE!

First came those who influenced and inspired them.  Then came the blue gowns. Faces, all colors, smiling, some looking grime almost bored under black mortars, worn seriously some flippantly with tassels bouncing.  Many searched the audience for a familiar face while staying in processional order.

They took their prearranged seats on bleachers in the auditorium festooned with balloons  hand held, others hung from cross beams on the ceiling. On each side of the stage, large screens showed their portraits and the new places they soon would call home.

They attentively listened to remarks by people who had come to know them over the years,  sometimes well, sometimes superficially. Offered were words of  advice and  personal experiences.

Then four of their peers rose to speak.  Each message expressed  appreciation, anticipation and a humorous reflection. While all on stage and in the audience acknowledged and celebrated  the heroic efforts made by some to be a part of the Class of 2013.

Diplomas were given, tassells turned to the other side of  Mortars and the Recessional began
with my granddaughter in it as I marked another milestone in her life and mine..

SO ENDS APRIL!

So ends April
Marking a month of lunacy and tribute
Ending and beginning life
Defining what is, is not terrorism.

Changing climate foretold by educators and scientists
As the rivers spill over
Earth shudders
Fires break out
Levees give way
People, animals, homes, schools, crops lost
Even as last year' s pansies show their heads above ground.

Through it all
Illinois, Missouri and Mississippi
Working People lining river shores
Remembered in song
Watch as economic progress, health, and education stall
Representatives who prefer to look away
Off set by Voices growing in number
Demanding no more false idols or messages!

So ends April!

DON'T COUNT MISSOURI OUT YET!

If we think of Missouri as a know-nothing state, we are kidding ourselves.  Here's why!

A school in the Ozark Mountain area allows teachers and others to bring and use concealed weapons in school.  Many parents were pleased with the action, but some felt uneasy and would prefer  alternative ways to protecting the safety of their children.

Whether it is health care for a select few, or unequal sharing of the burden of taxes, or failure to  limit easy access to manufacturing and the sale of guns, Missouri's Citizens recognize the danger of each to each of us and our communities.

We live on farms, in cities and towns.  We know there are many of us, voters and organizations working diligently on issues that have and do impact the quality of life where we live. We know too that some of our work has been a surprise to those who represent us up and down the great rivers which sometimes have separated us from each other and the rest of the country.

We have been schooled by and live with nature's moody disposition.. We have learned how to carry on before her screaming winds.   We are one state with communities of men, women and children, threatened or prospering in rural counties or on city streets.

We recognize this and caution the skeptics, don't count Missouri out yet!