Project Swan (Stay Warmer At Night)

Project Swan Will Make It's Debut This Coming Friday November 27th. Yes I Know It's Black Friday, But It Was Planned That Way. The Busiest Shopping Day Of The Year The Robin Hood Foundation Of Danville Will Have Their Big Box Truck Parked At The Danville Wal Mart Parking Lot Beginning At 6:00am. Why? Why Not!
If Every Bed Were To Have A Blanket On It The Resident Could Lower The Thermostat At Night Saving $$ That Could Go Toward Other Uses. It Has Been Said You Can Save 3% For Every Degree You Turn Down Your Thermostat. By Placing A Blanket On Every Bed And Lower It 5 Degree's Saves You 15% Each Month You Use Your Furnace. Here In The Midwest We Have Our Furnace On At least Four Months, Maybe Five. If My Math Is Correct That's At least 60 % Or More Over The Course Of A Winter.
The Robin Hood Foundation Of Danville Will Gladly Accept Your New Or Gently Used Blankets. These Blankets Will Be Distributed The Following Week To Local Residents Who Are Unable To Afford Them.
The Success Of This Program Depends On You! If You Are Unable To Come Up To Wal Mart This Friday Just Call 442-7586 And Arrangements Can Be Made To Have Them Picked Up.

Please Donate

Tonight I Watched A Television Show Called Three Rivers. I Watched It For The First Time And I Was Really Touched.
Tonight's Episode Starred A Very Brilliant Actor, Mandy Patinkin. He Was Dying From Lou Gerig Disease.
Life As He Knew It For All His Years Were Behind Him. His Future Would Include Life On A Respirator. He Would Soon Weaken And Eventually Won't Be Able To Swallow. He Made A Decision To Die Then Donate His Organs So Others Can Have A Second Chance At Living.
To Be Quite Honest About It I Have Never Been Directly Involved In An Organ Donation. It Must Be A Humbling Experience To Be On The Receiving End Of A Life Changing Donation Such As A Human Organ.
I Look At It This Way. A Book. It's A Book With Words And Content And Meaning. Tear Out It's Pages And It's No Longer A Book.
The Human Body With All It's Glorious Wonders and Beauty Can Shine Through A Lifetime Of Love And Laughter Until Death Comes Knocking On Their Door.
I Am A Registered Organ Donor. I Hope Whenever My Time Comes There Will Be Something Salvageable For Someone Else's Needs.
If You Haven't Considered Donating Your Organs I Would Hope You Would Research It And Make The Right Decision And Save A Life. Your Organs Will Be Of No Use To You So Why Not Give The Gift Of Life?

Thank You Mandy For Your Great Performance!

If A Tree Could Talk...

What Would It Say? One Can Pretty Much Tell If A Tree Is An Old Tree. Tree's As We Know Them Date Back To The Beginning Of Time.
A Property On The South Side Of Westville Illinois Sits A Plot Of Land With A Large Family Home. The Entire Front Yard Which Is A Rather Large Yard Was Filled With Tree's. Tree's Of Different Species Inline With Another Which Represents It's Own Unique. I Often Wondered Why Someone Would Plant So Many Tree's In Their Front Yard.
The Answer Came To Me One Day When Business Brought Me To That Particular Parcel Of Land.
After My Business Was Complete I Turned To The Woman Who Resides There And Asked Her Why Were There So Many Tree's In The Front Yard. She Had Told Me Her Husband Smokes And Two Of Her Sons Did As Well. She Has Tried To Convince Them To Quit. It Came Upon Deaf Ears. She Decided To Plant A Tree So It Could Produce More Oxygen Into The Air. She Loved The Beauty Of It. She Watched That Tree In All Four Of It's Seasons. She Became Overwhelmed And Decided To Plant Another Tree But Of Another Species.
Knowing She Had No Control Over The Addiction That Has Inflicted Her Loved Ones She Began To Plant Tree After Tree. Before She Knew It There In Her Front Yard The Tree That Represents Life Bearing It's Fruits As Well As Delivering The New Oxygen For All Of Humanity.
I Have Two Maple Tree's In My Yard. The Last Leaf Fell To The Ground Just A Few Days Ago. In It's Beauty Of Mid Summer The Leaves Create The Shade From The Rays Of The Sun. Today It's An Ugly Dead Looking Tree. Life Appears No Longer And It Saddens Me.
Illinois Experienced A Rapid Change Of Color This Year. Being Color Blind Takes Away The True Beauty Of The Fall Season.
I Have Often Heard People's Favorite Season Is Fall. Other Than A Short Couple Of Weeks Of Changing Color That's All Fall Has To Offer.
Spring Has Always Been My Favorite Season Because To Me It Represents New Life. The Flowers Of Spring To Our Delight As Well As To Wildlife.
A Tree Can Be Counted In Years By The Inner Circles Of The Trunk. Whether That Favorite Tree That Brought Fond Memories Of Your Childhood, Or The Tree You Planted In Memory Of A Loved One. Tree's Are Planted Along Side Property Lines Which Also Provides A Wind Break For Your Homestead.
I Planted A Tree Ten Years Ago When My First Grandchild Was Born. A Crimson King Maple Still Standing At 713.
Last But No Least The Tree In The Middle Of The Parking Lot. Have You Seen It?
A Lone Tree Stands In Alpha On Center Of Pavement. Now If That Tree Could Talk. I Spent Alot Of Friday's Under That Tree. I Have Held Alot Of Lengthy Conversations Under That Tree. Alot Of Life's Stories Were Told By Some That No Longer Are With Us. I Lost A Friend This Past Week. He Stood Under That Tree With Me A Few Times Sharing His Life's Journey.
That Tree Represents A New Beginning For Many Lives. Prior To That I Visited People On A Hot Pavement With No Shade. As A Symbol Of Unity And Friendship That Lot Was Paved But The Tree Was Spared. To Provide The Shade Needed To Continue Our Neighborly Chats, The Tree Lives On.
I Told Billie To Conduct My Funeral Service Under That Tree At High Noon On A Friday.
I Believe It Would Be A Fitting Tribute For Everything That Had Been Shared Underneath It.

Is There Life Without A Bunn?

Billie And I Know No Other Life Than A Bunn Coffee Maker. What Makes It So Special?
It's Design Is Instant Hot Coffee Within A Couple Minutes Of Pouring Fresh Water Into It. I'm Afraid To Guess How Many Years We Have Had One But As Far As I Am Concerned There Is No Better Coffee Maker Than A Bunn.
I Use To Joke With Billie About The Flooring In Front Of The Coffee Pot On Franklin Street. There Was An Obvious Wear In The Floor And That Is Funny Because Most People Who Know Billie And I Are Aware That We Are Heavy Coffee Drinkers.
A Couple Of Weeks Ago The Burner That The Pot Sits On Quit Working. So Far We Have Managed To Make This Work. Billie Won't Put Her Coffee In The Microwave. I Will Make One Pot Of Coffee And Pour The Contents Into A Thermos. I Will Make Another Pot Which Will Be For Me. When It Gets Cold I Will Just Heat It Up And All Is Well.
I Can't Begin To Think Of How Many Real Nice Coffee Pots I Handled Through The Summer Months. If It Wasn't A Bunn I Wasn't Interested.
Maybe I Should Star In A Bunn Commercial. It Should Go Something Like This... It's Not Real Coffee Unless It's Made In A Bunn.

The Bittersweet Of It All

Well Today Is The Day! My Brother Tuck Retired From Operator of The San Diego Trolley System. He Probably Thought This Day Would Never Get Here. Get Here It Did And He And His Wife Evelyn Will Spend One More Night In Her Native Land Of San Diego.
After A Send Off From His Co-Workers Today At The Trolley Headquarters, His Preparations Tonight Will Be His Toughest And Most Challenging.
How Do You Say Goodbye To Your Daughter? He Told Me On The Telephone Tonight He And Evelyn Will Say Their Good Bye's To Evanna. She Just Recently Got Married And Decided To Make Her Home In The Only Land She Has Ever Known.


Tuck On The Otherhand Was Born And Raised In Danville Illinois. He Knew Once He Retired From His Job They Would No Longer Be Able To Afford To Live In The California's Economy.
Danville Was Their Choice To Spend Their Remaining Years Of Retirement.
Tuck And Evelyn Have Been In My Thoughts Alot This Summer As My Father And I Prepared To Get Their House Ready For When They Returned To Danville. Evelyn Came To Mind Each Time We Had A Thunderstorm. Those Who Live In The Midwest Are Somewhat Familiar To All Kinds Of Weather Activity. I Wish I could Be With Evelyn In Her First Thunderstorm. The Crackling Roar Of The Thunder Will Most Likely Cause Her To Jump Out Of Her Skin. The First Snowfall And The Others To Follow Will Give Evelyn A Different Perspective On Weather Than What She Has Experienced In Southern California. Since I Have Been Mowing Their Grass You Can't Help But Notice The Two Squirrel's That Call The Tree In The Back Yard Their Home.


Even Though The Wildlife And The Weather Is Different Than What She Has Been Accustomed To, It Is My Hopes And Prayers She Will Eventually Feel Comfortable Enough To Consider This Home As We All Have During Our Lifetime Here In Danville Illinois.
Tonight As I Write This, Tuck And Evelyn Are Spending Their Last Moments Together Reminiscing, Laughing And Yes Crying With Their Youngest Daughter Evanna. Choices Were Made And Life Goes On. Our Children Grow Up And Make Decisions They Feel Are Best For Them And For Their Life.
Tonight I Say To My Brother To Hold Your Daughter In Your Arms And Hold Her Tight. You Were There As She Took Her First Breath. You Raised Her The Best You Knew How. You Lived Your Lives Doing Things Together Through Love.
I Can't Imagine What You Are Going Through At This Moment Because I Am Fortunate To Have My Daughter Live In The Same Town. I Can't Imagine It Any Other Way.
However,Opportunity's For The Quality Of Life You Are Seeking May Not Be In The Same Hometown That Your Parents Live In. I Guess Karma Plays A Role And The Circle Of Love And How It Unites New Life For Those Around That Circle. Tuck Left His Parents Many Years Ago For Opportunity. Because Of His Leaving He Gained So Much.
We Love You Evanna!
Welcome Home My Brother, My Friend. Welcome My Sister To The Midwest. It May Be Of A Different Culture Than What You Are Accustomed To But Always Keep In Mind God Created All Things For A Reason. I'm Sure You Will Adapt Well To Your New Life.
Your Journey Will Begin Tomorrow Morning. Please Drive Safely And Enjoy Your Trip. Consider This Like A Vacation. Throw Your Watches And Calenders Away And Enjoy What Life Has To Offer. You Don't Have To Be Here On Tuesday Or Wednesday. Get Here When You Get Here.
Consider This. This Will Be The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life.
Godspeed...........JCMM

It's Not Labor Day Without Jerry

Each Labor Day I Watch The MDA Telethon. Money Raised Each Year Are For Those Inflicted With Muscular Dystrophy. Celebrities Show Their Talent For The Cause. Every Day People Like Us Donate What We Can To Help Those In Need.
Ofcourse I Am Not Just Talking About MDA. I Am Talking About Helping Mankind.
Today Marks A Tradition Of Giving. Not Just In The Sense Of Money But Of Yourselves.
Whether It Be For The MDA, The United Way Or Even Volunteering For A Hospital. There Is Always Somebody Who Could Use A Little Help From Time To Time.
Jerry Lewis Will Not Be Around Forever But His Legacy Should.
"Live This Day As If It Will Be Your Last. Remember That You Will Only Find "Tomorrow" On The Calendars of Fools. Forget Yesterday's Defeats And Ignore The Problems Of Tomorrow. This Is It. Doomsday. All You Have. Make It The Best Day Of Your Year.

The Saddest Words You Can Ever Utter Are, "If I Had My Life To Live Over Again." Take The Baton, Now. Run With It! This Is Your Day!

Beginning Today, Treat Everyone You Meet, Friend Or Foe, Loved One Or Stranger, As If They Were Going To Be Dead At Midnight. Extend To Each Person, No Matter How Trivial The Contact, All The Care And Kindness And Understanding And Love That You Can Muster, And Do It With No Thought Of Any Reward. Your Life Will Never Be The Same Again."
I Expect To Pass Through Life But Once. If Therefore, There Be Any Kindness I Can Show, Or Any Good Thing I Can Do To Any Fellow Being, Let Me Do It Now, And Not Defer Or Neglect It, As I Shall Not Pass This Way Again.

MyTwilight Zone Moment

As Many Of You Are Aware I Am President Of The Senior Citizen Bowling League. My Position Sometimes Require Me To Contact Members On Occasion.
I Was Doing That Tonight When I Wanted To Discuss An Issue With A Current Bowler. I Got Out My Membership Roster And Looked Up His Number. The Phone Was Answered By His Wife Martha. The Conversation Goes Like This; Hi Martha, This Is Greg Miller How Are You? She Said Hi Greg How Are You? I Then Asked To Speak With Joe. There Was This Long Pause.....Then Martha Said There Is No Joe Here. Another Long Pause By Myself....When I Finally Said Huh? Finally Martha Told Me She Was Martha Howard. Martha Is A Dear Friend Of My Mother And The Widow Of Ralph, Who Use To Bowl On My Team. The Joe I Was Trying To Reach Has A Wife Named Martha. The Bowling Leagues Secretary Inadvertently Placed Ralph Howard's Telephone Number With Joe's Information.
After It All Played Out It Left Me With One Of Those Feelings. You Know What I Mean.
You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension - a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone

Happy Bithday Tuck

Today Is My Brother Tuck's 56th Birthday. It Is His Last Birthday Celebrated In San Diego. Tuck And His Wife Evelyn Will Be Moving Back To Danville After He Retires As A Trolley Car Operator.
Tuck Has Been Counting His Days Until Retirement For About As Long As I Can Remember.
His Love For His Hometown Of Danville Is Astounding.
His Wife Evelyn Has Never Lived Anywhere But California. They Presently Reside Where It Never Rains. I Was Thinking About Evelyn The Other Day When It Was So Blasted Hot. The Heat Index Reached 105 Degrees. I Realize It Gets Hot In Southern California But It's A Different Hot. We In Illinois Experience Every Season Of The Year. I Heard That Evelyn Said She Wanted To Make A Snow Angel In Danville's First Snowfall. Hahaha, I Think She May Do That Once But She Will Soon Hate Winter Like Most Of Us. Our Rainfalls? I Bet We Get More Rainfall From One Storm Than They Get In A Years Time.
It's Going To Be Good To Have Tuck Living Back Here In Danville Again. He's A Good Brother As Well As A Good Person.
So Tuck, Continue Your Countdown To November, Your Month Of Retirement.
Your Next Birthday Celebration Will Be In Danville. Your Home.
Happy Birthday Bro.

Danville Has Lost A Very Good Family In Aya Eneli And Her Husband Ken, A Doctor Have Moved To Texas.
Aya Authored A Weekly Column In The Commercial News. Her Words Were An Inspiration And Wise Beyond Her Years. Aya Is A Motivation Speaker Of Life With All The Many Challenges We Face In Society Today.
From The Lesson Of The Ant And The Grasshopper Or How We Should Be A Good Neighbor, Some Have Become Better People By The Teachings Of Aya Eneli. Their Departure Will Be Danville's Loss.
She Feared Not On Addressing The Sensitive Issues Of Poverty, Equal Rights And Human Kindness Toward Others.
I'm A Believer That Everything Happens For A Reason. We May Not Know What It Is At The Moment But Their Mission Here In Danville Has Left An Everlasting Effect On This Community. That Reason Could Have Been The Eneli's Family Or Someone Whose Life Has Been Touched By Them.
Whatever The Reason, The Finality Of It All Is Her Words And Her Teaching Should Not Be Spoken In Vain. Let's Set The Example And Be A Good Neighbor, A Better Teacher, A Better Communicator. The Character Of Our Soul Was Molded By The Sincerity And Morals She Has Passed On Through Her Writings.
I Will Miss Her Weekly Column. I Hope She Will Continue To Deliver Her Message To The Good People Of Texas.
I Believe God Has Placed Individuals In Their Current Environment For A Reason.
Her Mission Here In Danville Has Been Completed.
Here's Wishing You Your Abundant Life Aya Eneli.

Sometimes You Just Have To Play Doctor

If The Bowling Season Were To Begin Tomorrow There Is No Way I Could Hold A 14 Pound Ball No Less Than Roll It 60 Feet. Rewind Two Years Ago This Month. I Was Experiencing Piercing Pain In The Upper Shoulder Area. Since My Father Had Heart Related Issues In His Early 50's I Figured It Would Make Sense To Have It Checked Out. His Pain Was In The Upper Shoulder Area As Well So There Was Reason Enough To Be Concerned. My Brother Just A Year Earlier Had A Heart Attack And Had Stints Placed Inside Him To Keep His Blood Flowing.
Long Story Short, They Kept Me Overnight For Observation. I Was Released The Following Morning Showing No Signs Of Heart Related Problems. Yet I Still Had This Pain That Would Not Go Away. What About That I Asked? They Knew It Wasn't Life Threatening So It Seemed They Weren't Too Concerned. I Could Only Stand The Pain For An Additional Day Or Two So I Decided To Travel To Champaign And Go To Carle Hospital.
Please Don't Get Me Wrong, The VA Hospital Is Very Good To Me. If It Weren't For Them I Would Not Be Alive Today. I Hold No Grudges But I Had To Find The Source Of This Pain. I Consider Myself To Have A High Tolerance For Pain But This Was Becoming Unbearable. When I Arrived At Carle They Eliminated Any Kind Of Heart Related Problems. They However XRayed Where The Pain Was Located. It Wasn't But An Hour Later When They Found The Problem. In The Cervical Area Of My Spine The Cartilage That Separates The Disk Were Breaking Down. It's All A Part Of The Aging Process And There Was Nothing They Could Do. They Prescribed IB Profen And Told Me That Should Help. Ofcourse I Gave Them A Rather Odd Look Because That's What I Take For My Daily Headaches And I Thought They Could Prescribe Something A Little More Stronger.
They Informed Me The IB Profen Was Not For The Pain But For The Swelling. The Past Couple Of Weeks Before Finally Going To See A Doctor I Had To Raise My Arm In The Air To Get Some Comfort From The Pain. They Explained That Just The Weight Of My Arm Was Causing The Pain And It Would Be Relieved Once I Raised My Arm. That Made Sense To Me. Since The Swelling Was The Source Of My Pain The Main Objective Was To Get It Reduced So I Could Go On With My Everyday Activities. After About A Month Of Taking The IB Profen All My Pain Was Gone And It Hasn't Returned Yet.
For The Past Couple Of Weeks I Have Been Experiencing The Same Type Of Pain But This Time On My Right Side. Yes, My Bowling Arm!
This Pain Appeared Just A Couple Days From A Scheduled Doctors Appointment So I Tuffed It Out Until I Saw The Doc. She Agreed With My Assumption That The Pain Was Associated With What I Was Experiencing Just Two Years Prior. However This Time She Gave Me Something A Little Stronger For The Pain But Told Me To Continue With The IB Profen. It's Been More Than A Week Since I Saw The Doctor And The Pain Is Still There. A Friend Of Mine Was Having Some Of The Same Type Of Problems And He Told Me To Try Naproxen. I Told This To My Doctor A Couple Years Ago And She Agreed That It May Help. It Did Help But They Wouldn't Let Me Have Both IB Profen And Naproxen. After The Swelling And The Pain Went Away I Switched Back To IB Profen Because The Naproxen Was Not Relieving My Headaches. I Still Have Some Naproxen Left So This Morning I Decided To Begin Taking It. At This Point I Have Nothing To Lose. I Decided If The Pain Doesn't Go Away In A Couple Of Weeks I Will Have To Return To The Doctor To See If They Can Take Some XRays To See Exactly What The Problem Is. We Both Assumed It Was Related To What Happened Just Two Years Ago. You Know What They Say About Assumptions.
Bowling Is Another Couple Months From Now And It Is My Hopes This Will Be All Healed By Then. I Am President Of The League And I Would Have To Resign If I Am Unable To Bowl. Being President Is Not As Important To Me As Bowling Is. My Brother Is Returning To Illinois To Live Off His Pension And He Will Be Joining My Father And Myself And Bowl On Our Team. I'm Not Sure How Much Longer My Father Will Be Able To Continue To Bowl. He Has Been Having Hip And Back Problems And Every Week Is Different For Him. He Briefly Quit Last Season Because Of The Pain He Was Experiencing. It Is My Hopes His Condition Improves And He Will Continue To Bowl.
So In The Meantime I Have Two Months To Heal Or Otherwise Quit Bowling.
Let's Hope For The Best!