Deco report

I do a lot of walking around Galesburg, about two or three miles a night, but it's all pretty much on the same route so most of the deco I see is actually during the day, driving around. Still, I'm curious about it. Most of my observations below are actually hypotheses - I believe them but can't necessarily prove them; they're open for argument. Feel free to chime in if the blog lets you comment.

First, deco is a medium-size town thing - towns like Galesburg tend to go overboard, like Parsons, Kansas, but smaller towns have less of an audience, and larger towns have more to do, so their residents don't feel like taking the chance of putting something out there that could be stolen or used against them. Therefore Galesburg and towns its size tend to have more deco per capita.

Second, fall is overtaking Christmas in both length and amount. I saw the first fall deco in mid-August - that's two and a half months before Halloween and it's not even over at Halloween. There are more skeletons than Santas. There are two kinds of fall deco - the haybale/strawman/pumpkin healthy kind, then the death/black/vampire/blood/skeleton kind which is way more popular. In this secular age nobody seems to be into Jesus and the creche altough you do see some, but whoa there are plenty of skeletons and vampires out there. And there are a few that mix healthy fall haybales with ghosts and vampires, all in fun I'm sure.

Third, this year may be a bit milder than last year, so I'm not really sure if fall/death deco is still increasing exponentially. In these over-deco towns I'm already chagrined that the first pumpkins went on sale Sept. 1 - how can a live pumpkin keep from rotting for two months if someone has already carved it? But it's like Christmas trees - you have to buy in early just so you can celebrate all season and waiting until the last week, or maybe last two weeks, is stupid anyway so why should it even be possible? Those Sept. 1 pumpkins will be long gone by mid-October and anyone who wanted to carve just one for Halloween will be SOL as they say.

We live near Broad and Mary, Halloween capitol of Galesburg, where cars come from all around on the big night, park near that corner, and watch their kids walk up and down the street hitting up the castles. One put on a show for them. We buy four or five bags of candy and it's not nearly enough, and we no longer send teens out to greedily get some of it back and even up the score. My wife is about done with it - ready to turn off the lights and hide in the back - but she wants a fake tree too just to cut back on the fuss and maybe the work. In other words we've reached the age where we don't even look forward to the holidays, or at least she doesn't, and I do but readily admit I can't do the work I used to, the deco, the cards, the wrapping, the hauling of the tree, etc. Keeping up with the culture is a lot of work.

So, mid-September and my question is: is it going over the top again, as an annual tradition? Are the lights just now coming out, purple and orange - are they the new light colors for fall deco? Think we'll see any real bats? Out here, in the historic district, we might. They don't mind it the way it is, and they fly around a lot now, because it could be a long winter.

burg pop

from my walk

I live on the same block as Judy's; it's my claim to fame. When people far and wide want to know about Galesburg I mention Judy's and half the time they know what I'm talking about. But my family doesn't go out often, so that occasion was a time make some pics and provide a pop exhibit.

My foster daughters are moving back across town, so we told them we'd walk up to Judy's before they left. We walked up there today; it was a beautiful day. There were plenty of places to sit. Judy was there but was not working.

Some tourists came in while we were there. I swear at least half the families were from out of town, but these people were clearly from out of town. That's the first thing I have to say about Judy's: she brings them in. Do you see tourists anywhere else? Not really. But at Judy's on a Thursday morning, there were several. She took pictures with them. The waitresses tried to sell them a shirt.

Second, the place is strongly remodeled and there's lots of room in it. I faced directly across the street and it was a nice view, not crowded. The place was filling up and still wasn't crowded. The decor was sharp like Steak & Shake, a classic diner kind of feel. It looked good. The fact that it filled up was good too. She was making money.

There's nothing special about pancakes but one kind had this kind of lemon sauce on them and my wife wanted to try it so I ordered those. They were good. It's pancakes as pancakes are supposed to be.

My wife is mad at her for embracing the national guard and the people who occupied Washington. I say Judy was noot trying to be political and therefore should be forgiven for putting such people in her movies. Give her a break.

I'm glad to report she knew who I was, remembered my offer to make a book, and even remembered that I live on the same block. Another thing I like aboot her is that she's a pop artist like me. The logo, visible in one the pictures below, is a kind of pop image. I approve. So I will make pop too and will even keep making it. I'll put it on my pop pages.

Here's to you, Judy. Galesburg and I thank you.

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Pretty wild Fourth

Here are a couple of research questions:

Do you feel that private fireworks buyers are generally Trump-oriented? Are people who display a flag on their truck generally Trump-oriented? Were there more private fireworks this year than ever before?

I felt, yes, yes, yes. It was very loud after the city's show, all over town, especially in our neighborhood. My guess is that that fireworks tent did better than ever before. Furthermore, it spread, over the entire weekend, and the weekend before, and pretty much all month.

Why do I bring Trump into it? Just curious. If you love the country, are patriotic, notice that it's not going so well, know that it's a 250 year, etc. etc., this could all spur you into buying an extra handful, no? I know that there are some of us on the other side (in favor of free elections, freedom of the press, separation of powers, the constitution) who are also into fireworks, and into guns too. I know it's not a 100/0 situation. It's just a feeling I've got that these are Trumpers out making a lot of noise.

We set up in the old Mall parking lot. There were about ten other cars/families who had the same idea. Kids ran around freely with the air fresher and less interaction due to less accidental stepping on blankets. Less bad air from everyone else's sparklers. Less time on the road waiting behind someone, while very slow traffic lets out.

But there were fireworks in all directions, all during the city's show, and all afterward. Many of them were as big as, and competed with, those of the city. Many were very loud.

Here are some more research questions: Was this true all over the country? Did anyone get hurt? Is it memorable distinctly or will it go down as just one more night of firecrackers?

Another Railroad Days bites the dust

It would be irresponsible to have a Galesburg-oriented blog and not at least mention Railroad Days, which once again just came and went. I love Railroad Days; I love Galesburg. But I know very little about either one, actually. Enough about Galesburg to do this blog. Enough about Railroad Days to be glad to see them again.

This year it rained and all I could think of was, it's raining on our parade. Kind of dampened everyone's spirits and at the same time kept a lot of kids home who could have been at the top of the ferris wheel. I have had a lot of personal issues lately and for that reason found myself on Mulberry Street a lot and I could therefore drive right past the Railroad Museum and the train station. And I was glad that there were people at the heart of it all, checking out railroad history and walking around the old railroad cars parked there.

I drive by Judy's a lot because I live in her neighborhood, on her block actually, and I always honk and wave when I see her. This weekend I saw her, honked and waved, and she never even looked up. She was too busy. Some other diners caught me and smiled but the light turned green and I had to keep going down Fremont Street. I consider Judy to be the person who brings the most tourists to Galesburg: fresh people, from far away, come to see Galesburg and especially Judy's. She's a tourist attraction. The place was packed.

I have a couple of daughters who wanted to do the fair so I took them down to the bank where one cashed in some money so they could go. Picked them up an hour or two later and they got into the car screaming at each other. They had had some kind of fight and it didn't get better; it got worse. All past the Innkeeper's, through downtown, and back across by the Railroad Museum they were screaming so loud I couldn't hear myself think. This was my Railroad Days. There will never be another one like it.

Let me record that it happened. It looked like the model train setup out on Fremont had a nice full parking lot. People got out there. People came to Galesburg. Biggest drinking weekend in western Illinois, I told my daughter's boyfriend. I don't know if he liked that or not. It was somewhat of a novelty to him to get out of Peoria, have a living room, and stay out of the crowds. In some ways we live our separate lives, taking care of many children, some of whom have special needs. The world goes on. People come to town, then they go back. Now comes the Fourth.

No Kings 3-28