John Porcellino in Utne

John Porcellino had a little piece recently in Utne magazine about living in my hometown, DeKalb [via my friend Jill]. From “Bless This Mess: Fond recollections of a low-rent existence”:

Sometimes after work we'd go down to the Twin Tavern and drink beer, order onion rings, and wait for our sausage sandwiches. Men in flannel jackets and baseball caps sat at the darkened counter, a silent TV set flickering in the corner, unwatched. This was like a dream come true. We'd laugh and eat and step outside into the nighttime air, say so long with our bellies full of beer and good food, the moonlight shining bright through cold backlit white clouds.

The Twin Tavern had pinwheels in the urinals that spun when you peed on them. It just didn't get better than that.

His DeKalb era overlapped with my DeKalb era, and many of the places and people he mentions are familiar. So is the peaceful, low-rent existence that I eventually outgrew.

Posted by jjwiseman at August 22, 2006 12:15 PM