Ever looked at an historical picture of a parade? Ever looked at an old family slide? There are momentous events and there are the backgrounds for them.

They aren't great places these islands of everyday life.
Simple and plain,
flashy and fancy.

The pool hall where everyone stopped
and watched when the doughboys went to war.
Or the drugstore where they came out
when they heard the war was over.

The movie and the shoe store
where life went on while
Santa came to town.

The office and the factory,
the used car lot
where business went on as usual.

People got up and looked and cheered,
then went about their tasks.
When the world turned upside down,
and they went back to work.