steveb leatherworks: the blather

I was fortunate and had a chance to hook with an old friend from back in the day, recently – his name is Don. This consumate character lives in Cali and I can almost forgive him bailing on the East (East Coast Rules) because ya see, Don grew up in Lackawanna, a hardscrabble town on the Lake Erie waterfront whose residents serviced the monsters of industry – Bethlehem Steel, General Motors, Dunlop Tire, etc… this is no pretty place, this is not an easy place to live – under any circumstances…so I can kind of understand why Don has no love for this part of the world… I remember visiting lackawanna back when we lived here, driving over the “Father Baker Bridge”, a terrifying scarred up road.

I also remember little bars on EVERY corner of the Polish, German and Irish neighborhoods, most of which are gone 30 years later… Beef on Weck…oh man….. (ya’ll know what a “weck roll is dontya?)

Anyway  – we were very tight back in the day and still keep in touch. It was great to see him. Interestingly we ate in a nice outdoor cafe place that used to be right in the middle of a drug infested neighborhood when i lived in these parts. I should know – I lived a block away from here…ha! We had to fight the junkies off with sticks many a night…kind of a real “night of the living dead” set…

Anyway, it is great now, the area has really picked up and it was wonderful to see my old friend, still a character in all regards..I love this guy! God bless our old friends!