I've heard a country song
that lists all kinds of things
that make America what it is.
The only lyrics I remember are...
"...It's a high school prom
it's a Springstein song
it's a ride in a Chevrolet..."
Should look up more and figure out who sings it,
but don't want to take the time for now...
But these few lyrics alone got me thinking about
what America is to me, to us.
At first I thought that, sadly,
it's fear, disgust and anxiousness.
But in thinking about it more, I decided that, no,
those emotions aren't relative to
America.
They're relative to our
government.
No, AMERICA for us is
smiling kids waving sparklers around.
It's stars and stripes.
Red, White and Blue together.
It's green tractors churning up dark brown earth,
yellow crop duster planes flying low as the boys watch with big eyes,
big swathers cutting tall hay, filling the air with that yummy smell.
It's a small business logo sprayed across a pickup and trailer.
It's an inner drive to make and work toward goals.
It's the risk and thrill of giving up something good
for something better.
It's healing and learning from failures.
It's a winding river road on the way to awesome jagged mountains,
with cold water and lovely sand beckoning.
It's legitimate purple mountain majesties in the rearview
as we pull into my parent's driveway.
It's casting a fly into the river that Stephen's fished and floated with
his Grandpa, his Dad, his brothers and his sons.
It's talking over the fence with neighbors.
It's making plans for the weekend.
It's learning from and sharing with others.
I know I could go on and on and on.
The point is, that I think America
denotes something different for us all.
It's the inner depth we feel
at the prompt of
memories, traditions, good times, history.
It's
Independent.
Our daily lives make up America.
America is
Americans.
It's people not sitting still to make sure that
Obama is a one term president.
To see to it that
democracy trumps socialism.
It's the hope that not always will
the thought of our government
breed negativity.
I love this promised land
and am so proud
-thanks to the past if not the present-
to be an American,
to have the abilities we do.
Thanks for listening to my self-talk...
wishing everyone a Happy Independence Day
in whatever makes up your America!
