so now we're nearly into the very hot month of july....soon we celebrate the birth of our country, our nation. normally, the spouse and i go to the fair, old time fun, and try to get stuck on top of the ferris wheel to catch the fireworks. (we've accomplished this feat twice, its the best view you can get, with a touch of old fashioned romance)
when the twins were younger, naturally they were with us. things are different now. they're on their own, one will soon have his own son. one is serving in the marines, and enjoying southern california. and i will be making the trek to melbourne to visit my mom this holiday. (missed my annual visit last year, due to surgery)
every year is precious, as they seem to be speeding on by. i know i don't have a lot of time with her, so i can't really afford to miss another year.
and my husband has to work, this year, a couple of coworkers got in their request for the time off before he did, and as i was planning on visiting mom (and my brothers and their families), he really didn't try to get the time off, and, someone has to watch these dogs......(another story altogether....)
anyhow, with july 4th approaching, i reflect on this country, and the celebration of its birthday, and see just ever more division among its inhabitants. more anger and divisiveness than i could have ever imagined .... even ten years ago seems another lifetime ago, and this isn't the way it was then, and it isn't the way it should be now. but how to fix it? as people draw further into their corners of the ring, you can feel the heat emanating from all sides..there is not any place to stand on what used to be middle ground..
there is no place in the middle, though i had hoped there would be. there's black and white, and no grey. there's right and left, and no middle, you're either with us or against us, not 'well they've got some good points, but so do those people'
all i know from all of this, is, i can't think of a time in my life when it felt like this. not in my life. and i know that dividing this wonderful place up is bad math. really bad.
'united we stand, divided we fall'...truer words were never spoken.
the scene at the county fair on the fourth of july looks like a scene out of a norman rockwell painting, and it has the feel of a norman rockwell painting, as i watched those fireworks, sharing a funnel cake with my husband, powdered sugar all over our fingers, seeing families together, holding hands with their kids, pressed up against the fence watching and cheering for the fireworks show. on a day that we're celebrating all that is good about this country. together.
i'm really going to miss that this year.....