Note: Decided to re-post this during this Memorial Day week.
My thoughts over the Memorial Day weekend were on freedom. I know that this is hardly a bolt from the blue, given that Memorial Day is all about remembering those who have paid the supreme sacrifice for the preservation of our country and its ideals. But, as I traveled across the Midwest this past Saturday and Sunday, enjoying the view from the car, I was struck again by the beauty of our country. As the miles rolled by, I felt again a clear understanding of the enormous breadth of our nation. And, as my son-in-law Mike expressed, "we must be thankful that we live in a country where we are free to just get in a vehicle and go." Anywhere.
As my oldest grandson Kirkland , my son-in-law, and I were driving to near the West Virginia line, my wife, daughter and two other grandsons were driving to Missouri Ohio , my wife’s vehicle was heading for St. Louis
The scene changed constantly as the ribbon of blacktop passed quickly under us. We witnessed the growing green fields of corn and beans. The amber fields of ripening wheat.The rivers and creeks were blue and green, and fishermen and boaters alike were out in force. The flat plains eventually rose to become rolling hills. Set against a clear blue sky, the varying green peaks of southeastern hills put a crick in our necks as we stretched to see the tops.
Horses and cattle grazed in pastures that were wrapped in white or black wooden fences. We passed through quaint villages of old brick buildings and painted clapboard houses, with folks sitting on their porches. We saw cityscapes with high rises pointed skyward, looking for all the world like a steel and glass Stonehenge . From major metropolitan areas to tiny towns lost in another age and time, we rode through the heartland and admired the great diversity of our country.
Both carloads of us kept abreast of the others travel by an exchange of texts, pictures and phone calls that reached out over three states. I received pictures of my wife Patty, daughter Melissa, and grandsons Kameron and Karter as they explored the zoo, took in the museum, and ate at various restaurants through their two day travel. I sent pictures of rolling livestock-grazed hillsides, a covered bridge, the hunting lodge, and of course the 450 pound wild hog that Kirkland Kentucky United States of America
We enjoyed our holiday weekend, on separate trips together. As a Desert Storm veteran, I understood that the time we were enjoying had come at a cost, and that brothers and sisters in the military continue to this day to safeguard our liberties. I loved seeing our flag flying at every turn. From cemeteries and village street corners, to grand residences and humble country shacks, many folks displayed the red, white and blue with pride and patriotism.
As we made our way back to the Chicken Ranch, lines from our national musical heritage kept playing in my mind, “Oh beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountains majesties above the fruited plain..” and from our National Anthem “Oh say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave, o’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.”
What a place this America
What a grand and wonderful right we possess. This right that we oft take for granted, enjoy all our days, and will fight to the death to maintain. How wonderful... this thing we call FREEDOM.
