by James Bridges
Herbage Magazine
“Good, good, good, good vibrations…” The music plays and I feel free. I feel at ease. I am young and hopeful.
I used to cruise my old 1961 Corvair down the PCH after work. The timeline doesn’t really matter, but no, it was not in the 60’s. This was merely 20 years ago.
I picked that car up off a wild man on an Oklahoma backroad. I had no idea what I had purchased at the time. That’s for a different story…
When I was in that wannabe hotrod of a car, which, curiously, was named the most dangerous car in the United States by none other than Ralph Nader, I drove down the coast to blow off steam. I’d play old tunes and for some reason always thought of my grandparents. I had and still have the idea of them being young and feeling as if there was nothing in front of them but hopes and dreams.
I would imagine a day when they both seemed to have faith and trust in instructed values and, while some are comparably young to most, traditions.
Americanna if you will.
It was going to be good. Whatever I was doing to make myself so stressed that I needed to fantasize about driving back in the “good old days” by the ocean was going to pay off. So I was told…
Of course reality would always set in. Work, life, stress, fun, even that Corvair would break down on the side of that little winding road pinched between a landslide and the open sea.
I continue to have that fantasy of an idea of a comfortable society that is “a beacon of light” to the world. One that my grandparents would be proud of. One that your grandparents would be proud of. A society and culture which leads the way to openness and true freedom.
Over the last few years I’ve watched as you have. I’ve wondered what is next. I thought of my children and those that I love. I’ve wondered if we could just stop the chatter and look at one another for a minute.
Don’t fall down too hard when you slip on that slope called leadership.
We are not dealing with a political issue in my opinion. We are dealing with a decision. Serious this time. No. Really… This time it’s very serious. We have a decision to make. We have a decision to make that I fear we are not prepared for.
We continue to bicker with one another as brothers and sisters. How easy is it to be in control when the majority of the cast are at one another’s throats? I’m not sure, but I’m with you fellers and votin’ for yours truly too.
My grandmother’s 80’th is tomorrow. I can hardly do anything but hang my head in shame and wonder what she must be thinking happened to our country and the sacrifices she has made to live in it.