As we were driving over the mountain toward Middlesboro the other evening, a good song came up on the iPod: "America" by Simon and Garfunkel. It seemed so appropriate to be driving over a curvy road through the woods, looking out on the fall beauty of the Appalachian Mountains, hearing the lyrics, "I've gone to look for America."
During another instance driving on this (or a similar) road, the iPod brought up "This Land is Your Land" by Woodie Guthrie, and I felt like this, too, was exactly right.
Right now, Eric's watching a documentary on baseball that was made by PBS, and it started out with playing (appropriately) a big, impressive version of our national anthem. It reminded me of what I thought while listening to those other two songs--"The Star-Spangled Banner" doesn't really represent how I feel about America.
I tried to explain this to Eric last night, and it didn't really work, so I'm not sure if it will make sense to y'all, either.
I think part of why we came to Kentucky was that we came "to look for America," like Paul Simon wrote. We came to see what it's like to live in the mountains. We came to hear bluegrass music. We came to hear stories. We came to find out how God is experienced here.
I don't see America with all of the pride and pomp of "The Star-Spangled Banner"--I see it with the grittiness of "This Land is Your Land." I'm not so hung up on the flag as I am on the natural beauty. I prefer simple strings to big brass in telling the story of our country. I don't love big business America--I love tree-covered America. I don't appreciate suits as much as I appreciate dirty overalls in making a living. It makes more sense to me to build your body up with hard work instead of with fancy exercise machines.
While we've been here, I've seen lots of things that I came to find when I look for America: a restaurant where they have open mike night every Friday and where the owner showed us to our table; coal miners who stand at the picket line to show solidarity with striking nurses; a national park that's trying to restore a cave to some of its natural state after it had been a money-making tourist stop; women who sing hymns a capella with such beauty that you wish the piano had never been invented.
Maybe I just have a romanticized view of it all. I'm not sure. But I'm definitely glad that we "walked off to look for America."
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4 comments:
Yes,Sarah,there is an America.I envy the two of you terribly for getting to see as much of it as you are.I have always tried to to tell the boys to take a minute to really absorb the way things are right at the moment,no lamenting the past or planning the future,just take a look at the person next to you,notice the place you are&savor the moment.As I enter into yet another stage in my life, I will still be wearing coveralls,but working for guys wearing suits. I know also that I am going to meet more "real
(part 2!) Americans",people tied to a peice of land & a herd of cows. Men with hunched backs&swollen crooked fingers from milking cows and their portly wives with unkempt hair & smiling weathered eyes. I am also going to get to meet the corporate farmers,that truely dont get dirty very often,and make money with expensive machinery and a colony of hispaniac drones. Thats America. Dad Y.
Oh my gosh, Scott, you make me feel like I can't write at all (not that I really feel myself a writer)!! I hope your new endeaver is that and so much more. You deserve it. I'll try to think what America is to me, but my words aren't so colorful as yours and Sarah's. Aunt Joan
What a beautifully written post, Sarah! S & G's America is one of my favorite songs, so thanks for putting it in my head. :-) Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
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