A Place for Us

Forgive me, but this is going to be a long blog.

Today I got a comment on Facebook from a person who has known me longer than anyone except my family... and maybe better. He was in my kindergarten class and we went through thirteen years of private Christian school together... then about a year of college as well. I'd joined the I'm Moving to Canada if Palin is Vice President group, and he being a conservative Republican, asked me what was wrong with Palin. I almost felt like saying, "If you have to ask, you're not paying attention."

I'm not happy with any of the candidates right now. I honestly waver between righteous anger and bleak sadness over the state of this country. I fear that once in office, either of these two administrations might get us involved in some foreign policy fiasco, or continue eroding our civil rights. So after a long email rant to him about McCain and Palin and how I'm not exactly happy with the Obama/Biden ticket, (I think they may be able to garner a little more bipartisan agreement) I ended with this:

I want a garden in my backyard, because I want it, not because I need it to survive. I want to be warm in the winter. I want to fly on a plane and not be treated like a terrorist. I want to be able to disagree with my government and not be censored or silenced. I want my kids to be able to get an affordable, quality education. I want people to be able to get married if they want to and not be hassled, whether they're gay or straight. I want people to go to church if they want to, and as long as they aren't molesting children or breaking any laws, be left alone. I want the government to encourage less dependence on foreign oil. I want to be able to live by the motto, "Your rights end where mine begin."

I jumped in the grocery getter to attend to tonsorial duties tonight and this song by Dan Zanes came on. It's my favorite of his... He does "kids music", but in such a way that you don't want to pull out a hank of your own hair if you hear it over and over again. Some of the songs, this one especially, speak more to the adults. It's kind of a "This Land in Your Land" for the new millennium. It reminds me that my friend will always be my friend... and there's a place for both of us in this country.

On a misty morning walk
I met a friend we sat and talked
about a place for us
all our words rambled high and low
from the Catskills down to New Mexico
there's a place for us
from the Coney Island rides
out to the California tides
there's a place for us
under a storyteller's tree
or on a riverbank down in Tennessee
there's a place for us

where people gather in the summer heat
talk and laughter float on down the street
there's a string band playing and the dancing feet
make such a peaceful sound on the hot concrete

from the town halls up in Maine
to the windmills on the plains
there's a place for us
where the farmer feeds the town
and the high school band supplies the sound
there's a place for us

when our borders disappear
and the signs say you're welcome here
where empty New York city lots
become neighborhood garden plots
there's a place for us

from the Rockies to the shore
when there's a land of poetry and open doors
under a sky of endless love
can be the world we're dreaming of
a place for us

where people gather at an evening fair
crazy orchestras have filled the air
at every table there's an extra chair
and a hand to shake and a plate to share

on a misty morning walk
I met a friend so we sat and talked
about a place for us

From Kids

Dan and Fletch a couple of years ago at the Eric Carle Museum.