Friday, February 18, 2011

The Long Road

What's wrong with America can easily be discovered by paying close attention to road habits, particularly among the youngsters.

Whenever you see a car with children in the backseat with their eyes glued to a video screen and earphones plugged in, you may feel justified about feeling unsure about the future.

In the 1950's and 60's when we were first crossing the country, a view of the road stretching out in front of the car was an invitation to guess the distance in miles to the farthest point we could see. Everybody guessed and the victor got only the satisfaction of knowing he had won, but usually a conversation followed on geography, geology or history, and sometimes weather. No one dared to look down or go to sleep in daylight for fear of missing the next game or interesting landmark.

That was then, this is now. Technology is great, but it simply does not replace the real world experience that happens from now to the horizon.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

The State of Music

We have already established that Georgia has peanuts, South Carolina has peaches and California has wine and a little of everything else. I suppose every state has a trademark item that makes its residents proud.



Wisconsin has cheese, about which more later, Michigan used to have cars and may again someday. Think of horses for Kentucky, hams from Virginia and maple syrup dripping out of Vermont.



But what about Tennessee? Well, the Volunteer state makes music and a lot of it. And the folks that live near I-81 in the eastern hills of Tennessee want everyone to know just how big music is.