Memorial Day: We shouldna started this war in the first place!
I spent the nite – or what was left of it – at a fancy rest stop in Kentucky. When I got up this morning with the skies that were lightening, the sun was but a bright jagged image back lighting clouds that looked like mountain peaks.
You can always tell an affluent state by it’s rest stops. If the state has money, the rest stop will be huge, modern, and have two buildings: one for bathrooms and information centers; the other housing snacks & sodas.
This rest stop had both – but no wireless internet~ but it did have two tents pitched on the perfect grass in the picnic area! When I first slept at rest stops in the 70’s, we just threw out our sleeping bags and slept on the grass. I don’t know when that became illegal – but it was heartening to see folks in tents this early dawn.
I was able to jog a couple of times around the whole stop. When I started out, I jogged past the old white man who was driving around the golf cart, picking up garbage bags. I noticed he was wearing one of those dark blue caps with the two grey metal rifles crossed on the front – I was immediately alert, but friendly. He returned my greeting with the same warmth, so I thought maybe that isn’t a confederate hat.
I know when I traveled many years ago thru Kentucky, the white people I came across were anxious to be associated with the north, even though Kentucky had fought on the side of the south. Unlike the white folks from West Virginia – they had fought on the side of the north yet were constantly trying to disassociate themselves from that & connect to the south instead.
When I jogged around to the car side of the stop, I noticed the American flag was flying at half-mast! We had talked yesterday as part of the Summer of Protest actions being getting folks – especially those huge flags at car dealerships & the like – to fly their flags half-mast.
The same old white man was coming around on this cart. I asked him why the flag was flying like that. He told me because of this being Memorial Day. I told him it should fly half-mast every day as long as we are in a war against Iraq.
He looked at me & grumbled in his funny Kentucky accent: I didn’t think we shoulda started this war since the beginning!
What a wonderful way to start Memorial Day in Kentucky!
You can always tell an affluent state by it’s rest stops. If the state has money, the rest stop will be huge, modern, and have two buildings: one for bathrooms and information centers; the other housing snacks & sodas.
This rest stop had both – but no wireless internet~ but it did have two tents pitched on the perfect grass in the picnic area! When I first slept at rest stops in the 70’s, we just threw out our sleeping bags and slept on the grass. I don’t know when that became illegal – but it was heartening to see folks in tents this early dawn.
I was able to jog a couple of times around the whole stop. When I started out, I jogged past the old white man who was driving around the golf cart, picking up garbage bags. I noticed he was wearing one of those dark blue caps with the two grey metal rifles crossed on the front – I was immediately alert, but friendly. He returned my greeting with the same warmth, so I thought maybe that isn’t a confederate hat.
I know when I traveled many years ago thru Kentucky, the white people I came across were anxious to be associated with the north, even though Kentucky had fought on the side of the south. Unlike the white folks from West Virginia – they had fought on the side of the north yet were constantly trying to disassociate themselves from that & connect to the south instead.
When I jogged around to the car side of the stop, I noticed the American flag was flying at half-mast! We had talked yesterday as part of the Summer of Protest actions being getting folks – especially those huge flags at car dealerships & the like – to fly their flags half-mast.
The same old white man was coming around on this cart. I asked him why the flag was flying like that. He told me because of this being Memorial Day. I told him it should fly half-mast every day as long as we are in a war against Iraq.
He looked at me & grumbled in his funny Kentucky accent: I didn’t think we shoulda started this war since the beginning!
What a wonderful way to start Memorial Day in Kentucky!
posted by Xan @ 6:40 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home