Roadtrips

I’ve been meaning to put up posts about our roadtrips of places east of the Mississippi. But all that went on the back burner once my back went sour. In hindsight, it’s probably good I never posted them. I love America, I love Americans, but we are such a beaten down culture these days. Sometimes I get watery eyed just seeing how mean spirited and bitter we’ve become. There are unchecked, unaccountable, and unelected factions driving our country in directions the consequences won’t be fully grasped for decades.

As I heal and recover I’ve come to see things differently, out of sheer survival, and my experiences in places like Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Portland, and Washington can be seen with more sensitivity. Once I can manage to sit in a chair for longer than thirty minutes I hope to write about them. I’ve always been at odds with the idea that America is exceptional, a shining city on a hill. Perhaps that is because I am from Passaic and there the hills are lined with lead pipes. Nonetheless, I’ve seen a decent amount of the world and there are many exceptional countries and others that just exist because some Europeans decided to draw lines and cause hell. America needs to be what our exceptional is, something I know deep in my brittle bones. There are many things in the way of this.