Smoke From a Distant Fire

As 2007 was coming to an end, Elfida and I drove to Eagle Pass. We would reach the end of the year in the town I grew up. It was a great year; with us were the two best things that had come along in the last seven years, our grand daughters. Our sons are all grown, living their own lives and we, we are enjoying our years together.
Ten miles outside of town the lights of that old town appeared. A dull blue sky, a dark horizon with dimly blinking lights. The same flat skyline I had seen so many times before from this same place on this narrow highway. From the south end of town, a slow rising cloud of gray smoke flowed upward, then north as it followed the light southern winter breeze that blows along the Rio Grande.
The scene appeared as a recap of the last seven years, G. W.’s years in the White House. Our future, like the smoky landscape, depends on the how successful those putting water on the fire can be. Will the fire flare up consuming much of what we have worked for?

The economy is on shaky ground, the housing market in a descending spiral, more young Americans fighting in an unnecessary war, business companies reaping millions of dollars from the blood of our soldiers, gasoline so expensive it will become the possession of the very affluent, government corruption at a level not seen since the Nixon years, the murder of children by parents so common that its appearance comes now weekly, racism accepted as long as it is referred to as anti-immigration, and the praises for those government officials caught committing crimes, immoral acts and sins being spoken, written and televised by our own President.

In our nation, our home, our wold.
For years now, there has been a fire smoldering within our nation. The smoke plainly visible from a distance but obscured now by the approaching darkness. Smoke that flow up only to settle back down and spread over our homes, business, school,….our towns.

And the fireman, those who can control it, minimize it, make it tolerable, who are they?

They are you, me, us, we…. As 2008 unfolds, I hope we are successful, prosperous, peace loving…. For me, for you, for us,…. For those two little girls, my grand daughters, Isabelle and Lily.

Strive to be happy.