Sunday, July 5, 2009

Stuck in the 50s

I know that I complain about where I live in Pennsylvania.  It is an area that seems to be trapped in the 1950s.   Conservative, misogynistic, racist, suspicious … all the worst parts of the 50s.  Yesterday, however, I was thinking about the best part of the 1950s.  Things like family, patriotism, faith and community spirit. 

My little town has a church on the corner just 2 blocks from where I live.  Every day, on the hour during the day, they ring the chimes for the number of hours and then play 2 or 3 hymns on the bells.  Yesterday, the first hymn I heard was the “Navy Hymn”.   Following was “God Bless America” and then “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”.  Later in the day I heard “America the Beautiful”, “Faith of our Fathers” and a variety of other hymns that bring thoughts of God and country to the forefront.  In the center of town is a very nice park.  At the front is a memorial to those who have served in the military.  Flags are always flown there but yesterday there were many, many small American flags and flowers in shades of red, white and blue.  As I drove out of town to visit a friend for dinner, the entrance area and median strip were covered in American flags blowing smartly in the breeze.  Last night when I returned home I saw children with sparklers and heard firecrackers late into the evening.

On days like yesterday, it really isn’t a bad place to live.  I hope you had a wonderful Independence Day.

1 comment:

joanne said...

sounds magical. Too bad we can't save all the good things from the 50's and enjoy them more often. It had it's good parts, and small towns seem to bring them out. It sounds like you had a good weekend, hope your week is good too...lp