There is still a smile in their heart. But, I can see the fear in their eyes. It is not the kind of fear of the unknown. It’s the kind of fear you have of knowing. I am not sure which is worse.
A couple of times a years I get a hankering to go off on a BLACK-ROADS ROAD TRIP.
Now you might wonder what someone who lives a rural lifestyle on a farm needs to get away from…from what, paradise? Well, paradise is relative, just ask Adam and Eve.
There are good reasons I take such trips-all of them to satisfy selfish motives. Sometimes you need to get outside of your head, become anonymous for awhile. Sometimes you need to air out dusty thoughts, ideas and notions, like the first days of spring, when you open the house windows up after a long winter-ahhhh, fresh air-oxygen.
Now, there is only one rule on such a trip:
The rule is there are no rules, only suggested guidelines.
These suggested guidelines are not intended to confine or discipline the trip- quite the opposite. The overall agenda is one of exploration and managed adventures to satisfy that deep thirst we all have inside ourselves to do a ‘what the heck’; to fulfill the urge to explore and challenge firsthand our dreams, hopes, fears and freedoms.
Freedom, like Paradise, is also relative.
The first guideline for these black-roads, freedom-treks is obvious; you can only travel black, back roads; no interstates or red, four-lane highways. Secondly, you can only patronize local businesses-no WalMarts, McDonalds or Ritz Carltons.
Finally, and most importantly, you must force yourself to talk to the locals. Boy, you can really learn a lot about many things from them.
When I return, my wife always asks me if I got a lot of new ideas. I do. But, she well understands that these excursions are more about playing out freedoms so that you better appreciate the blessings of obligations.
As I journey around small and medium towns on my black roads travels I find that façades of the locales still look the same, but you can feel an anxiety within. It is not just the economy, it is everything.
It is not an individual anxiety, it is a collective one; like a scary weather warning on the radio that affects every living thing the same. These small town folks are self-reliant, they know how to read the weather, and they know there is a bad storm brewing. They don’t have to read the data, know the spin, or scan the charts, they all know the feeling, and it ain’t good.
It is not within the character of these folks to dwell on blaming any individual or group. They are all well beyond that stage now. It is like a drought that parches the corn fields, or a late freeze which screws up planting season, or a flood that washes dreams away-the variables are just too vast to be anyone’s fault. It’s just the way things are. You save what you can and then move on.
It’s like those tornado warnings. Folks in these parts are used to them. They know what to do. They take them seriously because they all have had some firsthand experience with the destruction that can result from such powerful forces. They know the drill of how to prepare and how to survive the best they can. They also know how to pray.
They well understand natural and man-made catastrophes. They also know sooner or later clouds will soon enough part and the sun will shine as they begin to rebuild their lives again. They have done it many times before.
I find on these trips that when you become anonymous you lower your guard, lessening your defenses and you begin to learn real things about real people.
It doesn’t take long to understand the common bond we all have with each other, bonds that we too easily forget sometimes. It’s because none of us can honestly claim we are without some kind of prejudice. Prejudice is the natural defense we have triggered by the natural effects of fear.
That may sound like some kind of a solution, but it is not.
It is just a hard reality in which the world exists; although we have been taught, with a great amount of effort, to ignore such notions. Such natural tendencies can be held in check by artificial rationalizations for a while, but they slowly build up pressure deep within nevertheless.
I wonder if that explains why there are such dramatic swings in cultures and the polarizations in thoughts, ideas, and eventually, opposing agendas. It is sometimes the only acceptable release for all those built up pressures.
Perhaps, it is the kind of fear we accumulate by living with our windows closed all the time. Sometimes we need to open the windows and breathe in the fresh, natural air. Driving down a country road, with the wind in your hair, looking a passing cow in the eye, begins to stir such simple truths.
Most people might be reluctant to venture out on such a back roads trip among small towns and the cultures within, but it is just the prejudices they fear, those kinds of fabrications created by the ignorance of people who claim to be smarter than anyone else.
Ignorance breeds fear, fear breeds arrogance, and arrogance breeds ignorance-when does the cycle end? It doesn’t. There are just too many people making a good living cultivating such fears-on all sides of the spectrum.
Frankly, I have no idea what they are talking about.
In the many years I have traveled back roads I have only been rewarded by the expressions of the best of what folks have to offer. There is something we could all learn from their amazing power of community. But don’t take my word for it… you should find out for yourself. Take off driving somewhere on the black roads and go to any small town Fourth of July parade and cookout. It will revive your faith and hope in the American spirit. It is the reason to believe that we might just survive.
Sure, there are exceptions. But faith and hope seem to have more of a chance flourishing against fear, by the best that folks have to offer, rather than the worst.
Everyone, including politicians, corporate executives, teachers, and farmers could benefit from a Black Back- Road Trip, soon and often- it is the great equalizer. They would all learn more about themselves and their commonality with others. Imagine the humility gained.
That is what I learned from my Black-Road excursion recently. Folks are afraid. They are very afraid. But they have faith and they have hope for better days.
I guess if I am in a crowded storm shelter while deadly winds are raging outside, I’d rather be surrounded by folks with hope and faith than those who have none.