The New Speed Limit

 Contemplation Ridge  by rcw

 
Fifty-Five....remember when the national speed limit on freeways/highways was turned to fifty five?  Jack reminds me it was during the Nixon administration.  A lot of things happened during that time? Our generation has borne witness to many an interesting scenario, neh?

And we're not out of the woods yet.  This time, however, there's a different feel to it. Kind of like the pendulum is in a tug of war rather than a gentle swing. Maybe it's the news stations we're subjected to; we can't afford all the channels so are forced to contend with limited content and a certain bias.

Truth does cut through now and then...down past the fog of ignorance, it penetrates-even to our edge of the thicket. Yes, we are living in interesting times. What to do? What to do?

It's easy to freak out...hell, on some levels we're all about due for a massive nervous break down. But what would it accomplish? Some theorize that it would relieve tension, like an earthquake relieves tension on the fault line.  True. But it also causes a pretty big mess and things get broken.

Nah. I'll take my chances with riding it through; like the waves at Mavericks...once you're on one, there's not a lot else you can do but make it the best ride you can.  Isn't that why you're out there in all that big water with that iddy biddy chunk of wood under your feet? Not out there to play Pinochle!

Okay, so times are crazy. We've been through this before!  Don't tell me it wasn't intense when Kent State happened. I know; lots of folks packed up their revolutionary toys and went into hiding behind leisure suits-horrified at what happened on that college campus. For months, lots of folks went around paranoid that the FBI or CIA  were after them because of their activism.

There's something to be said for paranoia...John Lennon's FBI file stands as just one of many shining examples of our government gone haywire.

I don't know where to put what's going on these days...everything is so bloody political. A person can't even fart without someone trying to analyze it for politically correct content.

I am dumbfounded at our nation's Attorney General making comment about a law he hadn't even read. This does not bode well for an administration that promised a change to business as usual in Washington D.C.  But I am equally dumbfounded at the behavior of our political parties.

Thomas Jefferson warned against a two party system. He also recommended total change every 20 years so that the government would remain vibrant and timely. The school books being recommended by the Texas Board of Education downplays folks like Jefferson.  Why?  Because he's an advocate of progress.  Progress is not a dirty word. Stagnation, however, is.

For today, Fifty Five is the new Speed Limit....because we have to slow down, make sure we know what we're talking about, and learn to live life rather than watch it from the sidelines.  C'mon! Let's go catch us a wave!