October 5, 2008
Sunday night and we are in Selma, Alabama. We were not sure what to expect, actually. Since this is such an historic town and has a rich and varied past, we just couldn’t imagine what it would be like. But, as with all the larger towns in this country, there is a Domino’s Pizza, a Holiday Inn Express and high speed internet. All of the history is ensconced in the “historic district. Anywho, we left Shreveport this morning headed east on I-20 barreling down the road determined to get home on Monday afternoon. I miss my birdies and John is convinced we will have to hire a bushhog person to cut the grass. We should have a ton of junk mail to go through as well as bills to pay. We did note the poor roads of Louisiana and Mississippi. I-20 is a rough, bumpy, dippy highway in these two states. But they have a lot of water and everything is lush so I guess there is a tradeoff of sorts. We veered off I-20 in Cuba, Alabama and we are traveling on U.S. 80 now. The cattle ranches and catfisheries are abundant in this area. I guess this is where the catfish we buy at Kroger comes from. We just watched a replay of the 4th quarter of the Auburn/Vanderbilt game and were totally satisfied with the outcome. John predicts if Alabama beats Auburn this year that Nick Saban will certainly get a raise. It’s time you know (forgive me Emily Garner) but Alabama is due to win this year. My observation throughout the past 4 weeks is that this country is amazing and the people are strong and resilient and just need someone who understands the basic needs of the people to take charge of the country. I don’t think a person who has never lived paycheck to paycheck can understand the plight of the majority of the American middle class. John and I are blessed because we have a fixed income that covers our needs but there are millions of Americans who are having to cut back so far to pay rent, mortgage, power bills and sacrifice nutritious meals for the 99 cent fast food menu for their children. We must closely examine the motives of our candidates and choose the right man for the job in November. So, having said that, we are so happy to be back across the Mississippi and will be home tomorrow.