Patriotism

Today is a special day. Of course it didn't really used to be, but everything is different now isn't it? Over the weekend I made an appointment that, with the help of some serendipity, made this morning even more poignant than it looked to be.

There is an organic CSA in the town just north of here that I have been attempting to tour for several weeks now. In a conversation this weekend we had set the timing for the tour to be this morning at 9am. I had not thought of the significance of that until we were en route this morning, but we arrived at Prairie Dock Farm at almost the exact time that the first plane struck the Towers 5 years ago.

I did not plan it this way, but while some of my fellow citizens were making speeches about staying the course in Iraq to Win the War on Terror, I was preforming what, to me, is perhaps the most patriotic act possible. My family and I were building relationships with a neighbor, exchanging ideas and sentiments, and ultimately purchasing 2 bags of whole foods directly from the farmer that grew them, with no middleman, processing or corporate involvement. Wars will need to be waged, and battles fought, but I believe in my heart and soul that until we can learn to know the face of the farmer that grows at least some of our food and shake their hand we will never be either safe or free.

9/11 changed America, and the world, forever. Hatred, anger and ignorance guided those planes to their deaths. How can still more hatred, anger, and ignorance make the pain go away?
We must find a better way.
-Beo

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