Nothing new under the sun

Today Emily and I went for a Memorial Day bike ride with two friends of ours. We rode our bikes on county roads near Afton, MN, which is on the St. Croix river, and borders Wisconsin. I had my bike tuned up last year and, 12 months later, I have finally used it. As we rode out of Afton, I saw alternating "Liberate Iraq" and "NO WAR ON IRAQ" signs, as if I were biking through south Minneapolis (of course in South Minneapolis, the ratio is more 2:1 for Don't Attack vs. Liberate and it is more like 1:1 in Afton).


Anyway, as we were biking out of town there was a dead/dying tree in someone's front yard that had been painted red, white, and blue, at the base, with the upper two thirds of the tree painted to be the Statue of Liberty. One day, I'll get a nice digital camera and take a picture of things like this tree, just like Gabe Chavez does. But for now, you are stuck with my description. Regardless, it is safe to say a dead tree/Statue of Liberty isn't exactly what I would want in my front yard. However, it was a refreshing change from the cookie cutter McHomes that we drove past in Woodbury and Maplewood on I-94 on our way to Afton.


So for the rest of my bike ride, on this Memorial Day, I got to thinking, how many Vets, on a daily basis, see or experience something that makes them say, "I went to war, killed people, and my friends died for my country in (insert country I have never been to here). And my buddies died for this bullshit?!?!?!?!!" My guess is that it actually happens less than I expect. But I have to wonder, what would be most likely to prompt a heroic Vet to think such a thing? Would it be...

a) the cookie-cutter subdivisions of Woodbury

b) the Statue of Liberty tree

or c) Me and my three 20-30 something friends driving 30 miles to bike around some farm land, eat ice cream, and complain about how long it took for me to get my chicken tender sandwich, or talk about how much it sucks that I have to go into work today to get caught up on some report writing. All this on Memorial Day.

I am pretty sure answer might be c).


Safe to say, I am one of many spoiled generations. And if 9/11 wasn't enough to wake us up for more than a few months as to how good we have it, I don't know what will--other than all of us going through a half-decade or more of war. Maybe we need the casualties of war we honor today to be our own classmates, friends, and spouses before Memorial Day really means anything to us. And I don't know if I should feel that, just because I wrote this blog, I now adequately appreciate those who have died in war.


But I did see one other noteworthy scene during our Afton trip. An old man, easily in his late 70s, drove his riding lawn mower down Afton's main street and into the ice cream parlor parking lot. It was like watching the sequal to The Straight Story (great movie by the way). Then he hobbled his way into the parlor and came out with a cup of coffee. He had one of the most labored gaits I have ever seen. He sat on the porch by himself and drank his coffee. I assume he was going to ride his mower back home when he was done. If he's not a Vet himself, I'm sure a lot of guys who are would say, "Now there's an American worth fighting for."