Amber Fields

A field with half a million sunflowers is a brighter shade of amber perhaps, but this view from a distance at the Pope Farm Conservancy leads me to think about the 1904 song called "America."

O beautiful
for spacious skies
for amber waves of grain (or sunflowers).
For purple mountain majesties,
above the fruited plain.
America, America.
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood,
from sea to shining sea.

We're 100 days from election day on November 8th, so it might be a good time to consider the spacious skies, the amber fields, the mountains, and fruited plains.

Even better to consider the grace and blessings our country receives in abundance.

There are plenty of thorns and crabgrass amidst our amber waves of grain and beauty - too many hungry people; too many out of work; too much anger; and too much divisiveness.

However, with my former news hat on here, that's noteworthy because the conditions are not the norm.  Together, we can solve and resolve these issues.

Those bad neighborhoods we worry about driving through are filled with people working to improve their situation and for better futures for their children - just like the gentrified downtown districts or leafy suburbs.

The often quoted line President Franklin Roosevelt told an anxious nation during a fireside chat still rings true, "The only thing we have to fear... is fear itself."

Fear is a virus which multiplies in the midst of worry.  I believe the reality is all of us share the same fears: where can we live - how do we leave things better for the next generation - how can we help our fellow men and women?

Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs looked figuratively into our collective soul to see when our basic needs are met we can look up and around to lift up someone else.

The slog through these 100 days isn't shaping up to appeal to our better selves.  There will be pronouncements of the dangers lurking around the corner depending on the outcome.

We may all want to bookmark photos of those amber fields in the dark days to remind us of our actual vantage point.