It was a simple time and yet controversy and turmoil was brewing all around. Camelot was in full bloom and the knights in shinning armor gathered enforce to proclaim a day of celebration. It was a time of liberation and commemoration as the cutting of the chord of codependence had come at long last; nine months to be exact. It was early morning in the month of July as the birds awoke before sunrise to greet another new life into the world. So named was the "valley dweller" who took residence and drew first breath in a world new and bright to a celestial being earth bound to parents and siblings alike. And so a story began...
The year was 1962 and the era of post war prosperity and boomers drew to a close as the term "Civil Rights Movement" and Vietnam loomed on that golden horizon of destiny. Camelot would soon be replaced with "The Great Society" as administration and politics were the order of the day. What had been a promise to promote the call of freedom and justice still looked feasible to the most scholarly and elite classes. And in the background there stood A Stranger on the Shore and the sweet melody of Roses are Red played as the number one hit on the top forty music charts. The British Invasion had begun as four lads from Liverpool took the beachead as The Greatest Generation had so bravely done on sandy and precarious shores not many years before. It was truly a new beginning for America the Beautiful. What was to pass only God knew of what the terrible two's would bring to an infant crying in a lonesome crib late at night. The cholic of time would prove most trying, triumphant and disapointing to this child perched on the edge of his own humanity. And so the story continued...
The Sixties, as any other dacade, laid claim to its own swansong as a new kind of revolution challenged the traditional views of style, culture and morality. A "do it if it feels good" mentality became the montra of a flower powered and pleasure seeking youth while the hearty and patriotic answered a call of duty and an end to communist aggression as the race to reach for the stars reached its climax with "man on the moon." In the eyes and ears of a seven year old came the vision of an eagle landing and giant leap for mankind. Rock and Roll became the new sensation as the era of the crooner became destined to book shelves and memory lane. But in the unsettled dust of the ages there loomed another decade to prepare a young man for further education and adolescence. And so came the seventies...
Most remembered in war there comes a near forgotten peace to a beleagured populace torn between right and wrong; and there was no peace in the valley for "me" in the seventies. "Tricky Dick" gave us a new political drama to ponder while an Eagle Scout took the riegns of power; albeit by defaualt and not the popular vote. Sex,drugs and disco became the rallying cry for those locked away in closets to proclaim their independence from sodomy laws and discreet indiscretion. But like all new trends comes a plague noone anticipates, and thus the world of men came to know a cry so harsh from deep within that it would infect another generation of the innocent. And so as the decade closed, a nation put away its sweaters and fireside chats to embrace a new kind of "star wars"...
In the Purple Rain we stood face to face with an old ally turned terrible menace; an Evil Empire turned even colder over time during the eighties. Guns and weapons of mass destruction turned up a heated debate over our own security and what it meant to defeat an enemy from within. It was hoped the mighty would fall by their own device, but somehow divine grace won out and a new foe in the form of a country called Afghanistan reared its ugly head and caused our enemy to turn and run with tail between hind legs. Ronny reassured us with jelly beans and tough talk by conservative means while back room deals became public as a lone Marine took the fall.Then there was George who took us triumphantly into a new prosperity only to be derailed by promises that could not be kept. And so passed the eighties for a young man who joined in with adventurous eyes to "Be All He Could Be" and see the world first hand.
The nineties brought forth civility and domestic bliss for a young man approaching his thirties. Bill had Monica in a back room at the Whitehouse while bombing aspirin factories in Iraq became the new outrage. Terrorism began to show a new kind of masked villain in the form of radical religious fervor while remnants of a fallen wall became museum pieces for future generations to ponder. The young man had seen barbed wire fences and the faces of an oppressed people; the oppressed were now Christians caught up in a Muslim crusade. My how a nation lost itself in believing that government could solve all of its problems as wealfare became the new subsistance and illegals did much of the hard work for them. In the mean time a new breed of tech savvy individuals brought video gaming into the main stream and again a generation stood on the precipace of change. All the while new life came into the world and a couple saw the fruits of their labor come to light through opportunity, hard work and the realities of day care. And so came the new millenium with no particular circumstance, computer crashes or end of the world prophesies come true.
Finally, we find ourselves in present days and facing a new crusade to save the family. Torn apart by all manner of deceit and misdirection. Suddenly "anything goes" and bigots are Christians clinging to a cross some call hatred. For the children of a lost generation, what will they face beyond reality television and the new playstation? For a middle aged man facing an uncertain future, life is taken in small parcels as "one day at a time" becomes his new montra. Sons grow to maturity and who knows how high the cost of a "good education" will rise before everything falls apart through economic ruin. Soms still cling to a government solution while others proclaim a new revolution is the only way to go. For this grey haired fellow who longs for the cover of his first novel, hope remains eternal. And so there is no end, only new beginnings and a womb liberation day proclamation. Thank You Jordan for your words of inspiration!
bloom
