Sometimes irony demands to be noticed.
Today is my second day in Holbrook, Arizona. Riding was simply not an option. Sunrise began with 30 mph average wind speeds and it only went up from there. Gusting, which was pretty much constant, reached 55 mph and produced more than one overturned semi on I-40. The resulting dust storms were awesome and terrifying.
So here I sat. In my hotel room, with sporadic power, staring at the one bar I had on my cell phone, willing it to leap to two. I was restricted to how far I could walk from the hotel and both restaurants that I could reach were closed due to the storm and power issues.
Note to the ladies - lip gloss in a dust storm is gross.
During the few respites when I had power, it was hard to avoid the news from the campaign trail. The fracas surrounding Rep. John Lewis’ statements, the pastor at a campaign rally implying God’s preferences in this race, and, most disturbing of all, the crowd’s increasingly ugly calls and responses to campaign speeches.
Dust storms. They are disorienting. But they are temporary.
Thomas Carlyle wrote, ‘The dust of controversy is merely the falsehood flying off’
If this was on my mind when I learned that the power was back on at Jimmy’s restaurant, it quickly left. A full day of vending machine food sent me skipping over to Jimmy’s. There I met Randy Andrews. A father of three adult children, Randy is the retired County Assessor for Holbrook and his soft spoken account of how he came to shift his support was surprising and unexpected.
Just like a dust storm.
October 12th, 2008 at 8:01 am
Hi Jules,
Hope you are on the road today! Dust storms gone and clear skies ahead.
This interview was a little hard to hear, but it seems Randy echoes many of our concerns regarding the nastiness of the campaign and issues facing our government. Integrity is a big issue in many arenas - government, work, family life, Wall Street! To live one’s life with integrity and ethics is difficult for all of us and it seems when you mix in the desire for power and/or greed - Wow - can it go out the window.
Again, I am amazed at our commonalities even in the face of our differences.
d
October 12th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Hi Julie,
Dust storms are temporary. Tucker Eskew’s handling of Palin may have something to do with her vitreal rhetoric and then fear brings harsh reactions in the crowds toward Obama. I do not believe that McCain is behind this or would have wanted this to happen. For the same reasons as Randy, my vote will go to Obama. Blue skies return and conversations will help us to heal. Like Dianne, I am amazed and hopeful while listening to your conversations. Stay safe dear sis!
Love, L
October 12th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
north american union ? check it out.
October 13th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
“Note to the ladies - lip gloss in a dust storm is gross.”
ha! I can image how gross it would be!
winds, dust storms, breakdowns, reboots…wow! such an adventure! hope you can get enough diet coke and ice over there to give you caffeine support!seriously, without you in the office, we start to lose our strength & energy!! miss you whenever I shut the refrigerator door!…haha:)
October 14th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Thanks for letting us all hear some non-California voices about the political campaign we’re all slogging through. I’m happy to hear that Palin’s attack dog rhetoric may be coming back to bite her. In the end, I’m hopeful that the American voters will make the wise decision when they’re in the voting booth. Your blog lends support to that hope.
October 14th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
I’m also grateful that the attacking rhetoric that has been used by the McCain campaign over the past few weeks has been detrimental do their cause in some peoples’ eyes. When a member of a campaign will let it slip that you can’t win on the issues, and that the focus must be on derogating the opposition’s integrity, it makes you wonder whether that same behavior would also be seen when tough times are seen by the administration once they’re in office. We can’t outcompete economically, but they’re evil and don’t believe in the same values as us. By the way, didn’t you hear that Hu Jintao was in the same second grade class as some al qaeda operatives? Shun China in disgrace, world!
… Perhaps that was a bit hyperbolic, but my point is simply that it feels like the big questions of the campaigns should be focused around more substantive issues of what that person can or can’t do for the country, and shouldn’t be dictated by a mere acquaintance from several years in the past.