Freedom!

The whisper of wind carried the scent of orange blossoms and freshly cut hay. On the roadside a mockingbird danced with a locust. The crescendoed whir of tires on asphalt and the rush of a passing car brought Bubbie back to reality. He fired the growling engine of his Harley and gunned the throttle; it always shocked his heart like a defibrillator. Looking back over his left shoulder he kicked the bike into low gear and slowly released the clutch. Ahead the pavement shimmered like water yet as fast as he rode he could never catch it; he knew it but it never ceased to amaze him. In Bubbie's view, these fleeting moments are as close as one can get to freedom in America today.

Boy Scouts of America

I asked Uncle Bubba where he got his strong sense of community and moral convictions. He laughed and said he was just wondering the same thing not long ago. In Bubbie’s view it came form spending the majority of his childhood involved in church and the Boy Scouts. As a cub scout he’d walk to the Turner’s house, where Mr. and Mrs. Turner held their weekly pack meetings. “My Lord!” Bubbie laughed, “I was only but 6 years old then! But what great and loving people. I was friends with their son Timmy.”

According to the BSA website, “Since 1930, the Boy Scouts of America has helped boys of cub scouts age. Parents, leaders, and organizations work together to achieve the 10 purposes of Cub Scouting:
1. Character Development
2. Spiritual Growth
3. Good Citizenship
4. Sportsmanship & Fitness
5. Family Understanding
6. Respectful Relationships
7. Personal Achievement
8. Friendly Service
9. Fun & Adventure
10. Preparation for Boy Scout”

Uncle Bubba then graduated to Webelos, which stands for We Be Loyal Scouts. It’s a 20 month program for 4th and 5th grade boys to prepare them to join a Boy Scout troop. Mr. Tom Martin was his pack leader and is still to this day, all these years later a positive influence in Bubbie’s life. Uncle Bubba then became a boy scout and eventually attained the highest rank of eagle. Bubbie reckoned he’d been brainwashed from reciting the scout oath, law, motto, and slogan so many times, but only in a good way; see for yourself.

Scout Oath:
On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my Country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

Scout Law:
A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.

Scout Motto:
Be prepared.

Scout Slogan:
Do a good turn daily.

He learned about citizenship in his community, the nation, and the world. He cheerfully performed many an act of community service. Why he told me that to this day he thinks about doing a good turn daily and doesn’t feel right until he’s accomplished it. You know, it’s one of those things that y’all don’t see the value in for years and years; then one day it all at once occurs to you. Thank God for good folks, adults with good values that take the time to mentor young’uns.

Tragedy in Binghamton

Less than 12 miles from Bubbie’s mama and daddy’s house, from his childhood home in West Corners, a tragedy occurred that made the national news; a gunman opened fire on a room full of immigrants taking a citizenship class, killing 13 people before committing suicide. Don’t y’all wonder why these idiots don’t commit suicide before harming anyone else? Cause he was mad I reckon. Mad about losing his job, mad about maltreatment, just mad... like insane! So of course the do-gooders start right in on preaching for gun control. In Bubbie’s view, had he been locked in a room with a “gunman”, he’d prefer to be armed.

Bubbie worries about his family there; it is such a traumatic event so close to home. Why do these things happen? There have been a rash of mass shootings lately; Alabama, California, North Carolina, and Binghamton in less than a month. In Bubbie’s view it is because of fear. Since 9/11 this country has been under the pressure of fear with our own government turning and tightening the screws. Our government that we expect to protect us had fallen short and instead of admitting it and taken responsibility, they played a trick on us; they blamed us, put us on the defensive, and isolate us by ethnicity, religion, and economics. We have been preached to daily to fear our neighbors, to lookout for and report anything to authorities. It’s become our national, communal mindset. Fear, like a cancer, spreads insidiously into every area of our lives, we don’t trust anyone anymore leaving us to feel isolated and alone in our own homes. But that is not how our society agreed to live! Remember united we stand, divided we fall?! Sure, we’re all mad; we’re mad at our neighbors who bought and built houses that they couldn’t afford. We’re mad at the banks--the bankers--that gave the bad loans. We’re mad at the congressmen and women that are so adept at berating their friends, the heads of corporations--whom by the way paid to get them elected--that make the “laws” that let them rape and ravish our banking and financial system. We’re mad at the cost of gasoline and groceries. We’re mad because we are fighting two wars in the Middle East. We are mad because our future is uncertain which breeds more fear. But we can’t lose our heads, we need to band together and take care of one another. We need to have positive talk and positive support for one another and we’ll recover. We’ll get back on track and, if we learn from it, we’ll be better off for it. Ain’t none of us gettin’ out of here alive, but don’t we love our families enough to leave them a better place to live? Wouldn’t you want to know that your loved ones are living in paradise?

Uncle Bubba told me he sometimes thinks about former president Bush. Sittin’ in his fancy new mansion in Dallas; wonder what he’s thinkin’? Never mind.

Susie Q's

Uncle Bubba was traveling, driving through the countryside and all of a sudden... BAM! he got hungry. Y’all ever get hungry like that? Like all of a sudden your belly is like a bottomless pit and you gotta eat, and you gotta eat now! Luckily he was comin’ up on Susie Q’s, a little ol’ barbecue shack on the side of the road in Sumterville. He pulled ‘er in and got himself a barbecue pulled pork samich with baked beans and a sweet ice tea. It was a beautiful day so he sat at one of the picnic tables on the side of the shop and thoroughly enjoyed his lunch. Mmm... the baked beans had generous pieces of barbecue mixed into it. His pork soused gaze fell upon the sign out by the side of the rode that read, “Stop! or we’ll both starve” and it got him to thinking. In these trying times don’t y’all just feel like independently owned and operated businesses deserve our patronage just that much more? I know, folks that work at chain restaurants need to make a living too, but in Bubbie’s view it’s time to get back to the independent spirit that America was built on. His lunch tasted all that much better at Susie Q’s.