I'll Stand Up For You

There's a lot of outrage these days when it comes to politicians, cable news, talk radio, and protesters. I have watched efforts to get these guys off the air or shut these people up. Please remember that for one side to be free, the other side must also be free.

Every issue has a multitude of ways it can be viewed. My life experiences have led me to view things from a unique perspective. Your life experiences may have brought you in at a different angle, but both are valuable enough that neither should be extinguished.

We may never find common ground outside of being fellow citizens. But citizens of this great United States of America. Our country is the envy of the oppressed that cannot speak out, cannot write freely, and cannot protest openly. We cannot allow ourselves to become haters of opposing views and haters of dissent. We are better than that.



Here are some of the best quotes I’ve found on the subject:


The only valid censorship of ideas is the right of people not to listen. ~Tommy Smothers


Censorship reflects society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime. ~Potter Stewart


Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too. ~Voltaire


I am thankful for all the complaining I hear about our government because it means we have freedom of speech. ~Nancie J. Carmody


The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error. ~John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859


To reject the word is to reject the human search. ~Max Lerner, 1953, on book purging


Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings. ~Heinrich Heine, Almansor, 1823


Every burned book enlightens the world. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


The test of democracy is freedom of criticism. ~David Ben-Gurion


If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. ~John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859


To limit the press is to insult a nation; to prohibit reading of certain books is to declare the inhabitants to be either fools or slaves. ~Claude-Adrien Helvétius


We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. ~John F. Kennedy


God forbid that any book should be banned. The practice is as indefensible as infanticide. ~Rebecca West


If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all. ~Noam Chomsky


I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. ~Voltaire

Meandering

Somewhere between Atlantic City and Park City, UT sits the little town of Cambridge City, IN. Starting out just south of home, my friend Cindy and I head east on Rt. 40, making our way down the National Road to this little city.

It’s my favorite way to spend a beautiful Saturday. This road takes you past small town America in action. Yard sales, tractors, cows, ball fields and clothes lines all stretched out for miles. The sights along the way instill a feeling of joining forces with a different style of living. Spending the day on Route 40 is therapeutic for me in a way I can’t quite explain.

Not a serious antique hunter, I am in love with the little shops along the way of one of the earliest highway projects in the United States.



Walking down Main Street in small town USA, I can remember walking downtown in my own little hometown as a child. I can remember pausing at store windows and feeling a nostalgia I didn’t understand then either. My antique store affection comes more from those childhood memories than any serious search for matching Waterford glasses and decanter set. My love is for the plundering. Spending the night at my grandmother’s house always included plundering a drawer or two in her bedroom, a cabinet with my Aunt Brenda’s old dolls or going through those old books on the shelf. Those nights filled me with appreciation for small treasures and anticipation of finding something that was once meaningful in someone’s daily life. It helped me understand that something doesn’t have to be valuable to be valuable.
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On the trip I touched items from a different time, like the vintage baby bonnet from 1832. And some not quite vintage items like a Starsky and Hutch lunchbox. There were rusty old tools, glassware in every color, and rustic tables. I found several scales (my favorite) with chipped paint, wooden bowls and pre-prohibition barrels.



These shops are testament to the adage that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.



All this pillaging leaves one ready for lunch and this old trail doesn’t disappoint. The Hilltop just above Cambridge City offers a “walk up to order” window for the best burgers around. Sitting on the bench facing the road, waiting for the hand patted burger to cook, is just another treat the day has to offer. Sipping a vanilla coke-another favorite-and eating without feeling rushed at the old stone picnic tables, makes for some much needed time off your feet. There is something small town café’s and eateries offer that you can’t satisfy at McDonalds, Applebee’s or Olive Garden.


Enjoying the wares of one antique store my friend states; “I would love to have lived back then, wouldn’t you?” “No” I reply, “I like cell phones and microwaves.” And indoor plumbing for that matter, but there is something about the ancient that makes my soul feel at home. There is some connection or joy my heart feels among all these items from another era.



It’s the simplicity of a different period. It’s the opportunity to walk down the street with a friend and feel like you are steeling away a few moments in Mayberry. The calm of the pace, the friendliness of the townsfolk…it's a darling way to unwind your mind.

*some photos were found via google search and not the property of any Figley

The Beauty of it All

My annual visit to the beach reminds me of many life lessons:

The rhythm of the tides reminds me that there is a time of giving plenty and time for retreat.

Wait with patience; the ocean must deliver that beautiful shell to the shore.

You really don’t need a lot of things. You can spend an entire day with just a towel

and sunglasses.

Creating memories will last longer than any gift I can give my children.

There are a lot of lessons being at the beach can teach us, but this year, family watching was especially sweet to me. The beauty of the ocean is obvious but I found so much beauty in the people around me. They were all very different, but all so beautiful. And I believe there were life lessons in seeing them all.

The elderly couple out boogie boarding with each other-no grandkids in sight-beautiful

The five year old boy trying for an hour to get the skim board to do what his older brother's did-beautiful

Hearing the grandparents of a divorced daughter telling their grandson that “no matter what your daddy does, he’s still your daddy”-beautiful

The father from NY trying to get that one perfect picture of his sons and taking 100 pictures in the attempt-beautiful

The long haired guy sitting alone just looking out into the ocean-beautiful

The young girls with perfect bodies-beautiful

The old gals in bikinis-beautiful

The young couple with twin babies sleeping under the umbrella-beautiful

The thirteen year old boy who wouldn’t take his shirt off-beautiful

The bunch, just over 21, singing karaoke-beautiful

The baby who tried shaking, wiping and rubbing, but couldn’t get the sand off his hand; the confused look on his face-beautiful

The little boy who looked back at the ocean in disgust when it swept away his sand castle-beautiful

Such simple moments, yet they were all beautiful beyond just seeing them. We live in a wonderful world, with wonderful people. We are all in different stages, and we all come in different modes and models, but it is all beautiful.