bound

 It's a topic I often touch upon; home. The place were we were raised is the place we call home. I think that is true of most of us anyway. I'm thinking it was our grade school years that constitute that time frame. It is during those years that we make our lifetime friends. It isn't a lifetime if you didn't know them then. And then I often talk about leaving that home. In my case I never went back, Well, that's not exactly true, I did return for a short time only to leave again. It was for economic reasons that I left in the first place, and economic reasons I left the second time. It is economic reasons that kept me from returning as well. A fact I find sad considering how often we speak of the " ties that bind. " The ties that bind are supposed to keep us together but economics undo that knot. That is what I find sad about all of that. 

 I believe that applies to all the little rural communities throughout the land. Whatever the industry of those towns and villages are it is that industry that keeps the folks there. But today, in this modern world where the family farms, family fisherman, and mom and pop stores are fading from the landscape, there is little to bind the next generation to the land. Can they stay home? Only if Mom and Dad have something to pass on, a business of some sort, some economic vehicle for their children. Barring that, most will leave those towns, much as I did. The American dream is over the horizon somewhere. It has always been over the horizon, truth be told. America and the westward expansion, the quest for a dream. Has that dream been realized? It may have been, for a short time anyway, but dreams are ever expanding and can never be completely fulfilled. 

 I began thinking about that when I received an invitation to my grandsons' high school graduation. It's time. He will graduate and off to college he goes. Oh, it's only about an hour or so from here, Stevenson University, but still, he is leaving home. He'll be back for long weekends and holidays; for a visit. And that is the key point here, it will be for a visit. After college and law school, his intent is to become an attorney, the likelihood of him coming back to settle in Greensboro is remote. No, he will have to go elsewhere for economic reasons, if nothing else. Even if he had all his education paid for, he would still be forced elsewhere if he wished to advance in his career. Yes there is a possibility for his return " home " should he desire that because of that profession. What I'm thinking about are all those kids that really have no other option, economics will drive them from home. They either join the service or go seek employment elsewhere. 

 I wonder if that isn't an underlining cause of what we see happening in America today. Chevrolet motors has a famous ad campaign saying they are the heartbeat of America. What is the implication there? That those that drive pick up trucks and work the land in small towns across America are what gives life to America! And by extension that means all the small town folks doing whatever it is their families do. Coal miners, woodsmen, farmers and fishermen, makes no difference. Each  succeeding generation keeping the dream alive. But now it seems to me that America is being starved. What tie binds us today? The economy. That is because we have become dependent. We have surrendered a great deal of our independence in the favor of security, prosperity and the acquisition of goods. We do " need " so much more today. What we consider as the basics where once the things of the wealthy. I'm thinking we are out-pricing the dream! We are setting ourselves up for failure. Yes, a return to the basics is in order. But it's hard to go back. And that is something I have learned, it is hard to go back. Some say you can never go back. I understand that sentiment and would have to agree. Still, something I don't know for a fact, but something I suspect, given enough money I could fool myself for a while anyway. Is that the dream? To accumulate enough money to return? Is that the new American dream? To have enough money?