Is It Your Turn Yet?

"Is It Your Turn Yet?"
July 2010

Rocks and Freedom

Rocks and Freedom don’t seem to have much in common, but my thoughts, as I have been working on rocks, turn to our Country’s freedom. My family thinks I am a bit strange, but as I now live on two rock ledges (Sorrento and Dover-Foxcroft), I have become fascinated with vertical rock ledges and the beauty of their intricate geological design.

At both locations, I have taken back the thin soil around the rocks and then power washed them to fully expose their face. Last night I finished the Sorrento ledge which has very deep crevices and sharp out croppings, much different than the ledge in Dover-Foxcroft. I thought, as I was washing, these rocks will be here, pretty much as they are, far longer than me or my children.

Freedom, I have always felt, is not like the rock. It is very tenuous and requires constant vigilance. History tells us, like the Roman and Greek Empires, that when a society feels they are “entitled” to the benefits of freedom, without the work involved, the society crumbles. We are now being told by our Government that we are no longer the best and we must get used to being like the others.

For the sake of my grandchildren, I sincerely hope that we, collectively, can remember our constitution and that we were only given the right to “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”. If we lose sight of the tremendous hard work that binds our heritage and country, future generations will look at us in history books like Rome and Greece.

Personally, I am not ready to accept that change and I am hoping a critical mass of citizens think the same.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life.