Saturday afternoon, my wife and I drove from Bridgewater to Raritan towards the home of one of our friends. There, we enjoyed a cozy welcome-home party for her daughter, Dina, who had just arrived from France, where, during the last school year, she taught English to grade-school kids in Nice.
As we drove through the grid of Raritan’s streets, the radio announced that the President, George Bush, would be spending the weekend at the summer compound of his parents, on Walker’s Point, Kennebunkport, Maine.
I learned to love the craggy Maine seacoast as a one-time native of New England, and as a four-year seminary student in Bucksport, Maine, where I enjoyed plenty of side trips to Frenchman’s Bay on the island of Bar Harbor.
There is an invigorating and pensive energy about the sea which tends to slow people down and to make them think about the basics – at least, that’s the impact that it has on me.
I hope that it has a similar impact on George Bush, because his responsibilities are geometrically greater than those of any one of us. His influence on the world, let alone America is still enormous, despite his now lame-duck condition – that’s an oxymoron, isn’t it?
We desperately need good leadership at all levels of government. Perhaps this weekend, it’s better to pray for that than to curse their hides. Can’t hurt.
Notes: 1. While vacationing up north last September, I snapped this blog’s picture of the Bush Family summer place on Walker’s Point.
2. If you’d like to sample Dina’s blog, which outlines her life and escapades in Nice, go to http://dinaberk.blogspot.com/
1 comment:
It was good seeing you both. Hope to do it again soon.
Thanks for a very enjoyable blog.
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