Country Rose
I used to live in southwest Colorado: Durango, Bayfield, Cortez, the Four Corners.
Marlboro country (cough, cough).
Before the US of A was taken over by religious fundamentalists, this was God’s country.
When you’re there, you can feel the wind in your hair, watch the last of the bald eagles fly around like they still own the place. Trek through canyons that are as close to the primal rush as anything I’ve ever experienced. Your neighbors are Navajos, Mesa Verde is just up the road. You can even stand in four states at once, if you like that sort of thing and don’t mind feeling foolish.
So it is with great consternation that I just read that a woman in Pagosa Springs CO, a small town just up the road a piece from where I used to live, has been severely sanctioned by her neighbors for putting a Christmas sign on her lawn that had a peace symbol on it. You know, ‘Merry Xmas, Peace on Earth, good will towards men’ (and women, I imagine).
Unbelievably, 4 of her neighbors complained that such a sign was unseemly, unpatriotic, anti-war, satanic. Yeah, the devil’s own work. The president of the homeowner’s association has imposed a 25$ a day fine on her until she removes the sign. The advisory council (whatever that is) refused to support the president’s fiat and were summarily fired.
Our heroine is refusing to take down the sign, saying “Peace is way bigger than not being at war. This is a spiritual thing”.
This is democracy at work. What we wanted to bring to Iraq. If you’re curious, there’s more information here.
