Opinion
Dry Bones
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gOrCALL
NORTH KOREA THREATENS
NUCLEAR WAR!
Editorial
Our American Blessings
A
s
we shop for barbecues or
make plans for an extended
weekend up North or look over
the schedule for holiday fireworks, the
streets of Tehran and other Iranian cit-
ies seethe with long-suppressed cries for
freedom.
The drama of ordinary people rising up
to demand their liberties from a totalitar-
ian state cannot help but reach the hearts
of Americans of all religions and ethnic
backgrounds.
Their struggle is ours.
It is true that the freedom they crave
was won for us more than two centuries
ago. In fact, we wrote the book on it. Or at
least the paper called the Declaration of
Independence.
In words that ring down the corridors
of time, from that Fourth of July 233 years
ago to this one, we still hold certain truths
to be self-evident. We fervently believe that
all men are created equal and that we are
endowed with the inalienable rights of life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
They are words that have given cour-
age to all sorts of men and women in the
darkness of struggles against seemingly
hopeless odds. Their power is undimin-
ished and overwhelming.
It is true that we take these words for
granted. We forget they were secured by
those who would have sacrificed every-
thing, and likely died a traitor's death, had
they failed.
And that is good. We are not faced with
defending their validity every day of our
lives.
Through all our political battles, in
all the rhetoric that flies back and forth
between parties, we know that whatever
the outcome these rights are sacred. So we
are a beacon of hope wherever freedom is
trampled.
No one knows how the situation in
Iran will play out. The vicious mullahs
and their thuggish enforcers may succeed
in holding on to power through deadly
force. This time. But the actions of the last
month indicate there will be other times.
More than that, we have seen that
Iranians, free to run their own country,
may not be the dangerous force that
threatens the existence of Israel and the
stability of the entire Middle East through
a reckless pursuit
CRISIS IN PAKISTAN! ISLAMIC
of nuclear weap-
TERROR SPREADING!
ons. Maybe the
improvement will
be marginal, but
better than what
IRANIAN CRAZIES! MEXICAN
exists there now
DRIALORDS! SOMALI PIRATES!
Throughout the
Muslim world, the
images of peace-
SRI LAN AN SLAUGHTER OF
ful civilians being
TAMILS! CHINESE REPRESSION!
attacked and killer
PERU BOLIVIAN CONFLICT!
by armed militia
have proven to be
JEWS ARE BUILDING HOUSES
as repugnant as
they are to us. The
ON THE WEST BANK.
display of what
happens when
religious fanatics
are allowed to rule
with unrestricted
powers has hit
home and radical
DryBonesBlog.com
Islam has taken a
blow from what happened in Iran.
izes so much in the rest of the world. And
At least, we can hope so. Because their
maybe for a moment, as we look up at the
struggle is ours.
illuminated skies, give thanks once again
So let's enjoy our holiday that symbol-
for the blessings of being Americans.
Reality Check
Tents And Dreams
I
e-mailed an old friend last month
as the Red Wings prepared for game
seven of the Stanley Cup Finals,
asking him if he recalled where we had
watched the last such game.
He didn't, of course. I told him that
it was in his apartment on Schaefer
Highway, across from the Mercury
Theater. That would have been four
months after he was married in 1964.
His response surprised and saddened
me. "Do you remember the name of my
first wife?" he asked.
What an odd question. Of course,
I did. "Then you probably remember
more about that marriage than I do;'
he said. "That whole part of my life has
faded away."
In my memory, they remain as they
were then. Happy newlyweds, with
everything before them; before the two
kids and the move to Washington, D.C.,
and the divorce eight years later. We
were such good friends, doing every-
thing together. I even went on their hon-
eymoon.
That's not as bizarre as it
sounds. Or maybe it is. But
that summer the newspapers
went on strike and after a
night of much beer we decid-
ed we could ride it out by tak-
ing an extended camping trip
to the Canadian Rockies.
The fact that none of us
ever had gone camping before
did not seem to be a deterrent.
We bought a tent, sleeping
bags, a few other odds and
ends and off we went. Into
Ontario at the Soo and then due west,
camping all the way. We looked like
Peter, Paul and Mary; or maybe Hansel,
Gretel and Dopey.
Finally we reached Jasper National
Park in Alberta, one of the most
magnificent places we had ever seen.
Surrounded by mountains, we found a
campsite near a rushing amethyst-col-
ored brook and put up our tent.
"Take care of your garbage
said a cheerful park ranger.
"There's been reports of some
bears rummaging through
tents, ay."
We cooked dinner over a
campfire, looked at the stars
and went to sleep. Then it
started to rain. Hard. Very
hard.
Well past midnight the tent
collapsed. Until you have been
slapped in the face in the
middle of a sound sleep by
a few square yards of soggy
canvas, you really don't know what ter-
ror is. My reaction was claustrophobic. I
started thrashing around in my sleeping
bag, looking for the tent flap.
"Air," I called. "Where's the airy'
This awoke my friend's wife who
was under the impression I was yelling
"Bear! There's a bear!" She started to
scream.
My friend finally stirred, and saw his
best friend flailing about like a maniac
and his wife wailing in fear. It was good
he could not move too quickly because
he was also tangled up in the collapsed
tent.
We went out in the downpour to get
the tent up, but a few hours later it came
down again and we all crawled out to
sleep in the car. Next day I rented a car,
drove into Calgary and caught a flight
home.
They continued the trip for another
month and said it was a wonderful
experience that strengthened their
marriage. That's how I always think of
them, locked in the photo album of my
memory.
I haven't seen her since their divorce,
which is now 37 years ago.
So much more than a tent must have
fallen in on them. Li
George Cantor's e-mail address is
gcantor614@aoLcom.
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July 2 • 2009
A25