The Real America

This may or may not offend you.

Photo by Walter Martin on Unsplash

Let me tell you about the real America as I see it and how a good example can be found at my friend’s Tiki bar in northeast Florida. But we have to take a little ride to get there. Buckle up, get comfortable and please don’t get out until we get where we’re going.

We start this past July 4th when I traveled to a small town in middle Tennessee to run their July 4th 5K road race. I could have gone into Nashville for a bigger race and flashier experience, but I wanted the small-town feel. Besides, I’ve run the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta on July 4th with 50,000 of my closest friends. I like small better.

This race had about ninety participants and, to be expected in a small town, a lot of them seemed to know each other. The race was a fund raiser for the local high school cross country team which, with twenty runners, was the biggest team they had ever fielded. Yeah, it just seemed like a good race to run.

There was a relaxed and friendly vibe with lots of smiles as we mingled before and after the race. The vibe reminded me of one the lovely and talented Mrs. Ward and I experienced when we lived in a small coastal town in northeast Florida. I won’t name the town because it has been discovered enough already. It would be nice if the people who live there could have a few more years to enjoy it before it is…