Michael:
Once we left Duluth, Minnesota and headed north onto Highway 61 it seemed like the perfect time to play a CD. No ordinary CD, but the double CD set of American road trip music our friends Mike and Bridget made us before we left. The time was right. We were in Minnesota, the Iron Range, Bob Dylan country. Stunning Lake Superior on our right and the dense forest to our left. Even before we put the CD in, it felt as if our friends were with us, it was time to have a conversation.
A few weeks earlier, we had felt the same way. We were in Ohio, driving along the outskirts of Cuyahoga Falls National Park. “I’ve been here before,” I thought, not quite sure when or how. Then I remembered; my Uncle Paul and Aunt Brenda used to live here. We visited when I was very young. I remember being fascinated that my cousin Eric would soon be going to graduate school in Australia. He showed me the application info that he kept under his bed in a shoebox adorned with the southern cross. I could have cared less about the school part; just going to Australia seemed like the coolest thing in the world.
More memories of that once forgotten trip flooded through my mind. What a great time, what a great vacation. Almost on cue, we drove past a BF Goodrich office complex, my Uncle’s former employer and the place where he might have worked. Just a week prior, Uncle Paul had found a way to send us a CD of his own American music. We had to put in the disc player; we had to listen to his gems.
Dixieland Jazz, Dueling Tubas, and one of my childhood favorites: Loudon Wainwright III’s Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road highlighted the wonderful album that epitomized my Uncle’s warm and endearingly quirky personality. Uncle Paul’s CD made our day. Our Cuyahoga Valley tour was with him, his love and his America.
Now we were in Minnesota, driving on Highway 61. It felt like we were starting the trip again. The CD started with Woody Guthrie’s This Land is Your Land. We were both near tears. What a perfect song. It should be our national anthem. It is our musical style. It is inclusive. It is America. It is beautiful.
My mother teaches kindergarten. This Land is Your Land has always been a part of her classroom. I have seen her diverse group of five-year olds sing along to Woody Guthrie. From the redwood forests to the Gulf Stream waters, this land was made for you and me. And you know, it is. Redwood National Park to Gulf Island National Seashore. America is ours.
Emotions flooded through our car. We were on Highway 61, one of America’s most musically famous highways. Mike and Bridget were in the back seat, but so was my mom and her full classroom. The Byrds, Curtis Mayfield and Leadbelly all showed up. Even a Briton stopped by, Gab’s favorite Billy Bragg. The songs took us to the Grand Canyon, to Oklahoma and to the North Country, where we were. Back to Highway 61, back to Bob Dylan and back to driving. Thanks everyone.
www.usa-c2c.com