These Truths

At the most pedantic and technical level, all citizens are Americans. But that is not what I am thinking about. I am thinking about the quintessential spirit of America.

I admit, I was put onto this path by reading Manuel Garcia, Jr.'s essay about being American. I've read it once and I will need to read it a few more times to absorb what he is saying. There is some truth there, but neither he nor I can clearly put it together. But, for my part, I want to talk about what is American. And please, though I get no comments anyway, please do not pass along comments about how x, y or z REALLY originated here or there and was hijacked by America. These are my thoughts of what is American, so whether they are technically right or wrong, by definition, they are right. Also, I am not writing the negative or cynical - this is a celebration.

• Baseball, during the day, on grass in the summertime. Either in person, or on a radio while puttering about.


• Elvis, Bruce, James Taylor, Jimmy Buffet, The Eagles, Don McLean, The Ramones


• The National Air and Space Museum


• Sousa marches


• The Simpsons


• 1960s Era Ford Mustangs


• The Western, in books or movies


• The National Air and Space Museum


• Amber Waves of Grain


• Motown


• The Music Man, but only with Robert Preston


• Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the rest of their ilk


• Johnny Cash


• Star Trek and Star Wars


• Beaches, the Beach Boys, Surfing and Dick Dale


• Apple Computer


• Big game day on a college campus


• Johnny Appleseed


• Comic books


• Kevin Smith


• Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell


• Langston Hughes


• The oratorical greatness of Martin Luther King, Jr.

I wish I could identify a unifying theme (except that this list is VERY white male, note that the last two items were added after I realized this). Perhaps it is just me. There is definitely a whiff of the little guy, a taste of the mythical. I don't honestly know. But, to me, these are all quintessentially part of the American thing.