Chewing on a piece of grass, walking on the road
Tell me, how long you gonna stay here, Joe?
Some people say this town don't look good in snow
You don't care, I know
Ventura Highway in the sunshine
Where the days are longer, the nights are stronger
Than moonshine
You're gonna go, I know
'Cause the free wind is blowin' through your hair
And the days surround your daylight there
Seasons crying, no despair
Alligator lizards in the air
Wishin' on a falling star, waitin' for the early train
Sorry, boy, but I've been hit by purple rain
Aw, c'mon, Joe, you can always change your name
Thanks a lot, son, just the same
Ventura Highway . . .
~ Dewey Bunnell (for America)
Back in 1963, when he was a kid, Dewey Bunnell recalls a memory of his dad changing a flat tire on the side of the road. It was a sunny California day, and he looked up to see a sign that said "Ventura." That memory became this song, which appears on Homecoming, America's 1972 album.
We all know how evocative songs can be, but I'm willing to bet that, for many of you, this is one of those songs that you can easily attach to a time and a place in your lives. For me, it was winter in the small town in northern Pennsylvania where I was a first-year teacher. Somehow, the song promised sunnier days than the ones I was experiencing. It doesn't matter that Ventura is in California; for me, this song is any highway, any road, as long as it's sunny and will take me somewhere.
And so, today begins our 8-day road trip to Florida, the Sunshine State. Our travel time this morning is short, just four hours to Gettysburg PA. And although it is mostly Interstate, plenty of that road is through rural areas. We are hoping to be able to put the top down for parts of the journey, so the free wind (will be) blowin' through (our) hair.
By the time this is posted, we will be on the battlefields of Gettysburg, relearning that terrible history, and most likely, experiencing the range of emotions that will be provoked by trying to imagine what it must have been like at that place where 51,000 people were killed, wounded, or captured in battle in July 1863. More on that tomorrow.
Seasons crying,
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