When I moved up here to Moccasin, in very, VERY red Tuolumne County in California, I had pretty much surrendered myself to having to put up with Rush Limbaugh over the airwaves and Bush/Cheney bumper stickers on every third vehicle I pass by.
Today was a pretty exhausting day. I drove through Sonora on my way back to work, when I came across a most surprising sight:
I drove up behind a vehicle that had several Kucinich bumper stickers.
Holy smokes, I thought. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't suffering from heatstroke. Nope, still there. And more surprising... this was a local driving the car. (It was sporting the name of a local dealer on the license plate). I wanted to drive up beside him/her and offer my approval, but sadly Highway 108 only has one lane for miles. Oh well, perhaps another time.
But wait, it gets better.
Just before I make the turn to Highway 49 en route to Moccasin, I sensed something odd about the vehicle behind me. I look at the rear view mirror, and both the passenger AND the driver were waving at me.
It was then I realized they had noticed my bumper sticker:
I was ecstatic. I waved back at them just before I made the turnoff, and they cheered as they drove by.
So what's the lesson here? I don't really know, but I said to myself, now what are the chances of running across three progressive minded people on the same day, in the middle of Bush territory, after over six months of living here?
I hope this is a sign... a sign that after the long era of Republican sway over the lives of common folk... a change is coming. The same change that saw the end of the Robber Baron era and the Gilded Age, brought upon by a different Republican President and Congress...ushering in FDR and the New Deal.
And dammit, I feel good about it.