John Kitsco

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I just know that our Dad (who passed away a few years ago) loved the U.S.A.
Our trips most memorable and notable were the northern states such as
Montana, Idaho, Washington. Basically just to cross the border and bring
back a few simple treasures, and of course dad needed his Copenhagen (chew
tobacco). Years later, growing up (do we ever really grow up?) meeting my
wife to be, we then travelled the U.S.A. tours to California, Illinois, Michigan,
Arizona, Nevada, Oregon.  The thing to do was to visit wineries, walk by the
ocean, hike in the desert. More photographs, more treasures.  We really
enjoyed the Vienna Red Hots in Chicago, pizza in Iowa, seafood inOregon.
But thinking back,  and looking at those precious photos of Dad with his
52 Pontiac, or later the 57 Buick and thereafter our 67 blue Volks
cruising down the west coast, some of the most beautiful scenery in the
world. Now God Bless America, but wait a minute, we did not see any sniffing
dogs or drug take downs, maybe those were just simpler times? And I often
wonder how our American friends enjoy the travel into Quebec, fishing in
Saskatchewan or enjoying Banff and Jasper, the beautiful Rockies of
Alberta and British Columbia. And as a Canadian its fair to say that Canada
still has some of the wild and pristine areas  in the Yukon, areas yet to be
discovered. Those seemed to be carefree and less complicated times. We did
not have or need a GPS and camped in a simple tent by an open fire. There
was no million dollar R.V. sitting at our campsite. And gosh, I even recall
border guards wishing us a great trip. The fields of green peppers, the
small and intimate taverns in Michigan. And of late we have chosen not to
cross the border. We did not need a passport, but you'll surely need one now.
The bad guys hide in the shadows in Canada and the U.S.A.  There is more
worry and concern about crime.

And the future seems to be about safety and vigilance. Stay with the crowds,
do not go where angels fear to tread. We are hearing more issues about
bombs, drugs, guns, violence. What happened to the quiet and simple times?
And even Canadian Poet Leonard Cohen wrote "about seeing the future and its
murder...."

Wait America. Wait Canada. We need for the sake of our children to return
our respective countries to places that are safe and beautiful. That is, if we
want our childrens children to enjoy the simple things, the simple times we
grew up in. We need to spread the word to our leaders that we want and demand
a safe country, and just as our troops (American and Canadian) fight overseas,
we must be prepared to stand tall and fight for the freedom in our neighborhood
and hopefully at least reduce the bad elements that really do not care about
much. Because....we care.....