Carry On

Road Dust and Writing Signs: July 2026

If there’s a weather idiom for July, the only one I know is about the corn crop, which should be knee-high by the fourth of July, and that seems to be the case here in Wisconsin. July’s entrance can best be described as oven weather, and by that I mean, no need to turn on your oven; just step outside.

I missed you all in June, busy celebrating my mom’s ninety-seventh birthday in Wisconsin fashion with food, family, and frivolity. I cannot resist including this photo of my mom and her two sisters, all three in their nineties. To say I love these women is not enough. They are true holdovers from the Great Depression, and shaped by The Greatest Generation, they carried on with grit and ingenuity while celebrating life to the brim. I admire them, respect them, and gain strength from them whenever I encounter struggles. (Below: Mom, seated with Aunt Dodo on left, Aunt Peanut on right)

As our nation borders on its two-hundred-fiftieth birthday, I am still searching for words worthy enough to even acknowledge what it means. In 1976, the Bicentennial felt weighty to me. I was fifteen, vibrant about what our two-hundredth birthday meant. I entered a poem into a national contest where the winner would go to Philadelphia and witness a giant celebration. My poem was patriotic and nostalgic about my perception of America and its history. Its message was one of resolute pride, definitely not borne out of a realistic reflection on the country as a whole. Boy, I had much to learn. I did not win the contest, by the way.

In 1976, I couldn’t imagine being around for the next big birthday, but I can safely say I could not envision what America looks like now: not from an insider’s view nor an outsider’s view. Again, words fail. Because we each hold our emotions about the present in deep-seated places inside, I will not share mine here out of respect for each of us who has the freedom to feel the way we do.

What I will say is that I dearly hope you have someone like my mother and my aunts who inspire you to keep on keeping on. I hope you have heroes to admire, to lift you into the limitless sky where dreams are possible. I hope you have someone you can trust to rescue you from life’s storms. I hope you have a true friend who keeps you grounded. I hope you always carry around that burning flame of hope inside of you.

See you next time for more tales from the road!

Be well, Be kind, Be hopeful,

Joy