I have been on the war path lately with tourists. It is too easy. Therefore let's focus on touristic success stories.
That last paragraph brings up a movie metaphor: remember the speech by the political officer at the beginning of "Enemy at the Gates?" He said that the 'country needed examples to follow -- what it needed was heroes.'
Krushchev walked over to him and asked, 'And what about you. Do you know any heroes?"
'Yes, Comrade,' the political officer said, 'I know one.' And off the movie went, telling the tale of the spectacular Russian sniper from the Urals, Valery Zaitsev.
 |
| from Imdb.com . Kruschchev (Bob Hoskins) on left, political office (Joseph Fiennes) on right. |
Well, I too know a hero, or at least an example to follow. A young couple from western Colorado told me they hit the gate at the national park at 430 am. Admission was free, which surprised them, but that isn't why they did it.
They were there to enjoy dawn, the best time of most days, and to avoid crowds. The sand would be cool at that time of the day. They were there to enjoy Mother Nature at her best, and to avoid Coluhraduh under typical tourist war zone conditions.
I was amazed by their story. They were an active young couple, in their twenties. As tourists go, they were at the 99th percentile. They took an awful situation and make it good! They looked so 'normal.' And yet they were profoundly radical and unconventional.
Apparently you can't judge how radical and unconventional somebody is by looking for spinning eyeballs (like a Loonie Toons character), dreadlocks, a bone through the nose, or tattoos.
I think I admire and trust radicals who seem quietly conventional in most respects. Recall Chesterton's advice that 'we should be frugal with our heresies.'
Comments