(Folks, I apologize in advance for what appears to be my rambling. Hopefully you'll see where I'm going with all this.)

God, 9/11. Just before waking that morning, I had a dream in which a whole bunch of kids, around 4th or 5th grade age, were literally in my face smiling, singing schoolyard songs. Not in a taunting way, but in a happy, almost rejoicing way. I woke up quite peacefully from the dream thinking, "Now weren't they just a bunch of angels." Then I turned on the morning news. As I watched, I remembered in horror that my mom in NYC, faithful Republican that she is, had taken the train to D.C. to attend a Colin Powell lecture. She was staying at the State Plaza Hotel -- not far from the Pentagon which had gotten hit! In a voicemail she'd left me, she indicated she was gonna try and get out of D.C. I couldn't reach her for several hours. Finally the hotel called me and put her on the phone -- she'd vacated her room and had been sitting the lobby the whole time. Recalling the dream, I wondered if I'd been "touched" by those angels.

1997. That was the year the bottom began to drop out from under the popularity of country music. I've often felt that this music "saved" me from a life of darkness and loneliness I'd been living up until one night in February 1990 (it was my birthday weekend, in fact; I'm an Aquarian) when someone I'd been dating insisted we go to a local country dance hall. Being a black man, I went kicking and screaming, worried that the "rednecks" might look unfavorably upon me. But after a few minutes of being there, I had a vision -- a million neon light bulbs flashing like on a marquee sign. Returning to the place that summer for dance lessons, an amazing thing happened -- I took to country dance like a fish to water. Eighteen years later, I'm still at it, even after '97 when the country halls began to empty as folks moved on to new fads. Up to that point the music was quite special, almost every song important, most of them (despite the occasional songs about boozing, cheating and so forth) containing messages of family, peace and, especially from Garth Brooks, tolerance.

Now I look upon that decade as the last one of peace. The tone of the planet began to change, most abruptly with 9/11. It's difficult now to find that same peace in the world I once did. (Aside from CW dance, one way I do it is by retreating into my favorite musics.) Country music is now filled with a lot of swagger and grunge rock sounds. Diane's "Omen" story about her baby dove dying gives me absolute chills. I would hope Obama has nothing to do with "peace dying," though; I'd like to think he'd bring about positive change should he land in office -- which, according to TV talk show host Montel Williams' Wednesday psychic, he apparently will.

And where we EQsens fit into all of this, with these gifts we've been given? All we can do is keep on keeping on, and eventually the Universe will reveal Its answer. I just pray our right Paths be shown to each of us so that we stay whole and well.

Last Edited By: EQSenCA Jun 5 08 10:08 AM. Edited 2 times.