Nothing new...Guess everyone took Paul Simon's advice

It has been a while and so far, there is nothing that has shown up on the radar screen. Must be that things are going very well. Then again, the New York Mets thought they would have clear sailing into the postseason last year before the Phillies got to them and David Beckham thought playing in the US would be a piece of cake after playing all those years for Manchester United. But it has been uncharacteristically silent...and this brings up what I think some of these folks may be doing...which is connected to an old song by Paul Simon.

A couple hints here for those of you who may know this tune: it has been covered by Yes and Renaissance [in the case of Renaissance, it is an unofficial single...even though they said they would release it as such in 82-83], plus the last stanza features a line that seems to get one heck of an ovation when it is played. This is due to the name of a road that no matter what part of the US or even Europe one is from, it is that well known. If you are stumped, the song is 'America' [Yes, Ray Charles does one hell of a version of 'America the Beautiful' which while not the same song, both can give chills up the spine]. So to lighten the mood, here are the lyrics for same...and you will see the name of the road that was mentioned:


"Let us be lovers,
We'll marry our fortunes together.
I've got some real estate
Here in my bag."

So we bought a pack of cigarettes,
And Mrs. Wagner's pies,
And walked off
To look for America.

"Kathy," I said,
As we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh,
"Michigan seems like a dream to me now.
It took me four days
To hitchhike from Saginaw.
I've come to look for America."

Laughing on the bus,
Playing games with the faces,
She said the man in the gabardine suit
Was a spy.I said,
"Be careful,
His bow tie is really a camera."

"Toss me a cigarette,
I think there's one in my raincoat."
"We smoked the last one
An hour ago."
So I looked at the scenery,
She read her magazine;
And the moon rose over an open field.

"Kathy, I'm lost,"I said,
Though I knew she was sleeping.
"I'm empty and aching and
I don't know why."

Counting the cars
On the New Jersey Turnpike.
They've all come
To look for America,
All come to look for America,
All come to look for America.

Yep...brings tears to these eyes because when one could actually count those cars on the Turnpike, it was a simpler time in this corner of the planet.

And to think,while airfares were high and travel via plane was considered to be about as special as Sunday dinner at the relatives, the cost of gas rivaled the price of a pack of Topps baseball cards. Sadly...not any more....