“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” — Mark Twain

Over the last few weeks, as time allows, I have been watching PBS’ “American Experience: The Great War”, which aired last month on the 100^th Anniversary of America’s entrance into World War I.   A line jumped out at me today. A young black soldier, filling out a survey at the end of his tour, was asked what serving had done for him.

“I have the world’s experiences,” was his simple reply. This young man had grown up in a small corner of Virginia. He had never gone more than 20 or 30 miles from home before enlisting. Now, thrust into Europe, dropped into a war the likes of which no one had ever experience, he had seen a glimpse of a larger, much more profound reality. He had seen himself as a global citizen.   Part of a larger whole, the community of all humanity.

I have never of course seen the likes of The Great War, thank God, and our world has changed in many ways over the last 100 years. I can honestly say, however, that thanks to the military and the Air Force, I have seen glimpses of, been allowed at least a vision through an open door, of that larger community we are all apart of. Japan, Guam, Germany, Italy, France, Afghanistan. I would have seen none of these countries, much less met and learned from people of each of them, without the opportunities provided me by the Guard and Reserve. Even here at home, I have seen far more of our country than I likely would have. Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Virginia, the Carolinas, Delaware, New Jersey, Ohio. All of these places, meeting people from all over the nation and the world, has made me – I hope – a better person.

Not everyone serves, of course. Not everyone has that chance for the government to show you the world, to provide you a free education in international relations. Trust me when I say, however, you are doing yourself a disservice if you fail to take advantage of the opportunity to travel. And I don’t mean going to the same all-inclusive resort every year for a drunken beach vacation. I mean get out there. Explore. Meet people. See history and futures that you can’t see at home. It opens your eyes. Expands your horizons. Makes you feel apart of something bigger. When I tell someone that I am from Fargo, the scope of that meaning is limited. It is sort of small. If I say that I am a citizen Planet Earth?

That is sooo much bigger.

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“The stage is a magic circle where only the most real things happen, a neutral territory outside the jurisdiction of Fate where stars may be crossed with impunity. A truer and more real place does not exist in all the universe.” – P.S. Baber

Another school year is coming to a close. This year, my older daughter’s sophomore year and my younger girl’s 7^th grade year, has been busy, especially for the elder sister. Both girls play in their schools orchestras, so there were several concerts for each over the year. Choir added a bit more. But it was theatre, this year, that created a year unlike any other in terms of school activities in our house. My sophomore’s school staged a total of five productions this year – the fall play, the spring musical, their (state championship) one-act, an additional musical, and a dinner theater. Each production was something to behold, culminating in the first local production of “Phantom of The Opera.” Oh, and there was a trip to New York as well.

For athletic families, life can be busy, but you know the routine. Fall sports, winter sports, spring sports, they have defined seasons. This year, theatre had no season. It just continued. On. And on and on. Every show was amazing, but the time commitment the kids put in this year was incredible. Especially if, like my daughter, you accept that old saying that “there are no small roles, only small actors.” She has remained dedicated to being in theatre, no matter what her role might be.   She had a lot of stage time in the fall play, as one of a trio of narrators in “Charlotte’s Web.” She was part of the dancer troupe in “Phantom” and was also on the team that performed the champion one-act play at state. Both she and our junior high daughter will be participating in the middle-school summer production of “Willy Wonka, Jr.”

That one-act play is being taken on the road this summer. Fourteen students will travel to the International Fringe Festival in Scotland later this year, putting on their play and taking in the American Theater Festival. And remember that bit on travel? They will be seeing Great Britain, taking in education sites in England and Scotland before coming home. So, this year, from start to finish, there has been no theatre season. There has just been…theatre.

And it has been awfully fun to watch.

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This blog has been neglected of late. I’ll try to correct that over the coming weeks and months. New goal? At least one post per week. There have been big events in science, exploration and, of course, government and politics. I’m sure I’ll have something to write about.