The Redneck Liberal: Part One

True "Life Is Good" moments don't come around very often, so when they do I take notice. I had one last month. Standing on the edge of a field of winter wheat I found myself gazing straight up into the sky, watching a flock of sand cranes as they passed overhead. The long shadows of the winter afternoon were making their way across the ground, the air was perfectly still, and we were far from the sounds of traffic or industry. Though the cranes were far above me I could hear their wings beating, pushing them through the air, the sounds of their chatter echoing off the ground below. "This one moment makes the whole day worthwhile," I thought, "Life is good."

BLAM! One of my buddies saw a pheasant and took a shot. So much for my brief solitude.

It's been 10 years since I last saw this group of friends from Dimmitt. Even more than that since we all went hunting together, something that was a regular occurrence in our high school days. We have thinning hairlines and sagging guts now, families instead of girlfriends, but despite all that it seemed perfectly natural that we were together again. As if not a day had passed since the last time.

I don't consider myself to be a redneck, far from it these days, but my redneck roots are undeniable. A good part of that particular day could have come straight from a Jeff Foxworthy stand-up routine. Four guys riding around the remains of a sorghum field in a Polaris ATV, shotguns in the air, ready to blast any pheasant that decided to take flight. You know you're a redneck...

That excursion has given me a lot to think about in the weeks since, and I haven't really come to any conclusions, yet. "This is a conservative hunt, we don't allow liberals.", one of my friends joked earlier in the day. I just rolled my eyes as I shook his hand. They are conservatives. I am a liberal. What makes us so different? Are we really different from each other?

After a long day of hunting, I drove back to Amarillo. A rabbit ran out into the road in front of me. I swerved so I wouldn't hit it. Interesting...