by Martin Collis      

As a Canadian, my neighbor is the USA and I've had a long love affair with the States. Growing up in England I seemed to like all things American, particularly their music and their sports. When I finally made my way to California to study at Stanford it felt as though I was coming home. I understood the old saying that, 'When you're in love, the whole world is American.'

I've found kindness and friendship in California, Texas, Iowa, New York, New Hampshire and New Orleans and I've never lost my admiration for this generous, exuberant and successful society. But lately something seems rotten in the state of the States. Many individuals and businesses have operated like the Tom Petty song in which, "Too much ain't enough." The seeds of greed have blossomed in businesses and banks, and the seeds of doubt color every political statement. Canadians find the recent election results hard to comprehend, as there is a perception that internationally, environmentally and fiscally USA has lost its way. When listening to John Hiatt recently I found myself thinking about my beloved America.

Part of the answer was supplied by the greatest of American storytellers and broadcasters, Garison Keillor, in a back page piece in Time magazine.

...is what has always restored its sanity, and that is the plain pleasures of the physical world, the common love of coffee, the world of apples, the movements of birds, the lives of dogs, the touch of skin. Music. Dancing to music. Shooting baskets. Shooting conservatively, scoring liberally. Lacing up skates, gliding through the dusk. Having worked itself into a fever over the future of Western civilization, America will now begin enjoying its oatmeal again, with raisins, chopped apricots and honey from bees that grazed in meadows of clover. The beauty of engagement is disengagement. You simply put on your jacket and walk out the door and find good health. There is no fever that a 6 mile (10 km) hike can't cure. Twenty years ago I gave up TV, and now I am going to take a sabbatical from the news and live in the immediate world. The neighbors are expecting a baby girl. My daughter is taking up the cello.