Roots

Because the “team that must not be named” won the Super Bowl, let’s talk about the commercials. If you’ve not seen any of them, check them out at “You Tube.”

The ad creating a lot of buzz is a celebration of the American farmer. It’s so well done that I had to Google to find out what the ad was promoting (Dodge Ram trucks, in case you’re interested).

The ad works because it’s nostalgic and the images used are diverse and moving in their simplicity. The ad works because in focusing on the farmer we in our fast-paced, you can buy it at “Whole Foods” culture, get teary-eyed and weak-kneed recalling a more innocent, slower, easier way of life. Call it our “Little House on the Prairie” longing.

I confess I’ve found myself watching the ad a few more times. It takes me back to my childhood when Ma and Pa Snyder had one of the grandest gardens in South Buffalo township and I remember slow-paced summers helping Dad to plant the corn and taking a break under the shade of a big maple tree and swigging cold water from a glass gallon jug.

I believe we are connected to the land from where we’re from and those roots need to be re-visited and re-claimed. Being too distant from where things are planted and tended and gathered and prepared strains the soul.

With every meaning of the word, we need to be grounded.

sj;