The East Haddam Goodspeed Airport Festival was a rousing affair with hundreds of folks descending, some right out of the sky, their shoes ablaze, on the flatlands by the Great River Connecticut; the day, a breezy, white cloud beauty. People milling by booth after booth giving proof of the town's social, business, political, and rural vitality.
Town Democrats showed and raffled off Margy Roberts' op-art American flag quilt. Their November candidate posed with well wishers by his simulacrous flat-John. State Senator Norm Needleman paid a visit to his eponymous tent, greeting voters, and giving a pocket tutorial on issues concerning electric batteries.
Many others stopped by, including Leora Levy, the Republican nominee for the US Senate seat held by Richard Blumenthal. She appeared out of the blue, was disarmingly charming in a broad-brimmed hat, inviting dialogue between fellow Americans. How could we not agree! Yet, as I have been told on canvassing rounds, "the proof is in the pudding." True, whether out of my kitchen or theirs. Other voices in the opposition were less convivial. I don't quite see how anyone can decry the Great State of Connecticut on such a bountiful day surrounded by a multitude of happy citizens.
I, for one, want to live in Connecticut. It's a wonderful place with natural treasures--a sea-coast and inland forests--and a government that really cares about people. We have great diversity, urban and rural, and every shade of individual difference. We can always do better. It works because we love our state and we make it so.