Arizona Attitude : Keeping Our Priorities Straight

We desert dwellers have our priorites in order, as you'll see farther on down the page. Arizona attitude has, of course, become a bit of a byword in the United States of America these days as the Obama administration has sued us for daring to consider illegal immigrants illegal and we've sued them for daring to tell us we have to buy health insurance "or else".

However, there's nothing like a natural disaster--in this case the Monument wildfire in Cochise County--to make it very, very clear where people stand. What they consider most important in life is often on display for the world to see...and I was deeply fortunate to witness one such display this afternoon.

My wife and I'd gone over to her son's place to say our goodbyes and to help ourselves to loads of free stuff he and his wife (plus mother-in-law and infant son) couldn't take with them as they move to Texas tomorrow. Has a job there, see; a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. In this case, we all know, that happens to be taking care of his family. Got a job, gotta go.

No, that's not the display this Hub is about. It's a good one, but we were talking about the Monument fire. Here's the deal:

Pam is quitting smoking in the morning, busting a 40-year habit on Independence Day, 2011. Yep, she loses her son as a neighbor and gains her lungs (except for the COPD) on the same day. Nobody planned it that way, but hey, talk about a one-two punch for my redhead's little Zach-addicted Mommy-heart and puff-addicted breathing apparatus!

So when she asked me to buzz on over to Circle K, load up on cheese Danish to use as substitutes for cigs in the a.m., I was happy to go. And that's when it happened.

Along the way, a familiar route but one not traveled recently, two things became blazingly obvious:

1. The Monument fire had taken out a home right next to that road in a spot I'd not realized the flames had reached.

2. The owner of that home has his priorities straight.

No need to identify the location (unless the owner contacts me and says, "Ah, go ahead and tell 'em", although locals will recognize it from the photos. Beyond the fact that we're looking at a homesite in Cochise County, Arizona, the "where" is not the point.

The point is the "what", that is, what did this owner consider the most important thing to do first as he prepares to rebuild?

What do you think this homeowner considered Priority One? After all, there's so much to do. Taking inventory of the damage, complete with photos and copious notes. Meeting with the fire insurance claims adjuster (if you carry fire insurance). Cleaning up the mess. Yada yada yada.

How about...none of the above?

Instead, one might choose

Yeah. That works. After all, it was good enough for the folks at Ground Zero.

It was good enough at Iwo Jima.

It was certainly good enough at Fort McHenry, where Major George Armistead commissioned a flag "so large that the British will have no difficulty in seeing it from a distance" to be flown over the fort. (The finished woolen flag measured 40 feet long by 30 feet high.)

And...it was beyond good enough to inspire my original (circa 2009) song titled When the Giant Awakes.

The "Arizona Attitude" is really an "America first" attitude, of course, as exemplified by patriotic citizens living everywhere from coast to coast and border to border of this great nation. (Quick, people, get under the desk! Duck and cover! He said "PATRIOTIC"!! ) There are millions upon millions of us, and yep, we're wide awake and champing at the bit now. Do you really still think Barack Hussein Obama has a chance to pull off a second term against that?

You do? Hokay. You know, there's this swamp land I've been meaning to tell you about. Where? Oh, right down on the Mexican border. Got a moat and everything. With alligators in it.

Remember in November 2012.