I'm sure there will be a fair number of posters that will feel frustrated by this column; that the stepping back process advocated here is too passive given the upcoming elections, the state of the nation, etc. I, however, am pleased to indulge in a brief moment of gratitude, remembering what is important and what will ultimately help us heal from the current administration.

Entrancing!

Thanks, I needed this brief essay on life

Yo Garrison, I wonder if it would, like, surprise you that some of the 10,000 tunes I'm listening to on my iPod are the Air America podcasts I download daily. Needless to say, I'm here on Salon every day as well. My friends are similar. We go to rallies, we vote in every election, we write editorials for our school newspapers and join and volunteer for student organizations that oppose Bush and support fair elections. We talk endlessly about politics. Trust me, we're aware of how hard life is and how hard it's going to be. I'm sorry if this doesn't compute with your perception of us as Zen-like, "dude" and "like" saying iPodders, but it's true.

I am somewhere between 63 and 30, and I plan on moving near the ocean as soon as my husband finishes grad school, so I guess I am somewhere between those affected most and those affected least by our government's current policies. I sure worry about the world every day- where we are, where we are going, what the world will be like for my kids. Even so, it was nice to read this literary moment of springtime. Spring has sprung here in Arkansas, too. Isn't it nice to just breathe it in for a moment and let your cares fall away by the roadside? They'll be back around before you know it.

The human race is a cancer on the face of the planet. Think about it. We have many of the fundamental characteristics of cancer: regression to a more primitive form; lack of contact inhibition; outgrowth of our foodsource; death and disfigurement of the host.

Republicans just happen to be a more virulent form than the rest of us.

If it's going to take a friggin' horrible war to find true love, well, okay. If that's what I have to endure ...

Gee, I hate to shit in the Easter basket and poo-poo love and Garrison Keeler in the same sentence, but Bush, Delay, Hitler and maybe even Cheney have all been in love, presumably, and have had women waiting for them in fond anticipation; so? While you're sniffing the flowers, Mr. K, take time to contemplate cause and effect, too.

As part of the under-30 crowd Mr. Keillor sees fit to disparage, allow me to say that I found his judgments misguided and condescending. Having little wires sticking out of one's ears and 10,000 tunes on an iPod does not a disinterested citizen make. The characterization of our reactions reads like bad lines written for some stoner-character in a 3rd rate teen movie. Last I checked, people under 30 were achieving very high levels of education in comparison with past generations. This alone does not refute Keillor's words, but the fact that so many first-time voters took part in the last election certainly suggests that he has missed his mark. I understand that he is thought of as a major voice in American letters, etc, but this supposed homespun wisdom could surely be amended to avoid making such gross generalizations.

John McIntyre

Garrison, thanks I needed that--- Your words have given me a few moments of relief and a vow to make it last all day. I can't completely forget but I can shift to your line of thinking from time to time.

I am 62yrs old and dying but while i'm still here your words remind me how important balance is. So I will try for more balance as spring comes to Ohio.

Garrison, thanks again---

I screwed up when I posted my last letter, so I'm trying again.

In reading Mr. Keillor's article the following quote came to mind:

"This is so beautiful.

If only I could share it:

The soft sound of snow

Falling late at night

From the trees

At this old temple."

Hakun 1686-1768

What a beautiful beautiful piece. It surely brightened this under 30 year old's day. Folks just inhale, and try to imagine that not every mention of ridiculous 30 year olds, 40 year olds, 60 year olds, whatever means specifically you and your friends. Hmmm maybe thats only when it matters....Anyhoo it could also be just a nudge to explore that world beyond your circle, and share your Air America.

Really, I can. People who pay attention aren't the problem, though. It's the ones who do not.

On Dec. 10, 2002, Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi made a barely concealed racist remark at a birthday party for Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. There was plenty of outrage from those who read the likes of Garrison Keillor, but when it came time to decide whether Sen. Lott should keep his job, he won re-election by a ridiculously large margin. Whose fault is that?

In November of 2002, a man named Saxby Chambliss won election to the United States Senate by smearing the good name and reputation of his incumbent opponent, a war hero who lost three limbs in Vietnam, by suggesting that he lacked patriotism because he dared ask questions about our motives and reasoning for going to Iraq. Whose fault was that?

Also in 2002, a former mayor in Mr. Keillor's great state of Minnesota also won election to the Senate over former Vice President Walter Mondale, a person well thought-of and respected throughout the state, and by far more qualified for the job than Norm Coleman, who has turned out to be nothing more than a rubber stamp for the lout occupying the White House. Whose fault was that?

This just barely skims the surface of the idiocy gripping our nation. I can give numerous other examples of the consequences of not paying attention, of listening to the bullshit artists on talk radio instead, or simply not giving a damn, but I'd probably crash the Salon servers if I did that, and I'd not get any work done today, so I won't. Stopping for a minute to smell the flowers is just fine, but let's not forget that we have a responsibility to the nation.