Jesus vs Trump: the lawn sign contest

Just back from a 3500 mile road trip to Bar Harbor, Maine. The Road Scholar hiking week was great fun (and even educational) and my friend Heidi and I enjoyed playing tourist at Niagara Falls, exploring Fort Ticonderoga, and taking the Express Ferry across Lake Michigan. 

But a road trip is about what you encounter when driving. On the way out, I set GoogleMaps to “avoid highways” and the route it suggested took us off the interstates and on to the smaller roads - even gravel roads. I’ve written before about the pleasures of “Travelling the Blue Highways.” This journey through 13 states was lovely. Fall colors were dominant - northern Pennsylvania was especially brilliant. Old houses and small towns were charming. We stayed in locally owned hotels and ate at local restaurants as much as possible. And although I brought an audiobook to listen to and my new car has Sirius XM, we spent most of the time simply in quiet observation.

One simple game we played was to determine who was more popular in the more rural areas of the states through which we passed - Jesus or Trump. The lawn signs were plentiful and there were even a few billboards praising these messiahs. My impression is that the support for the two men/deities was pretty much equal - however most of the Trump signs were still from the 2020 election.

The signage made me wonder if belief in Jesus and The Donald is somehow similar. Folks looking for someone or something in which to believe rather than a representative of a concrete set of values.

But thinking of such things too hard would have spoiled the laid back charm of the drive. So I focused on the brilliant red maples dotting the autumn landscapes. 

Good to be home.