Another Seafair weekend has passed. The weather was stellar, there were few notable incidents of injury or drunken disturbances, and the traffic inconveniences will soon be forgotten. Yet, this year, the scream of the fighter jets overhead conjured up so many negative feelings.
War is raging in the Middle East. The sound of the jets instantly connected me to the villagers in southern Lebanon, the city dwellers in Beirut, farmers in Bekka Valley, Palestinians, the people of Afghanistan and many other residents of the world.
Here in Seattle, we are relatively safe in our daily lives, and yet we bring in this show of force and noise as an integral part of our summer festivities?
This disconnect has bothered me in past years, but I had always found it hard to step on the toes of those who find the tradition inspiring. But this year the incongruity is just too much. Our utility fees have expanded greatly, every thinking person is struggling with the new reality of filling their gas tanks and, finally, the issues of global warming are showing up in public debate.
And yet, for four days, vast amounts of fuel are expended-and for what? Does a local tradition need to be discontinued?
I can hear the annoyed outcries. The locals who love their Seafair traditions will bemoan the recent and ongoing loss of so many local traditions. I join with them. Traditions are powerful and supremely important. In fact, I believe we do not carry enough of them in our current cultural and social lives.
But I find the tradition of the Blue Angels' visit here each year for the Seafair celebrations has become a tradition that needs to be modified. There is a place in history for the tradition, the pride of the power and ingenuity of the American people. How can we take the symbolic elements of this grand tradition and adapt it to our current realities?
Certainly, the raw power and the integral beauty of such precision and mightiness needs to be placed in its historical perspective. What did it mean when this leading-edge technology developed? What were the odds, how did the engineers overcome perceived wisdom?
I call upon the sponsoring board overseeing the Seafair activities, to translate that vision from the 1940s into supporting the work that is being done now, perhaps by unknown people at this time, that will lead us as a nation to continue to inspire the rest of the world.
Seattle prides itself on its innovative capabilities. Here is a chance, for the Seafair celebrants and organizers, to make a truly innovative leap that will celebrate the tradition of the Blue Angels' symbolism while acknowledging the cultural and social and economic changes that have occurred since 1946.
The funds now spent to bring the Blue Angels to town could be completely redirected toward creating an equally powerful Seattle tradition.[[In-content Ad]]
