Living is easy with eyes closed.

-Strawberry Fields Forever
John Lennon

I’m not sure the profundity (and truth) of that lyric ever struck me until I heard it the other day.

Those are the strawberry fields in the beautiful Salinas Valley in Monterey County. FLH and I drove through there weekend before last. The Salinas Valley is a huge and fertile ag area, growing strawberries, artichokes, broccoli, asparagus, cherries and so much more. You can even smell the fertile soil as you drive through.

You can also see small busloads of migrant workers toiling in the fields. The issue of illegal immigrants is a thorny one. It always strikes me that if American people wanted to do this work, they’d be doing it. But some unsavory growers exploit migrants, and that’s wrong, too.

It’s easy to want to send the illegals back. To close the borders. But I’m not sure it’s that easy. I believe that as a nation, we just haven’t figured this one out.

Living really is easier with eyes closed.