The Fourth of July

If I keep waiting for holidays to post, I'll never get to all the stuff that's in my head. (which may not be such a bad thing)

I like the Fourth, in my own way. I don't much like special programming on tv, except baseball games. I don't like movie channels running nothing but war movies. I can live without concerts from Washington D.C., Boston Pops, etc. Band concerts in the park with fireworks are good for my spirit. I went to a few in the past; a few good ones, even if it was Canada Day in Cobourg, Ont. Same deal. We are have only ourselves to blame and to congratulate after independence from colonial powers.

I like charring meat on the grill, hotdogs, salad and beer. How much more American can you get? Here's how:

Work 10+ hours on the Fourth in your own store to give your employees a break. Wish someone would bring you a hamburger, not really because you are hungry, but because it is so Traditional!

Cut the grass on your private property.

Call a talk-show on the radio and vent against your opposition; blast away at targets; take the kids to the water park.

Use your freedoms. Dissent, peaceably assemble for your cause. A lot of blood was spilled, lives destroyed, lives enabled for these freedoms. We can call our government any name we want to! No reprisals in law need deter us.

Independence Day we called it; short form, The Fourth. Independence sounds a lot better. Sometimes I think that we lose sight of the reason for the Holiday. Independence of thought; independence of religion, independence from oppression.

Sometimes I think that my conservative friends and family think that freedoms were individually won and preserved for individuals. But independence was a collective effort. The Constitution begins "We the People."

These are just some thoughts I get during all the flag-waving holidays. Wave the flag, but don't forget why you are waving it.

And don't let the flag hit the ground when you are through with it.