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Fourth of July 2006
Jul. 4th, 2006 08:35 amWhen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
Thus begins the document that we pick as the start of our country which was the Declaration of Independence which was signed on July 4th, 1776, two hundred and thirty years ago. Drop in the bucket for some countries but I think we have done a lot since then with this country.
I am proud to be an American for the most part. Most of the things I am not proud of have more to do with people than the ideals that this country was founded on. I know that our government is not beloved by most of the rest of the world at this point but I also know that most people can separate the government from the country and as a whole they don't have many problems with Americans.
Funny Fourth of July story, I did a summer study abroad in Oxford which was sponsored by my school. We got over there and the first day of class was on July 4th. Much grumbling among the students that we should have the day off doggonit. To which my Shakespeare teacher Professor Richard Proudfoot said, "We lost. You won. So consider this a little payback." He was a trip as a teacher and I learned more about Shakespeare that summer then I thought possible.
So today I hope is the last night of fireworks for a while. I know there are a number of shows planned up and down the Island for the 4th. I am also hoping the local powerheads will stop with the illegal fireworks which we have heard every night since Friday. I love picking up spent rockets in my yard. I remember as a kid playing with sparklers very carefully under my parents' supervision. If you move it fast enough, you could make patterns in the air that were briefly visible to the human eye. For bigger booms we went to fireworks festivals.
So a day to remember the formation of this nation for some and a day to blow stuff up and eat hot dogs for others. I heard the reading of the Declaration of Independence on NPR this morning which is how I like to start my Fourth. Most of the rest of the day is going to be devoted to sewing and stitching but I think I am going to put on Peter's copy of 1776 to watch today.
I am grateful for the United States of America.
Thus begins the document that we pick as the start of our country which was the Declaration of Independence which was signed on July 4th, 1776, two hundred and thirty years ago. Drop in the bucket for some countries but I think we have done a lot since then with this country.
I am proud to be an American for the most part. Most of the things I am not proud of have more to do with people than the ideals that this country was founded on. I know that our government is not beloved by most of the rest of the world at this point but I also know that most people can separate the government from the country and as a whole they don't have many problems with Americans.
Funny Fourth of July story, I did a summer study abroad in Oxford which was sponsored by my school. We got over there and the first day of class was on July 4th. Much grumbling among the students that we should have the day off doggonit. To which my Shakespeare teacher Professor Richard Proudfoot said, "We lost. You won. So consider this a little payback." He was a trip as a teacher and I learned more about Shakespeare that summer then I thought possible.
So today I hope is the last night of fireworks for a while. I know there are a number of shows planned up and down the Island for the 4th. I am also hoping the local powerheads will stop with the illegal fireworks which we have heard every night since Friday. I love picking up spent rockets in my yard. I remember as a kid playing with sparklers very carefully under my parents' supervision. If you move it fast enough, you could make patterns in the air that were briefly visible to the human eye. For bigger booms we went to fireworks festivals.
So a day to remember the formation of this nation for some and a day to blow stuff up and eat hot dogs for others. I heard the reading of the Declaration of Independence on NPR this morning which is how I like to start my Fourth. Most of the rest of the day is going to be devoted to sewing and stitching but I think I am going to put on Peter's copy of 1776 to watch today.
I am grateful for the United States of America.
