This Week

Well, half the year has passed by and here it is July 7.  There are only 127 days until my birthday so you still have time to buy a card.  Today is the birthday of Joseph-Marie Jacquard, George Cukor, Cree Summer and my older brother, Jack.  On this day in 1846 the US annexed California, in 1898 the US annexed Hawaii and in 1958 President Eisenhower signed the Alaska statehood bill.  It is Guru Rinbochy in Bhutan, Star Festival/Tanabata in Japan and Independence Sunday in Iowa.

I want to start off by talking about a wonderful experience the lovely Elaine and I had on July 4^th.  We were invited to a family gathering.  The family belonged to my dear friend Virginia.  I worked with her before the bitch who was my boss lied and had me fired (do I still sound bitter?). Virginia’s daughter has a family get-together every year on the 4^th of July and she invited us to join them this year.  Since we had no other plans we accepted the invitation.  We joined a group of people, most of whom we had never met before.  These people made us feel welcome right away and we had a great time. 

The house was situated in such a way that we were able to see most of the fireworks display for the town.  What made it even better was that one of the people, Christina, had set up a sound track to play during the fireworks and that made the event even better.  I am pleased that they thought to include us, even more pleased that they made us feel like we belonged and happy to say that we met some very nice people that evening.  Thank you Ann Marie, for allowing us to be a part of your family for the evening.

Now, in case you think that I am getting mellow, I assure you that I am not.  Let me state how much it bothers me that the 4^th of July is not what it used to be.  There was a time when the 4^th was a day of celebration.  It was a day that represented the declaring of independence from the tyranny of England by a small group of people who felt that there was a better way to live life than by paying taxes and homage to the crown.  Among other things, the Declaration of Independence states that we were endowed by our creator “with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  If you have never read the Declaration, you should.  The men who put this document together had cojones the size of a VW.  You do not put yourself in jeopardy the way they did unless you absolutely believed in what you were doing.

What bothers me is that we do not celebrate this holiday the way we should.  Most towns do not have fireworks displays on the actual day.  Many have fireworks the weekend before, in conjunction with some other event.  Some towns do not even bother recognizing the day at all.  A number of people complained that they had to go to work the next day and some wondered why we did not just make it a Monday holiday.  For those who wonder that, the answer is simple – BECAUSE THEN IT WOULD NOT BE THE 4^TH OF JULY!

That is the day the document was signed and made official.  It was the day the United States declared its independence.  It was not done on the first Monday in July.  It was done on the 4^th of July!  I fear that too many people do not even understand what the holiday represents.  They see it as a day off, but do not realize the importance of the day.  

Many people sacrificed their lives so that we could be free to do the things we do.  If it were not for them we would still be under British rule.  We would not have some of the freedoms we have today.  We would still be eating things like bangers and mash and steak and kidney pie.  We would be drinking our beverages without ice and we would be driving on the other side of the road.  The people who signed that declaration put themselves in harm’s way so that we could all have a better way of life.  Stop crying about having to work on the 5^th of July and be happy that we have a reason to celebrate on the 4^th.

Just one other brief comment before closing.  I read an article recently that stated that the facts of some issue had been debunked.  To debunk something means to expose or ridicule the falseness or exaggerated claims of something.  My question is if we prove the facts to be correct, does that mean that we have bunked them?

This week’s fact  - Thomas Edison designed a helicopter that would work with gunpowder.  It ended up blowing up and also blew up his factory.  I guess that was one “light bulb” he should have ignored.