It is Sunday, July 5 and there are only 25 days until the lovely Elaine and I close on our new home (more about this later).  Today is the birthday of Phineas Taylor Barnum, Henry Cabot Lodge and Julie Nixon Eisenhower.  On this day in 1643 the first recorded tornado in the US hit in Essex County, Massachusetts, in 1811 Venezuela became the first South American country to gain independence from Spain and in 1989 Rod Stewart hit his head while on stage and knocked himself out.  In Algeria and Venezuela it is Independence Day, on the Isle of Man it is Tynwald Day and in Rwanda it is Peace and National Unity Day.

As you all know, yesterday was Independence Day here in the US.  During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia declaring the United States independent from Great Britain.  After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision. Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4.  Tradition has us celebrating on the date that was on the document rather than the date the resolution on independence was actually approved by congress.

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors and tortured before they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army, another had two sons captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

Just some more information that you can add to your 4^th of July Trivia Folder.

When I was a youngster, way back when, my friends and I used to look forward to today, the day after the 4^th.  We would get up early, jump on our bikes and ride up to the stadium.  That was where everyone went to watch the fireworks the night before.  We would spend the next hour or so searching the stands and surrounding grass hills for the change that had fallen out of pockets the night before.  We usually did pretty well.  This only lasted for a few years.  After that, more kids found out about the potential windfall and cut down on our take.  The other problem was that pants were being made to fit a little snugger, so less change fell out of pockets.  Oh well, it was good while it lasted.

Fast forward to July, 2015 and the lovely Elaine and I are preparing to close on the house we are purchasing.  After a search that has lasted for months, we have found the house that suits our needs, gives us the space we want and puts us a mere 10 minutes from the kids.  We are pleased with our choice and are looking forward to being in the new home.  The lovely Elaine is not looking forward to all the stuff that has to be done between now and when we move.

Until you actually have to pack stuff up and get it ready to be moved, you never realize how much you have accumulated.  We have lived in our current home for 36 years.  This has given us ample time to collect things.  We had the additional benefit of having a basement.  This allowed us to put stuff down there and forget about it.  Part of our basement was finished and we had a TV and a game console set up down there, but other than that we never really used the space.  As long as we had a clear path for the meter reader and kept the space around the TV clear, the rest of the area was storage.

We are now clearing that area out.  We have decided that if we have not used or touched an item in the past three years, it is going to Vietnam Veterans.  We have called them several times in recent months and they have come and taken an incredible number of bags.  We have given them clothing, shoes, CD’s, some cooking utensils and a number of decorative items that seemed like a good idea when we bought them.  Fortunately for us and our heirs, our new house has no basement, which cuts down considerably on the clutter we can collect.

Elaine keeps telling me that I need to start clearing out my workbench area and my stuff in the garage.  I keep pointing out to her that I cannot do that until the house is ours and I can see what kind of space I will have in the garage for a work area.  When I figure that out, I will know what I can keep and what will go to my son or Vietnam Veterans.  The good thing is that I will not have to bubble wrap my tools and carefully pack them in boxes.  I can just load them into whatever containers I have and move them to wherever they are going.  Part of the issue for me is that we are moving into a house that is relatively new, so there will not be much in the way of DIY projects for me to do.  That makes it difficult for me to justify keeping some of the tools I have.  My son will probably get a lot of my stuff and he can sell what he doesn’t want or need.

I will keep you informed on how things are progressing as we get closer.  There are still issues that have to be addressed, of course.  We have to select paint colors for the various rooms, we have to decide on carpeting for one room, we have to get someone to do the painting and carpeting, and so on and so on.  I am sure all that will be a snap (note the sarcastic tone in my voice here).

This week our fact tells us that little known Cathedral Caverns near Grant, Alabama has the world’s largest cave opening, the largest stalagmite (Goliath) and the largest stalagmite forest in the world.  Hey Pat, this sounds like a great vacation idea for Kate and Smiley!