“America is a tune. It must be sung together.”
Happy July 4th!
I have a traditional musing for today, but I figured I’d give you an update first. The morning is lovely. The yard is bathed in sunlight. The breeze is light but cooling. Yesterday I planted a few flowers and some herbs in deck pots. I have more to plant. Last night Nala came in chewing a small plastic pot. This morning I found the basil from that pot on the driveway. I potted the poor victim. I need a few more flowers for the empty clay pots. I’ll shop tomorrow. We have a uke concert in Hyannis this afternoon. We’ll be playing Songs Across America with a rousing patriotic set at the end.
I just love birthdays and today is the grandest of them all.
On July 3rd 1776, John Adams wrote a letter to his wife Abigail. In it, he predicted the celebrations for American Independence Day, including the parties:
“It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other.”
John Adams expected July 2nd to be Independence Day as that was the day the Second Continental Congress voted for independence, but the signing ceremony for the Declaration of Independence didn’t happen until two days later so because July 4th appears on the Declaration, it became the date we celebrate Independence.
I know some people complain that the meaning of the day is lost in the barbecues and the fireworks, but they have forgotten John Adams’ hope. We are honoring the day exactly as he wished. Flags are waving everywhere. Families get together to celebrate and to break bread, albeit hot dog rolls. Fireworks illuminate the sky. Baseball is played on small town fields and in huge stadiums. Drums beat the cadence in parades. We sing rousing songs celebrating America and our freedom. We also sing heartfelt songs about what America means to us. We are many sorts of people, we Americans. We don’t all look the same, practice the same religion, eat the same foods or dress in the same way, but we all celebrate today.
“You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4th, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.” Happy Birthday, America, from all of us Americans.
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July 4, 2024 at 9:27 pm
Mrs MDH and I made it up to Telluride not before “enjoying” the vagaries of the San Juan Highway. The 4th July started with loud explosions at 6 am apparently a tradition. I drifted up to Main to find hundreds of empty chairs on the roadside
Right, grabbed some wooden seats off the patio, found a sport and settled in to a long morning in the sun. We were all together when at 11 am the F16s tore through the valley and blasted up over the mountains, so spectacular.
The Parade was just an hour and now we are waiting on fireworks
Proud American day for everyone
July 4, 2024 at 9:43 pm
My Dear Hedley,
I loved the picture of your granddaughters. They are beautiful, and their dresses were perfect.
The fireworks started last night. I could hear them all over the neighborhood. Right now they are really loud and close.
We had a uke concert on the Hyannis green at the band box. We actually had the biggest crowd we’ve had. We had were all decked out in red, white and blue. It was fun.