Thought I’d use my ten-grandth post to wish all and sundry in the US of A a happy 4th of July. (The same greeting my (Irish) boss got from an associate in an American partner company… :smack: )
Yup, 228 years after it’s all over, I have to concede that you well and truly kicked our British asses out. You’ve also done pretty well for yourselves in the intervening years without our help.
Enjoy yourselves! Have some great fireworks! Happy birthday America. Despite occasional disagreements between the rest of the world and the US, nobody can deny that you’re an incredible country.
I spent the day at a rather strange event: a Fourth of July celebration in Oslo. It’s an annual event, created by various organizations of Americans who live here, temporarily or permanently. Since we hold it in the city’s biggest and most popular park, it isn’t surprising that the locals wander in, too. Some plan on it and come every year; others were in the park, heard or saw something going on, and got curious.
Anyway, I was selling cookies and brownies and other things that are really yummy and really bad for you. Imagine, if you will, a sweet little Norwegian lady, age at least seventy, asking what a Rice Krispie Treat is and if she could please have one with a little American flag in it. But my favorite moment of the day came from a woman aged fifty-odd: “I went to the States to visit cousins when I was a little girl. It was a huge adventure and I remember every moment of it. Since then I’ve been there on vacations half a dozen times and always look forward to my next trip. I’ve loved America for almost five decades now, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let a war in Iraq change my mind!”
A safe, sane and above all fun holiday to all of you who are celebrating!
Hopefully we can all use the day to appreciate the things we’ve got and acknowledge all the things that America does right. I grew up thinking that my being American was just an accident of my birth. I had the sense of entitlement and privilege that caused me to dismiss our prosperity as unjustified excess, and acts of patriotism as maudlin chauvinism.
Lately I’ve realized that none of this comes cheap; you have to fight to defend it, to respect it, to promote it, and to celebrate it. I hope that every American will take the day to think about, acknowledge, and appreciate everything we have. Especially the fundamental, undeniable liberty and responsibility we have to change they system and bring America back to being a country that’s beyond reproach.
And jjimm, I know 50 stars would have been a tactical nightmare, but I must say I’m extremely impressed at your attention to detail. You got the number of stripes right. Bravo!
I spent the 4th of July at our new neighbor’s house…professional magicians here in Las Vegas and wow, what a crew of guests they had! All performers…musicians, other magicians and a lot of pagans…the first 4th I have ever spent that did not involve hot dogs and hamburgers…they had veggie lasagna and paella…and lots of wine and beer. And (seriously) there was a 300 pound, one-legged pagan woman with a huge tattoo on her breasts and she had bright purple hair - boy, was she a kick to listen to…
At any rate…it was the diverse America I love to see, and right next door to me!
And thank you for your good wishes…hopefully we can make another wish come true and blow out the candle on Bush’s cake in November.
