July 4th

Happy Independence Day, USA.  It never gets old...  My usual routine this day is to read The Declaration Of Independence on the deck (quietly, to myself).  Then I will break out the small hibatchi and cook a steak over hard lump charcoal and hickory (doesn't take much), roast an ear of bi-color corn, and a potato.  

In the evening, I'll watch a baseball game and/or watch fireworks on the TV.  I would go watch local fireworks live, but parking is difficult and getting out  of the parking lots is worse.

A couple of decades ago, I went to the National Mall a couple of times.  It was spectacular!  But the crowds were a mess and getting home took hours...  And I sort of want to be at home to comfort The Mews on what is to them "a scary night".

So I watch on TV now.  And the HD TV is pretty impressive!  And I can change channels and see the fireworks in other cities.  The performance acts are not my favorite part, I don't need to watch a band play, so I switch around.

I do enjoy the standard patriotic songs and I will stay on a station while those are being played.  But, you know, my favorite song for the day is Neil Diamond's 'Coming To America'.  I'd provide a link, but there are many versions (and some good covers by other artists) so just do a search and listen to a few.  :)

Still, the meaning of the day isn't just the fireworks and songs.  I think about our US history more on this day than any other.  I mentioned reading The Declaration Of Independence, but I also have a DVD about the creation of it. and I usually watch that sometime during the day.

So some images for today...

The Declaration.

Fireworks

Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown.

The original 13.

North America in 1776.

The Dream...

And I'll add more, after these few hours...  

There were people here before most of us.  I recognize that.  And I recognizw that many did not come voluntarily.  The past has been harsh.  History and human migrations can be cruel.  

But today I celebrate what has progressed.  Desperate people came here to seek freedom.  It wasn't easy.  Many died for an idea of a better place.  Some cane with their possessions in a cardboard box.

For many many centuries, some people have fled oppression and given up their normal lives to seek a better life wherever it seemed better.  It takes a lot of courage to do that!  

For a few centuries, that has been the US.  I can't see images of desperate immigrants at Ellis Island and not try to imagine what they felt seeing the Statue Of Liberty without feeling that they hoped they found that "right place".

And generally, they were right.  I don't want that to change. Some of the best of us are new-comers.  It has always been that way.

There is probably a child who crosses our border who will earn a Nobel Prize someday.,  Or will become teachers, firefighters, or inventors.  

I personally welcome them all.

"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

What ideals are these....

""Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

It is the bravest who leave home behind and seek out freedom and opportunity.   And we here should welcome them...