It's Independence Day!

Today is the 4th of July - a national holiday, and for good reason.

Do you know the reasons we celebrate? For the younger crowd, please realize that this day is not just so you can drink, party, and blow stuff up. Fireworks are great, pretty - but to set them off at all hours of the night between June 20 and July 15? Come on. I'm betting the people who do this - i.e. the "premature ejaculators" of this era - either do not realize, or care, that there are many huge reasons for this celebration, and that it really should be treated with more respect than it's given by those who only see it as 'another drinking holiday!!'.

I'll try not to be bitter, but seeing my husband come home after a "party holiday" and having to sell alcohol to idiots and drunks daily bothers us both. I guess it's mainly teens and college kids, but there are adults too who don't see this day for anything other than drinking. How many actually know what the Constitution or Declaration even say? Or mean? I'm no teacher, but I have found some links, should you - like we do - choose to read and give respect to our forefathers and foremothers, and more importantly, appreciate what they gave so that we could have. What better day than today?

The Constitution - man, all the freedoms and guarantees in this document are just great. A person born in this country should know that all these things are granted simply by being born here, but a lot of folks (myself included) don't remember them often enough. Check it out, it's an informative read.

The Declaration of Independence - hey, THIS is what this celebratory day is all about!! We no longer live under a King/Queen, and this document proves that! Do you recall what the Founding Fathers went through, just to ensure that we would never again live under a monarchy? How awesome is that, that they thought about their own grandchildren, and their grandchildren's grandchildren, on down the line!

The first ten Amendments - otherwise known as the Bill of Rights - are right here. Kind of the short version of the Constitution. Because I find them so important, and you should too, here's another link to the significance of the Bill of Rights. Actually, there's a lot of good reading on that Bill of Rights site, if you check out the links on the left.

I think today is another good day to remember and thank all the servicemen and women. Thank them for following in the footsteps of America's Founding Fathers, and all who have served before them - these folks are carrying on a tradition, and doing it proudly. Even if we don't agree with the circumstances or reasons for any wars - past, current, or future - we should still thank them for doing what they do. And they should all be treated with respect for making those choices. I'm already drafting a more in-depth "Thanks" for Veteran's Day, November 11.

[end rant]

OK, I had to get all that out after having to listen to fireworks every night for the last WEEK. And I know it will continue for another WEEK.
On another note, please don't drink and drive. Drinking is fine so long as you stay over or have a ride home - Freeze Your Keys, yo. I recently watched a horribly graphic (but well done) video about the aftermath of DUI. I have a fairly strong stomach, and this video turned mine. But I'm sure it absolutely gets the message across. (If you really want to see it, let me know. I'm not going to post it here.) Don't drink and drive, please!!!

Tonight, Poseidon has to work [and serve all the drunks, pray for his safe return home] so the kids and I will watch the fireworks on TV. I saw that NBC will show them from NYC at 9 EDT. Pretty much a quiet night, but since it's supposed to rain most of the day here, P will be taking the car rather than the scooter. Tomorrow looks to be a great day - perfect for the cookout/birthday party for my young nephew who's turning 3!! I'll be taking pictures and posting with permission, so be sure to come back next week!

I hope you all have a great and safe weekend! Happy Birthday to our great country!
(Note: I'd say "America", but that was my great-grandmother's name, so it sounds odd in my head most of the time - she wasn't born in July! LOL)

~Amphitrite