Republished: The 5th of July

A Fourth of July fireworks display at the Washington Monument. Location: WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (DC) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (USA) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

July 5, 2013

Yesterday was the 4th of July.  The 4th of July is a special day in the United States for many reasons.  It is the birthday of our country and a celebration of our nationalism. It is a holiday of summer, sitting as it does smack dab in the middle between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the traditional bookends of summer.  It is a holiday of contradictions, with military parades and fireworks as well as beer and carnivals.  For example, this year in celebration of the 4th, I had a deep fried peanut butter & jelly sandwich and went to a wonderful symphony orchestra concert...at the same venue!  For the record, the symphony orchestra was better!

The best thing about this holiday though, is that everyone is patriotic, at least for the day.  For at least one day of the year, we all stand shoulder to shoulder and boldly proclaim our love for our country.  It makes me wish, sometimes, that we could bottle a bit of that national pride for the other 364 days of the year.

Anytime an organization hosts an event or a celebration, one of their goals is usually that participants still look fondly on it the next day.  In many ways, the success of the celebration is based on how it is remembered the next day.

With that in mind, I wish you a very happy 5th of July!