Go, Fourth! (And Have Fun)

Thought for the day: Every day is a rebirth, with new hope.  [author unknown]

[morguefile]

The 4th of July is right around the corner, so how about a rah-rah re-run post about that special day, when more than one and a half million hot dogs are typically consumed in the United States. (Erp! And not all by Smarticus and me, either...)

The following post originally ran on July 4, 2012 with the title Have a Bang-Up Day! But I'm gonna embellish it a bit with a handful of trivia tidbits at the end.

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Thought for the day:  You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, 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 dies from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.  [Erma Bombeck]

Happy 4th of July.

Didja hear what one flag said to another?

Give up?

Nothing. 

It just waved.






Cook-outs.  Parades.  Street parties.  Music.  Patriotic speeches.  Frisbee-throwing. Glorious booms of fireworks. That's what's gonna be happening all over the United States this weekend. Our little town here in Georgia will be holding an all-day street festival, followed by fireworks. Yes sirree, gonna be a real bang-up day.

                                                     Know what?  No matter WHERE you are in the world...

                                   I hope you have a super day! And to you guys way up north, Happy Canada Day!

                                                  Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other.

Wait a minute! Not so fast. How about those trivia tidbits first?

• John Adams thought America should celebrate her  independence on the second of July, because that's when the Second Continental Congress passed its resolution to declare independence.  He wrote to his wife Abigail: The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more. Oh well. So he was only half-right. Because July 4, 1776 is the date on the Declaration of Independence, all of those things Adams imagined have taken place... but a couple days later.  
• Only two people... John Hancock, and Charles Thompson, the secretary of Congress... actually signed the Declaration on the fourth of July.  Everyone else signed on August second.  
• Isn't it ironic that one of the songs the U.S. considers patriotic was first sung by British officers? What's more, they sang Yankee Doodle to make fun of the less-than-fashionable Americans cousins.
• AND the National Anthem is sung to the tune of an old British drinking song.
• In 1778, to mark the fourth, General George Washington gave his soldiers a double ration of rum, so in a way, those who drink a wee bit too much on the fourth are merely following a long tradition. 
• Isn't it also ironic that most of the patriotic decorations and  U.S. flags we'll see waving on the fourth... were made in China? Ditto the fireworks. Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of pyrotechnics are imported from China every year to help us celebrate our most iconic American holiday.
• One of the country's most famous 4th of July events is  Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, which has been held in Coney Island every year since 1916. Allegedly, the first contest was held to settle a dispute between four immigrants over which of them was the most patriotic. I guess the one most willing to puke for his country was the winner...?
• The most continuous 4th of July celebration is a parade held in Bristol, Rhode Island, a tradition that began in 1785. (Those people sure know how to party!)

                                                       Okay, now I'm done. You can go eat a hot dog now.

                                                                  Take care of yourselves. And each other.