Thank you, Mark Twain -

"Loyalty to country, ALWAYS.

Loyalty to government, when it deserves it."

and George Carlin

"I do this real moron thing, and its called thinking. 

And apparently I'm not a very good American 

because I like to form my own opinions."

I have a real love/hate relationship with the 4th of July.

I used to volunteer to work in the hospital
 on the holiday 

so I could avoid 

the parade, 

the picnics,

the fireworks

and the flag draped celebrations.

The psychological trauma from the 60's - 

of branding everyone who dissented with governmental war policies as a traitor, 

along with taunts of 

"My country, love it or leave it" -

has left a bad taste in my mouth

that no amount of Bud Light or Mikes Hard lemonade

is going to take away.

And, as much as I try to distance myself from current events, 

in an attempt to keep my blood pressure down,

enough 'reality' creeps in to remind me that,

on SO many levels,

I think this country is headed in absolutely
the wrong direction.

All that being said however,

yesterday was a nearly perfect day...

the weather,

the synchronized lawn chairs routine

the music,

the classic cars,

and parties from one end of the parade route to the other.

 And, true to Camino form,

I walked both there and back...

enjoying the beauty of the homes 

within a mile of where I live -

and yet another world away!

I drew the line however at going to the Fair

for the fireworks...

there's only so much celebrating I can take -

even though I LOVED this image of it
 taken by a talented, dear friend!

Surprisingly,
for the first non-work related holiday
I've had in decades,
it was a good day!