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It’s About Respect

   Written by on July 3, 2015 at 1:12 pm

The 4th of July is the only day I truly take off – no cooking, no housecleaning and no yard work. I sleep late and eat with whoever invites me to a cookout; I’m not picky.

logo - walk in gardenIt’s perhaps not the first thing I should consider as July approaches, but I can’t help looking forward to tomatoes from somebody’s garden. July 4th is the target day for real tomato growers, you know. White bread, a slathering of Duke’s mayonnaise, juicy tomato slices, a sprinkling of pepper – can’t wait.

Then there’s this: “July laughs, a joyous lilt that echoes across a lake in the evening. It billows, lifting sheets on country clotheslines. It bursts, ripe and warm and juicy like tomatoes. And it sparkles: just ask any kid who has chased it, squealing and barefoot, through a sprinkler.” I wish I had written that, but it came from a magazine that did not credit the writer, so I can’t either.

I do, however, have one gripe this July. I was watching the American flag billowing on the pole in front of the town office a few minutes ago and the words of The Star Spangled Banner naturally went through my mind…slowly, word by word. And I began to think of all the places and events that will include the singing of that song this coming weekend. All types of ball games, picnics perhaps, parades and tributes to our veterans. And you know what just gripes the heck out of me? Those it’s-all-about-me singers who are asked to lead the singing of our national anthem and then proceed to change the tune or even the words of the song ‘cause they can’t manage to remember them or haven’t taken the time to even learn them! They warble and screech and just steal the opportunity from the rest of us to join in the singing.

I’m proud and blessed to live in America but, by golly, things just aren’t going right here lately. I worry about a lot of things that are changing and not for the better. More and more the government is sticking its nose into our lives and I, for one, don’t care for it one bit. They’ll get away with it all probably ‘cause it is the gov’mint after all, but we need to be so much more careful who we put in those old chairs.

All I’m saying here is I’m still proud on the Fourth of July to honor and respect our country and our veterans and our flag. I just hope no more of our freedoms will be taken from us.

Wishing you a fun-filled weekend with family and friends. Take a little time, too, to be grateful in your heart for all of those who went before to make it all possible.

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