IT’S THE FOURTH OF JULY AGAIN…SO MERRY FIRECRACKERS TO US ALL…
(…because we still can do so)

It’s the Fourth of July again…so merry firecrackers to us all…because we still can do so. Well, kind of, because these days, depending on where one lives, or how politically correct one is, playing around with firecrackers for the occasion, is no longer considered “couth”… and might even cost you some serious fines for doing so.

Like many of our other national commemorative holidays, our Fourth has become less of a time for happy celebration about our long-lasting freedom to pursue life, liberty, and happiness, than one of pro-forma rituals, stampeding off in our vehicles to clog up our highways and byways, shopping till we drop at all those grand blowout sales offerings for things we hardly have any real need for, and otherwise just glory in the fact we have a three-day weekend to just indulge in whatever suits our fancy…a backyard barbecue…the beach, or whatever, etc..

Much of this offhanded style of celebration for this occasion seems to be due to the fact that most folks no longer live in a rural area or small town, but are now packed cheek to jowl in large urban complexes…conditions which inhibit the freer and less constrained celebrations of the past.

Fireworks, especially firecrackers of the kind most kids in the neighborhood were allowed to play with, are now almost entirely banned, mostly on the grounds of “safety”. Frankly, we don’t recall from those times past when there ever were any serious problems about “safety.” Back then, kids and young people were apparently given proper instructions by their elders about how to behave with such things. Most of us understood that lack of common sense about handling them could have serious consequences, so we behaved accordingly.

Even so, we did have our moments, especially when our creative instincts got the better of us, as we invented all sorts of more exciting and risky ways to set them off…sending every dog and cat in the neighborhood racing away in sheer forms of panic…or rattling a few windows enough to have an irate home owner or two come charging out to loudly scold us for such indecencies. But even these would soon subside to just mild grumblings, and grudging smiles, as we pranced around with sparklers, and fired off other volleys of Roman Candles for their benefit. It was all tolerably endured…because it was the Fourth.

But long before we were turned loose for such license, mornings on that day had a more serious and ordered tone. Everyone dressed up in their Sunday best and went to cheer and watch the local parade to honor the occasion…a brief moment of solemn reflection as our elders reminded us what it truly signified.

Well, those times and ways are long past, although we’re fairly certain that out there among our country folks, a lot of that still remains. We hope it does.

Here in the city, however, we’ve taken to going to our nearest national cemetery, there to wander with grateful contemplation among those quiet acres filled with silent stones, sometimes, now and then, stopping long enough to happily whisper our thanks to one of them. Were it not for all those who lie at rest there…none of us would be enjoying what few firecrackers we’re still allowed to play with.

For us, somehow, that seems to better signify the meaning of our Fourth of July.

CENTURION