Boom, Bang, Wow, Whee!!! Yep, it’s that time of year again. Time to cook out on the barbecue, time to gather friends and family together. Put up the flags and trim all around the homestead with red, white and blue.
The Fourth of July is the day for parades and a whole week of firework displays.
I have to ask that everyone be extremely cautious around the kids. They love to play with the sparklers but many of them suffer burns after the sparkler burns out. They touch it because they want it to keep going.
We should all be careful with any fireworks. I’ve read about many incidents that occurred while using barbecue lighters to ignite fire crackers. It seems the lighters often throw a bigger flame than expected and it lights the entire fuse all at once. This allows the firecracker to blow up before you can drop it. An event like this can ruin a weekend and perhaps a lifetime with injury to limbs.
I’m sure my readers know better, but just in case, I feel compelled to say BE CAREFUL because we often get excited and unexpectedly do something foolish.
While sitting around eating hot dogs and perhaps having a cold one, think about what exactly we are celebrating. One answer could be, the yearly family re-union. Maybe just being able to have a long weekend away from work. The answer, however, is this is our nation’s birthday — it’s 239th to be exact. That many years ago, the American colonies declared themselves free and independent states. They claimed that all men were to be equal and all citizens should have equal rights. What has followed, to this day, is our rights being challenged and changed. All due to interpretation in varying ways.
The Supreme Court oversees our rights, although not even seated when those rights were originally drafted July 4, 1776. The first such court was seated on Feb. 2, 1790. Since that date, the Supreme Court has heard tens of thousands of queries regarding the interpretation of our rights.
Judges that fill the bench are not elected officials — they are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate after extensive hearings. Not all amendments made by them are to everyone’s liking, but most citizens don’t pay a lot of attention to Supreme Court decisions.
So much for the history lesson, it’s time to enjoy the holiday and that sure can be done in our Thumb region.
Port Austin’s parade is usually one of the biggest in the county, and it’s always well attended because of the numerous floats and wonderful entertainment that passes by.
I hope to see you there. I’ll be driving my burgundy El Camino with beautiful granddaughters tossing the youngsters treats. I know the kids will recognize us because we pass out so much — last year we ran out before the end, but I bought a LOT MORE this year!
As I see it, sure hope you enjoy your time around the Thumb, as we who live here sure want to keep you entertained.
One more word of caution, after the firework displays come to an end, be extra watchful. If you’re driving, you will be in heavy traffic, but go slow because the kids will run out in the street in their excitement and forget to look.