happy 4th

. . . For the 237th time

graphic by art winstanley, © 2011

two for the price of one

I thought, for sure, that last night's July 4th fireworks display would be rained out.
I mean, from late yesterday afternoon until probably well after I went to bed around midnight, it was raining like holy hell.
But I was wrong.

 Right around 9pm came the boom boom - flash flash of fireworks. I'd again underestimated the indefatigable spirit of my fellow Key Westers.

So true to form and being still young enough at heart to be lured by colourful events, I was compelled to break out my umbrella and troddle out to the middle of my street in the pouring rain (wearing my flip flops and cargo shorts but naked from the waist up) to watch the goings on.
My thought as I walked out from under the roof of my bone porch was, "you knucklehead, you're gonna get soaked!"

. . .And I did. But as I saw, so did neighbors  Tonya, Annie, Nick, and the new couple up the street whom I haven't yet.

The fireworks display was first rate and many of us, around town, chipped in to help make sure it would be. But as I stood out there in the rain watching the show, in between the impressive "rockets red glare" and "bombs bursting in air" were the booms of thunder and flashes of lightening that lit the sky like no man-made contrivance can.

It was like mother nature was asking, "yo dudes, is that all you've got?"
Another example that nothing man-kind does, trumps nature.

 But for those of us who helped feed the kitty for the fireworks display, I thought, "we got two fireworks displays for the price of one". 

*By the way, these are not my pictures, I picked them up off the internet to help make my point.

happy 4th. . .

. . .For the 235th time

graphic by art winstanley, © 2011

SIGN THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

happy 4th. . .

Because it's the 4th of July, I thought I'd think out loud about the Declaration of Independence. . .

Like how the document was written, principally, by Thomas Jefferson but that he was backed and badgered by a committee that included John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. And how, each time that committee would make changes to the original draft, Jefferson would get a bit cranky about it.

And how the Second Continental Congress actually voted to approve the "resolution for independence" on July 2nd but due to the nature of any Congress, the wording of the declaration was debated, again revised and couldn't be rolled out for another two days.

Or how most folks think the Declaration of Independence was signed by the Congress on July 4th when the reality is that most of the delegates didn't sign it until August 2nd and the British government didn't even find out about it until August 30th.

And how the handwritten and signed copy of the declaration (the one we all recognize) is not Jefferson's handwriting but that of Timothy Matlack.

Or how Jefferson and Adams (at first friends, then political enemies, then friends again) were the only two signers to be elected president and that on the 50th anniversary of the declaration (July 4th, 1826), both Jefferson and Adams died within hours of each other.

"Holiday Hammock", digital illustration, © 2009 Arthur A. Winstanley


. . . But I'm not gonna do that. I think, instead, I'll just lay back in the hammock and relax with a Mexican cerveza and a pound of Canadian bacon and try to figure out why any American would even consider taking such an amazing history and trade it in for a North American Union.

SIGN THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

READ THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

happy 4th. . .

Because it's 4th of July, I thought I'd think out loud about the Declaration of Independence. . .

Like how the document was written, principally, by Thomas Jefferson but that he was backed and badgered by a committee that included John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. And how, each time that committee would make changes to the original draft, Jefferson would get a bit cranky about it.

And how the Second Continental Congress actually voted to approve the "resolution for independence" on July 2nd but due to the nature of any Congress, the wording of the declaration was debated, again revised and couldn't be rolled out for another two days.

Or how most folks think the Declaration of Independence was signed by the Congress on July 4th when the reality is that most of the delegates didn't sign it until August 2nd and the British government didn't even find out about it until August 30th.

And how the handwritten and signed copy of the declaration (the one we all recognize) is not Jefferson's handwriting but that of Timothy Matlack.

Or how Jefferson and Adams (at first friends, then political enemies, then friends again) were the only two signers to be elected president and that on the 50th anniversary of the declaration (July 4th, 1826), both Jefferson and Adams died within hours of each other.

"Holiday Hammock", digital illustration, © 2009 Arthur A. Winstanley

. . . But I'm not gonna do that. I think, instead, I'll just lay back in the hammock and relax with a Mexican cerveza and a pound of Canadian bacon and try to figure out why any American would even consider taking such an amazing history and trade it in for a North American Union.

SIGN THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

READ THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE