Day: July 3, 2019

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This Post Has No Title

Honestly, sometimes I’m idea-less. For example, I can’t think of anything to write about right now. But I always like to show off the neckwear, even if my head is empty of stories or wit or what I call my sermons o’ wisdom. So here’s Tie o’ the Day, with its red, white, and blue peace signs. It can serve as a reminder of the possibilities for peace– especially for those of us who live in our U.S. of A.

Because we are free, we are free to take it upon ourselves to solve problems. We are free to try to bring peace and calm to chaos, wherever we find ourselves– in our homes or outside of them. When I say “free”, I mean we can choose to take on the challenges. We are free to do more than grumble and gripe about discord that exists in our homes, neighborhoods, states, country, and world. Griping can be a fine pastime, but it doesn’t accomplish anything. It doesn’t change what isn’t working. Start with changing your imperfect self. Transform yourself in ways you know you want to be better. Transform yourself in ways you know you NEED to be better, as well. You’ll grow increasingly at peace with who you are. Becoming more at peace with your transforming self brings a little more peace to the bigly picture that includes us all.

Did you see that? I just started describing my tie– and suddenly, a topic fell out of my head.

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Ya Gotta Be There

Tie o’ the Day flashes the country’s flag and the outline of the contiguous states of the United States o’ America. For the last few years I had the Delta house, we got ourselves all set up to watch the parade in our very own driveway gravel at the side of the road. The minute folks began to stake out their spots with their lawn chairs up on Main Street, I dragged ours out by the road in front of my house– as a gesture of solidarity with the rest of the town, while also gently razzing the tradition of staking off every inch of public parking on the mile-long Delta streets for the few days leading up to the 4th. Nevermind that the road in front of my house and Mom’s house is not, nor has it ever been, on the parade route. It was just fun to sit by the road with Mom and whoever else each day, drinking our sodas, and watching people try to figure out what the heck we were doing as they drove by.

The 4th of July in Delta is basically Christmas in shorts. It’s a bigly deal everywhere in the country, but nothing like in Delta. I have seen a lot of 4th’s in a lot of other places, and I am telling you Delta is the July 4th-iest place to be. It’s not that it has events and things to do which you can’t find at other 4th’s. It offers about the same stuff to do as any other Independence Day celebration I’ve attended, but it offers a key difference: The Spirit o’ the 4th of July. Everybody’s into it. It just plain matters.

There are really only two annual holidays in Delta: Christmas and the 4th of July. If you’ve moved away from Delta, you might come home for Christmas. But you WILL come home for the 4th of July. It’s what you do. I have never met people who feel such an intense desire to go back to their hometowns for the town’s July 4th celebration. Natives and Delta-natives-who-live-elsewhere plan their summer trips around Delta’s 4th of July. I kid you not. If you’re a Delta Rabbit, when you put away the Christmas ornaments each year, you start dragging out the 4th of July decor.