Phew...

By the time you read this you’ve survived yet another 4th of July so congratulations. Some folks are not quite so proud of the good old Red White and Blue this year what with COVID and protests left right and center. Heck, there was even an article in the Denver Post pointing out that as professional sports get underway there will be intense pressure on athletes to kneel rather than stand for our National Anthem. No matter which side you come down on we can probably all agree that these are challenging times for a country celebrating its 244th birthday.

How was your neighborhood last night? Did it seem that there were a lot more fireworks going off than normal? At our house our two huskies were under the bed hiding from the whistling and booming from around noon until after midnight. Kudos to all those who felt obligated to fill in for the professional fireworks shows that were cancelled all around town. You did yourselves proud. One of the local T.V. Stations had their helicopter up after dark and you couldn’t have known that there were any cancelled fireworks shows what with all the ‘rockets red glare’ shooting skyward all over town. I should have taken out what was left of my 401(K) and invested in the local fireworks stand. Again, regardless of where you stand on the hot topic of fireworks, you’ve got to admit it’s incongruous that in most of the urban counties around Denver it’s perfectly legal to sell all manner of fireworks from your local stand but illegal to actually use them. But perhaps it’s fitting in this most unique of years that so much of the population chose to so blatantly disregard the law when law enforcement itself has lost so much respect. 

Anyway, I really didn’t set out to write a blog about what’s wrong in America this Fourth of July, 2020. There are too many other folks doing that most capably. America may be 244, and some may say she’s getting a little long in the tooth, but I think this grand old dame still has some kick in her yet. For me, as I sit here writing this with two dogs still shaking in fear in the bright light of a new day, I’ll just offer up a far more mellow Happy Birthday wish to this land that despite its faults and foibles still represents one of the grandest experiments in the history of humankind. For those who have seen my offerings on Instagram you know I love to take pictures of nature in general and flowers specifically. Many of these are from my wife’s garden but some are truly wild flowers encountered this year in my wanderings and I think they are the best. So here’s to you U.S.A., have a flowerful fourth!