Happy 230, America!

Pawlett, VT, July 4th Display

Hmmmm … 230 years. Wow, it’s extraordinary as I see it. At 63, I’ve been around for more than one-quarter of the USA’s time-on-earth. I especially love the 4th; I think there is a pretty general spirit of celebration of what happened in July 1776 in Philadelphia. No presents (I hope). Don’t pass it on, but I enjoy hot dogs on the 4th as much or more as the Thanksgiving feasts. (I’d add that while some of the “Thanksgiving Story” is a little different than the real thing … the Philadelphia story definitely is the real thing. What a leap of faith! What a mess those guys got themselves into! (Read David McCullough’s 1776—you really must; it’s a page turner, and it illustrates what a close-run thing the independence endeavor was.

A lot of us are mad at a lot of others of us for what the U.S. is up to. I strongly urge a one-day truce. Life ain’t easy, but we’ve done remarkably well. And, what a pain to govern one’s fellow citizens—and what an amazing array of choices have faced almost all our Presidents.

Rushing off to a July 3 picnic as I write, so I’ll have to hold the story about my July 4th, 1973, in Rangoon Burma; me and the CIA team there sharing hot dogs and drinks with the KGB guys … in the U.S. Ambassador’s back yard.

Happy 4th! Do overindulge with the hot dogs, the mustard, the ketchup, the chips, etc.

The photo at the top comes from a little town in Vermont, six miles from me—Pawlet. At the town square resides this small but important display, dressed up in a straightforward Vermont way for the 4th. (Among many other things, I believe VT had the highest per capita KIA rate in the Civil War.)

Tom Peters posted this on July 3, 2006, in General.