A Parade of Faces

You know, it’s interesting what you can see when you are looking. I got off work early today due to the lackage of holiday sandwich eaters. In other words, work was excruciatingly slow. My protests were quite weak when my manager asked me if I’d like to get off work early. In all truth, I wanted to join my little family for a little parade in my sister and brother-in-laws little neighborhood. This is because I haven’t been to a parade in years (the last time I went I had a little bucket and bobbed around looking for candy on the street).

I should add here that parades are the only time when it is socially acceptable to eat things off the road.

Another reason why I like Fourth of July parades is because the streets are filled with people that consider it cool to wear red, white, and blue. For the little bit of time I was at work today, I was severely disheartened by those who wore green, and other completely unpatriotic colors. I made sure I wore my blue Pot Belly shirt and a little red apron and I looked down my nose at people who didn’t. Today is the only day out of the 365.25 days in the year that I allow myself to judge.

Another nice thing about parads is that people freely yell, “Happy Fourth of July!” and have big smiles on their face that one can’t help smiling back at. I tried that at work. Know what I got in return?

“Yeah, I’d like lettuce, mayo, and a little hot peppers on that.”

Then if I had the guts to try again with, “Have any exciting plans for today?”

My customer would add dismissively, “I’ll take that to go.”

Wow. Some plans. Unfortunately for them, customers like that bring out the sarcasm in me. I attempted to bring out their patriotic spirit, and well, it was deemed non-existent. There were a couple gems in the bunch, but mostly I felt like the only fiercely patriotic person there. Thus is why the parade was cute and exciting for me. I ended up getting lots of candy thrown my way because I happened to sit in a children-free zone. I must have looked youthful as I took the peoples‘ pictures, because I often had to duck from 80 mph tootsie rolls thrown at me.

Actually, I don’t know if you guys know this, but the Declaration of Independence was written and signed on July 2nd, and was only copied on July 4th. This wasn’t announced until July 6th. That’s just an interesting fact for you.

No Fourth of July article is complete without patriotic pictures (the ones I took today). That’s a fact. So I, the neutral party, observed all the different faces of patriotism at the parade I attended. And, I can say without bias that the pictures capture the essence of patriotism. The faces you are about to see, are characters that represent a pride in the land I live in.
The pictured essence represents diversity; young and old, politician and farmer, suburban wife and Harley girlfriend, the child throwing candy and the child collecting candy, the emasculated Scottish men and the uniformed firemen, the woman sprawled out in the lawn chair with a coke and the woman reliving the glory days of twirling a baton for the band…. This represents all of us Americans, leading different lives but uniting all down the blocks of little neighborhoods across the country to celebrate this fourth of July.

She Makes Us Wear Her Colors

Pinning the sky in place, a brilliance of red-white-and-blue is on the bridge above where I exit to get to work. Since my car takes the ramp that circles in a U around it, every morning and afternoon I see it from various angles, blending with beautiful every-day shades of sun. I can envision the tattered edges of that old American flag even now. The wind curls it into a crescent shape, and then spreads it smooth as silk along the line of the sky. Seeing it in the tired hours of the morning makes my heart swell and feel stronger somehow. When I feel like I am only one - working towards an endless cause as one meaningless bolt in the clock-work of America - one eye on that flag makes me want to stand straighter and work harder. I feel a part of something. I feel proud.

It inspires me to stir passion back up in the hearts of the average American people. Not just any old passion. A passion for America. Did I say politicians? No. Did I say Congress? No. Did I say the economy, or the court systems, or the media? No. I said America. She is always under our feet, regardless of the global warming terrors of the day. She will always have been founded the same way… one Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
If America were a football team, would we all wear her colors? Would we cheer her on? I think we would. We would stand behind her no matter what the wins or losses, what players or coaches come and go, and what fans were sympathetic to our cause. We would fight - in and out of season. THAT is America. We work, we dispute, we love, we fight, but in the end we all live together.