We'll hope to enjoy fireworks and festivities while we think of all those who have given their lives and their effort to keep this country free, including many of you!

Independence Day is my all-time favorite holiday (secular) for some reason. Maybe because it means so much and is cause for such joy and appreciation. Maybe because it stirs feelings of patriotism. Maybe because it is so valuable and comes at such a high cost. Maybe because there are scads of people who come together to enjoy the prize that is called liberty. Maybe because it encourages those who continue to make sacrifices if they know that we, as a country, hold them in high esteem and honor them with their due on this day. Maybe it's because 'old glory' really does fly gloriously in the summer breeze while pride mixes with humble appreciation in our hearts at the sight of it.

I don't know but the whole day and all the festivities certainly portray all that is good in our country, in my opinion.

I hope your celebration is as wonderful as we expect ours to be.

As an aside, we'll also be celebrating my nephew's promotion to PFC while he's in Viosec (sp?), Germany. (Photo at http://www3.caringbridge.org/nm/codya/photo.htm to elicit memories and share our family's pride. And for history buffs, please tell me if you see the family resemblance between him and his G-G-G-G (G-?) uncle, Gen. George B. McClellan... I think I do but that could just be my subjective view.)

[This message has been edited by BuggabooBren (edited 07-01-2005).]

Youngest daughter's 9th birthday is 7/2 so festivities are centered around that. Other-wise, skunk hunting will dominate my free time this weekend. 3 down and 3 to go! I have a recipe to rid people/pets of skunk stink that actually works if anyone is interested.

the 4th is my son's birthday, he'll be four, so the b-day bbq then fireworks.

Cool, Adam. That is known as a Golden Birthday - when you turn the age of the number of the date - 4 on the 4th.

Make it an extra special day with a red plate and have everyone else's plate be a white, for example. I can't remember where the tradition comes from but I think it's pretty neat.

Also, your son shares the birthday with:

- Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the U.S.
- Rube Goldberg (how cool is this??!!)
- Twins Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren (Dear Abby)
- Actors/Actresses George Murphy, Eve Marie Saint, Gina Lollobrigida, Gloria Stuart
- recording artist & music industry exec Mitch Miller
- playwright Neil Simon
- George Steinbrenner, of NY Yankee fame

Sounds like they are in good company with your son in the mix!

Bren: I haven't seen you post in some time. I hope your son is doing well. How is he?

I hope you know we are all pulling for him!

Thanks, Ryan, we are counting on lots of people keeping us uplifted and thank every one of you with heartfelt thanks!

Yeah, he's doing pretty well through his treatments. We're ONE cycle of chemo away from finishing the 2nd phase of his treatment. Glad to have the two harshest phases almost behind us but I'm kind of dreading the last phase - long-term maintenance which will take him through Feb or Mar of 2007. I'm taking a great deal of joy in hoping that he's past the 'most likely' period of potential relapse and that him getting through without any return of the cancer so far is a pretty good indicator that he'll be one of the kids who sees a 'cured' stamp on his records. Whoo hoo, what a great day that will be!

There are updates at his site www.caringbridge.org/nm/codya if you want to see photos and check on him once in a while! We'd also love to see 'guestbook' notes from anyone who wants to drop him a line.

Thats great news! I hope he continues to do well, and I hope you and your family will continue to remain strong through this difficult time.

As for my plans for the 4th....
I had surgery on my leg yesterday, so my plans are to hang out at the house and watch my old cheesy 1930's horror films that I enjoy so much! What a geek!

Ouch!! Hope your recovery goes quickly and you're back in good health soon!

30's horror films, huh? Sounds interesting (though not my cup 'o tea as I'm not keen on horror stuff but maybe from the 30's era it would be more to my liking than the ultra-realistic gore of today!)

No parties and fireworks over here on the fourth, but then who'd celebrate having to run away with their tail between their legs, eh?

Y'all have a great day however you're going to celebrate it.



GOD BLESS AMERICA

I did think about you, Paul! I don't know what the UK could find as a 'silver lining' in all of this - - perhaps a 'goodbye and good riddance, you bunch of misfits' kind of outlook perhaps.

Thanks for jumping in though!

LOL!

There are a few people here who would probably take that seriously, but I think you all know me well enough to realize that I'm definitely not one of them!

The way it's going here, I reckon it's about time we had our own little tea party.....

Bren, Good for Cody, You, and the whole family!!! Hopefully the remaining treatment time will fly by.

Happy Fourth to all

Roger

paul- I once heard that the UK celebrates Thanksgiving in July -- LOL

Adam -- your son also shares his birthday with me!

Bugaboo -- praying and sending you and yours all the love

buggaboo, real glad to hear your boy is doing better
mvpmaintman, We had sponge bob cake, did you? J/K

We celebrate November 5th, 'Guy Fawkes' night, with fireworks and bonfires, remembering powder, treason and plot. In 1605, Fawkes and others hatched a plot to blow up Parliament with gunpowder in a cellar. He was hung drawn and quartered (you don't want to know!!) and his head was put on a spike to rot.
The 'celebrations' consist of blowing your hands/head/fingers off with fireworks, terrifying children and pets and setting the neighbourhood alight with monsterous bonfires lit with diesel oil upon which an effigy of Fawkes, the 'Guy' is burned.
Actually, 'Mad' George III lost the United States playing peaknuckle with Ben Franklin, I heard!


Alan

My favourite "fireworks" story came out of London a few years back. Seems a couple theives had spotted an exceptionally well-locked warehouse, and came one weekend to help themselves to whatever valuables were inside.
Coming well prepared, they began to apply the cutting torch to the rear door. The warehouse, just as in so many places, had of course blocked the rear exit with merchandise. In this case, the merchandise was fireworks.
Responding police found the pair cowering in a culvert, stuck between a roaring fireworks warehouse, and their also burning van. Police dubbed them the "hole in the ground" gang!

LOL!

Re Guy Fawkes, the November 5th celebrations are supposedly to mark his failure. Of course, there are others who say that he is the only person ever to go to Parliament with good intentions.....

More info here for history buffs:
http://www.parliament.uk/faq/gunpowder_plot.cfm
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/gunpowder_plot_of_1605.htm

Black-powder is a very dangerous explosive, and one I feared much more than 'modern' HEs like TNT. It does not 'detonate' in the same way as HE, it just burns very fast, the speed being a factor of grain size, pressure and quantity. It requires no detonator or booster pellet, just a spark. Here's an example of its dangers. There's a society in the UK called the 'Sealed Knot', which re-enacts battles from the English Civil War, with authentic contemporary weapons and armour. Invited to France to display at a concours, the black powder was provisioned by the local Gendarmerie, who supplied 200kg instead of 200lb, ie 2.2 times too much. Several hundred trusty English yeomen, dressed as roundheads or royalists, blasted away at each other with muzzle loaded (blank) musketry and cannon all afternoon at the 'Battle of Nazeby'. Then, what to do with all the excess powder? Some (English) fool decided to dig a hole, put over 120lb of powder in it and ignite it as a grand finale! I'll quote verbatum from an eyewitness friend standing some 100 yards from the epicentre.
"As the touchfire was applied to the train, I sensed I was too close and turned to run, too late. It all went off in a mighty flash and I could actually see the shockwave coming towards me, then a massive 'boom'. A man 10 yards nearer than me was bowled over, then I went too. I staggered up, my best 'Dragoons' cotton shirt perforated with burn holes. A huge mushroom cloud of white smoke roared up into the stratoshere. Practically every car in the arena had no glass, some were on their sides. Shop windows had caved in in the village 1.5km up the road. Worse was to follow as there is an Atomic power station nearby and the blast triggered the seismic sensors, shutting it down and triggering a full Civil Disaster Response! The place was suddenly full of firemen and police officers. Amazingly there were no serious injuries and the 'Mad English' were hurredly ecorted to the ferry terminal".

And you can buy this lethal material in the UK still, except that now instead of a few penny-bangers, golden fountains, a small rocket and some 'sparklers', you get a US$200 'display in a box', a fibre block containing upwards of 50 vertical mortars, which throw 'starbursts', 'air-bombs' etc. 200 yards up from your back yard, and all legal! The detonations can be heard for several miles. Utter madness. My advice on fireworks? - don't go anywhere near them, even to an organised display. You would be safer sitting on a thousand pound bomb, whacking it with a club hammer.
Alan

In our little town of 324 we had a parade. Half participated, the other half watched. There were as many horses as floats... Since the tranny on the fire engine is broken it was last in the parade and all fireworks were banned in the town. Not a bad idea since we just had a few hundred thousand acres of wildfire burn around us. There were fireworks in the city near us, though. Ironically they were shot from the end of the runway where the air-tankers refilled their tanks to fight the fires... They shut down the airport for the event and setup. I love small towns!!! Thanks to those who keep us safe (including the local firemen who have arranged a crew to push the firet ruck down the street in the case of a fire in the town...)
PaulUK - on the plus side for you Guiness is a domestic and MGD and Budwiser are import beers...
Cheers!!

[This message has been edited by Mike Wescoatt (edited 07-06-2005).]