I was perusing Altercation yesterday (you can check the link over there on the right for the blog link to the Media Matters blog) when one of the contributors discussed his favorite holidays. An excerpt of the Bateman quote there:
“…the jubilation of the Fourth. And jubilation it should be, friends. Jubilation and awe. Jubilation for the success of the experiment we began in self-rule 232 years ago. Awe for the beauty and power of the words, the courage of the signers, and the audacity of all those who converted a declaration into a reality between 1775 and 1783.”
And I would add, awe for the power of the Constitution, which has withstood all sorts of threats over 220-plus years, and especially during these last eight years.
The Fourth of July is my favorite holiday, and although we didn’t do it this year, we usually decorate up the Alexandria house as shown in the photos. This year some of the bunting and banners are going up at the cabin, by the way.
I like all those images in the Mellancamp songs. I love a hot dog on a sunny summer day. I love to fire up the grill when it starts to cool off in the early evenings of summer. I love fireworks. The Fourth makes me think about parking on a runway on a Navy base when I was a kid, waiting for the fireworks.
I love being in a special place with friends on this day. I love the sense of community that we get to share on this one day. And I feel really close to these things when we visit the little cabin in the Shenandoah Valley.
Our country makes a promise to everyone that things can be better. This year that is what we are going to celebrate at the Hawksbill Cabin – that the country is going to return to that promise very soon.
And a special thanks to those who serve now to protect this promise. I look forward to a day very soon when we can celebrate with you back here at home...and I hope that it could be as soon as January 21, 2009!
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