Day 3845 - Independence Day

I guess I'm sort of a lazy patriot. I never served in the military. I seldom fly a flag, although we did have one on our house for a while right after 9/11. I'm proud to be an American though. I like it here. I've visited and worked in other countries and none of them even comes close to this one. I really hate to see people tearing this country down for things we either did or didn't do in the past. You've got to put historical events in context. Everything happens for a reason. The journey from the Stone Age to the Rolling Stones has taken us three million years. Humanity has only been keeping track of this journey for around five thousand years, but still that is a lot of time. When the founding fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence they had already learned from the Mesopotamians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Italian Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution, The Protestant Reformation, the establishment of parliamentary democracy in England and much more.

It's not really fair to condemn the founding fathers for owning slaves. The practice was commonplace at the time and in fact has been commonplace throughout human history. You can throw a dart at any civilization and you will find slaves. The Romans had them. The Aztecs had them. Many countries still have them today. It was commendable that John Quincy Adams rejected slavery, but he was the exception rather than the rule.

I think we should remember Washington, Jefferson and the others who signed the Declaration of Independence for their brilliance in creating a system of self governance that has lasted far longer than most. The history of the world is mostly a history of war and revolution. Generally the citizens haven't ruled. When you look at the United States through the lens of history, we come out looking pretty good. The founding fathers designed a system that was durable and flexible enough to adapt to a world that none of them would have recognized. Hey, we only had one civil war. The French had at least four.

While I'm sitting here musing about history, everyone else seems to be outside shooting off fireworks. It sounds like a war zone in our neighborhood. I don't know what it proved to eliminate public fireworks displays this year. Everyone seems determined to have their own. I think fireworks became cheap and abundant this year when so many municipalities decided to cancel their public displays because of the coronavirus. Apparently people have been shooting off fireworks every night in major cities for weeks now. I think this is happening in Dallas too, but I live far enough away from the city center that I don't hear what goes on downtown. I'm sure Dawn hears the fireworks, but she certainly isn't bothered by them. She's just sleeping calmly on the bed now.

It was a little cooler today and the park wasn't as crowded as I expected. There were the usual Saturday morning runners and cyclists, but there weren't many picnics and barbecues. Actually Fourth of July celebrations have been declining for several years. Cinco de Mayo is the big day for picnics in the park these days. Sign of the times I guess. Independence Day doesn't get as much respect anymore.

I removed the remaining water from the roof today. I'm not sure what I'll do tomorrow. My gym has been open for several weeks now, but I think I'll wait a while before returning. Gyms still seem to wind up on the list of most dangerous list of things to do while walking in the park appears to be the safest.

Matao is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2027 - Independence Day

We should have gotten up earlier this morning. By the time we got around to walking the dogs around 7 AM, it was already starting to get hot. Dot was a trooper though. We made it around our entire morning circuit, climbing the small hills where Dot strengthens her legs and stopping to smell things when she got tired. We all had a nice breakfast when we returned to the house and then it was time to decide whether today was a holiday or just another work day. I guess we all decided it was just a regular day, because Janet went to get groceries, I went to work on a website, and the dogs took a nap.

It's hard to believe that it's been 39 years since the big Bicentennial Independence Day celebrations. I was working at an ad agency in Seattle at the time and remember returning from a day trip to Victoria Island on a boat and seeing huge fireworks displays directly overhead as we slowly made our way to shore through a sea of other small boats watching the celebration. I had a late dinner at a restaurant called Thirteen Coins after the boat docked and I distinctly remember being happy. Times were different then. I often wish I could go back to 1976, but of course you can never go back. You just keep stumbling forward into an uncertain future.

The only thing I celebrated today was the completion of the new Dalmatian Rescue website. Hot days like this are well suited for website design. After a quick trip to fill the car with gas and pick up a few things at the store, I settled in to refine and debug yesterday's efforts. This particular website was one of the first I ever designed and parts of it are over fifteen years old. It was long overdue for a makeover. Slowly but surely, everything I've done over the years is becoming mobile friendly. The new site is much simpler, has a contemporary look, and works well on phones and tablets. Hopefully, everyone likes the new design, because this ship has sailed.

I can hear fireworks going off in the distance. Apparently, the dogs hear nothing, because they are both sleeping soundly on their dog beds. Years ago, all the neighbors would gather together on the shoreline to watch the fireworks displays on the other side of the lake. Spot, our first Dalmatian, didn't mind the noise, and would enjoy going with us on these twilight excursions. Every dog we've had since has been terrified of fireworks and thunder. I'm not wild about going into the park at night anymore myself. Times have definitely changed. 1976 was great. The 80's and 90's were OK. I'm not so sure about 2015.

Today was a good day. Maybe I should be more optimistic. You really can't really complain when you have cheeseburgers for dinner, you finish a new website, and your dogs are both happy. I'm still patriotic about many things on this day, but I do think we're headed in the wrong direction.

Matao is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1622

On my way to the gym on Sunday, I often listen to the TED Radio Hour in the car. The show starts at 2 PM, and by coincidence, that's usually when I leave for the gym. TED talks are one of the few things I continually find interesting. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, but these wide ranging talks can be about virtually anything. I always learn something. I wish there was a station that ran these talks non-stop, because they are a lot more interesting than listing to Hip Hop, old 80's rock, or ads from mattress stores. Today's talk was about fear and I listened to a fascinating conversation with astronaut Chris Hadfield as he explained what it was like to be strapped to the top of a rocket when the odds were about 1 in 35 that it would explode.

The odds were much better that I'd have a good workout today. I'm getting stronger now. I'm sure that having a fully functioning liver again helps. If I can manage to find the time to get back to my goal of three good workouts a week, I imagine I'll really start seeing some progress. Something is always better than nothing though, so for the moment, I'm trying to make the most of my once a week schedule.

I wrote my monthly essay for my writers group this afternoon. Why this afternoon? Well, the deadline was today. Like I've said many times, I'm very deadline oriented. Without a deadline, I'd probably do nothing. I'm skeptical of people who tell me that they are motivated by simply loving what they are doing. That isn't enough for me. I need a deadline, combined with the fear of public humiliation, to find the motivation I need.

The neighbor's new cat returned to our yard this morning. It's a shame that Dot has such a strong prey drive, since the little cat is very friendly. I think it has decided that it would rather live with us than with the people next door who adopted it. I've got to figure out how to convince the neighbors to keep their new cat indoors. If this is going to be an outdoor cat that is attracted to our yard, Dot will eventually hurt the cat, or hurt herself. She is much too old and frail to be chasing cats.

We had burgers and home made potato salad for dinner. It seemed like a perfect meal for a three-day weekend. I'll be the first to admit that I've led a fairly sheltered life. Like many baby boomers, I spent my life living between major wars and never served in the armed services. The period between the Vietnam War and the post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was probably the longest period of extended peace in our country's history. It's easy for people like me to forget what this Memorial Day holiday really means. My parents both served proudly in World War II. They had something most of my own generation lacks. Patriotism wasn't just a word to them, it was a way of life. In honor of their service and of the service of the thousands who continued to fight and die after them, I hope that we can all agree to start treating our veterans better. It is simply unbelievable to me that prisoners at Guantanamo Bay receive better medical care than many of our own veterans. Maybe this Memorial Day holiday, we can finally decide as a country that the time has come to do much, much better.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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