First off, I would like to wish everyone a very Happy 4th of July! I hope that whatever you are doing will be safe and fun. And for those of you feeling down and not participating this year, here’s hoping next year will be better.
We’re having kind of a funny time. We’re grilling bratwurst and having potato salad, etc. It’s just the five of us in my family. Then my youngest will put on a fireworks show. He gets all worked up about this every year.
We have a big backyard and the rest of us sit on the porch while Danny does his thing. He organizes the fireworks and sets them off from smallest to largest. This year we even have a patriotic CD to play while he does his “show”. We also have flags to wave. And there will be sparklers that he carefully helps us light.
From wordpress prompts: Are you patriotic? What does being patriotic mean to you?
Okay, now this might be a tough prompt. It sort of borders on the political and that’s a little dangerous on a bipolar blog. But I will give my little speech on here and you can agree or disagree as needed. I like to hear all sides.
Danny said something kind of surprising this morning. He said he hates America. Now Danny is a young 21, and he has some weird ideas about the government. He thinks they are listening in on everything and inserting nanobots into us with immunizations. Of course, my attitude is that the government is more than welcome to listen in on my phone. Uh, my conversations are not that fascinating. As for the nanobots….well, I’m not even sure what a nanobot is.
I listen to Danny with some humor. He is spoiled and has no idea how good he has it here. My husband always says you can tell this is a good country because many more people want in than are trying to get out. That makes sense to me.
I told Danny that I did not want him to say that he hates America around any of our older relatives. I think this is a little disrespectful. My husband’s cousin was drafted to Vietnam and we have an uncle who was in WWII. I think Danny doesn’t realize that the reason he can have such a negative opinion is because others fought for his right to free speech.
When I think of patriotic behavior, I immediately think of the flag. Both of my boys were Eagle Scouts, and we all learned how to handle the flag properly. The whole procedure of putting it up and taking it down, not letting it fly after dark (unless illuminated), and burning flags that are torn or tattered. We also learned how to fold a flag. We used the large one from my father-in-law’s casket.
I have a stepfather I loved and a father-in-law out here at the local veteran’s cemetery. The Scouts used to go out on Memorial Day and put little flags on each grave. That was a sight to behold and was certainly patriotic to me.
When I was a principal, I made certain the Pledge was recited over the intercom every day. Even if I was away at a meeting, I made sure the secretary did it. When I taught school, I used to get mad at my principal. Saying the Pledge was sort of a hit or miss proposition. I thought that was disrespectful. In my classroom, the kids were expected to stand up straight (no slouching), have the correct hand over their heart, and say the Pledge clearly.
I love to see the flag up on the altar at our church. It means that we are Americans as well as Methodists.
I love to see the flag in parades. I always stand up when it goes by. I sing the national anthem at ball games, and try to defer to veterans.
There is a charity in our community that serves just the needs of vets. It feeds them, get them on their feet and into housing. I think working with this group is patriotic.
Being respectful of the President (even when you disagree with him/her) is patriotic. I never cuss or throw things when the President is on TV 🙂
Taking the time to vote is patriotic. So is taking the time to learn about American history so we understand what those who started this country went through.
One thing I love and I think is so patriotic is “bunting”. Bunting is that fabric that looks sort of like a flag but is draped around everywhere. I put some in the image at the top of this post. They have bunting at the seats where President Lincoln sat in Ford’s Theater when he was assassinated. When a house has bunting on the front porch, I know someone patriotic lives there.
My husband has a patriotic shirt he bought at Goodwill. You’d have to see it to believe it. I’m not sure it is patriotic.
As I write this, Danny shouted another patriotic activity. Drinking beer. Ah, the young.
Any special plans for the 4th?
lily
