Free to Celebrate

Holidays can be stressful. What with all the travel and the planning and the family, the anxiety of the event can be more trouble than it is worth. One holiday however stands out from the crowd by being hands down the most enjoyable of the bunch; the Fourth of July.

Religious holidays are only fun for people of that given faith.  Thanksgiving has too much preparation associated with it. Halloween is cute when you’re kids are little, but it really becomes a total s#!t-show once they reach high school.

But the Fourth of July keeps all of the good and eliminates the rest.

Greatest selling point: primetime location on the calendar.  Independence Day lands right in the middle of the best possible week for weather in North America. It’s hot, real hot, the kinda hot that makes you want to stand near a pool or a lake and drink cold beverages and hang out with friends.

Good news: that is all that is expected of you on this holiday.

I believe the founding fathers would be okay with this method of celebration. All Washington and Hancock would ask this that you refrain from drinking tea this weekend.

This is an American holiday after all. The beauty of that is you, as a free American, get to decide how to celebrate. Fan of beer and pyrotechnics? Then we got you covered. More of a wine drinker and a beach person? Have no fear, the Fourth of July is here. Grab a chilled bottle of white and a towel and head over to the lake. Enjoy firearms? Travel to somewhere far more rural than Wilmette and unleash hell on some cans setting on fence posts.

The real appeal of the holiday is the abstract nature of what we are celebrating. We come together as a nation to celebrate the spirit of America. The spirit of America is open to interpretation for each of her citizens. What does this nation mean to you? Why do you continue to live here, work here, raise your family here? Whatever the answer is for you personally is also what your Forth of July should be about.

Regardless of the answer, we all live in a great community in a beautiful country and we should feel pretty damn good about it. So bust out the red white and blue paper plates. Fire up the grill. Fill a kiddie pool with ice and brewskies. Make PB&Js and cut them into little stars (personal reference, what up Karen!).

Do whatever you feel like doing, and if you get done with that early hopefully you spent last night at Gillson.

Have a fun Fourth everybody.

Cheers,

James