As you read this, most of us will be celebrating the 4th of July and the founding of our Great Nation.
Some 248 years ago our forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence, and we embarked on a great adventure as a nation. Most of the founding fathers lost their fortunes, lands, families and even their very lives in the epic struggle to cast off the yoke of bondage that Great Britain had long held over our people. And in that selfless struggle, they created a country that has outlasted the perils that assaulted us on every side.
And yes, I know we have our problems and it's obvious that we are lacking in true patriots in our leadership as they enrich themselves at our expense. But all in all, we have a great nation, and the opportunities are endless for men and women here to have at least some measure of success if they work hard enough.
Ol’ Dutch is not sure where the idea of a cookout on July 4th came from, but it surely was a great idea whomever dreamed that up. We do know that George Washington himself gathered the boys together and had a shindig to celebrate the signing of the Declaration.
Evidence of that bar tab is listed as follows; 54 bottles of Madeira, 60 of Claret, 22 of Port, 8 of hard cider, 12 beers, 7 bowls of alcoholic punch and 8 bottles of whiskey. Now I don't know how many people were present at that party, but it sounds like they got a tad pickled at the least.
And good for them. They had endured terrible hardships and deprivations and I think they probably deserved to tie one on for a change.
And while we are also going to have a party, ours will be a lot more reserved in nature. We will have Brats and hamburgers and all the fixings that Miss Trixie is so good at making. And will be joined by friends and neighbors to celebrate this great day in history.
I am not sure where the idea of fireworks came to celebrate the 4th, but it's long been one of Ol’ Dutch’s favorite things. There is nothing that calms the soul like shooting off a ton of loud, bright, explosive, popping, noisy fireworks both with and at one another.
Growing up we were able to get a lot of great fireworks and so we had a blast, literally. And yes, once in a while some kid would lose a finger or two due to careless handling of said crackers, but we were all raised on the premise that natural selection took out the weak and stupid, so we didn't think much about it.
In many states you can still get some great boomers to enjoy the day but of course, some people in different governing bodies have decided that they know “best” for us and have outlawed all but the weakest fireworks around.
Gone are the cherry bombs and M-80’s of days long past and now even the rockets and mortars that fly so high and make wondrous decorations in the night sky are often outlawed and forbidden. It's a crying shame actually that we cannot even be trusted to shoot off some bright star shells and here in Colorado they don't give us much.
So, Ol’ Dutch will once again be relegated to watching the local city sponsored fireworks display out his back door. And while it's not even close to the same as shooting them off myself, it's one of the best public displays around.
My grandfather had his solution to the ban on big boomers as he would step out the back door in the dark and shoot off his 10-gauge shotgun. Considering the origins of the celebration being a war, it may just be closer to what the founding fathers would have approved of anyway.
I hope this 4th of July finds you with family and friends and that you will stop and consider the sacrifices of the many who went before us so that we might enjoy living in this great country.
Kevin Kirkpatrick and his Yorkie, Cooper, fish, hunt, ATV or hike daily. His email is Kevin@TroutRepublic.com. Additional news can be found at www.troutrepublic.com or on Twitter at TroutRepublic.
