Tag: Fourth of July

Unhappy Fourth of July

It is the Fourth of July in the United States, and I do not feel like celebrating.

The US has become a pustulant place, the home of ugly prejudices and uglier dispositions. The White House flies huge flags as its latest jingoism while it tramples the rights of people and secures tax cuts for the richest. Traitors are pardoned while legal citizens are threatened with deportation.

We were never great for many of the people in the world: those we enslaved, those we colonized, those of color or of different sexual orientations. I know this; but the cruelty was decried as an exception. Now it is highlighted.

I always wondered whether the US would collapse eventually. It feels like it’s collapsing now. Our international reputation is in tatters; other countries are rooting for our demise. I don’t blame them — we have claimed to be the world’s leader but now we’re the world bully.

I do not celebrate today.

Vacation in Horicon

I haven’t written because I am having good family time in Wisconsin, celebrating the Fourth the way I like to: bratwurst and sauerkraut, good cheese and beer.

During summer, my dad lives in a camp trailer at The Playful Goose just outside of Horicon, on the Rock River and not far from Horicon Marsh. It’s a cozy place cluttered with hobbies: woodworking tools, winemaking, a ham and bean soup in the crock pot.  

It’s a great time for family stories, with my dad and my Uncle Ron telling their adventures from childhood (and the time Uncle Ron set off illegal fireworks years ago on the lawn of the house on Beloit Avenue). Storytelling is an important part of relating in my family.

It’s much easier to be around my family since I’ve been on my mood management medications. I used to feel so much pressure to talk that it was hard for me to be there. Now I’m relaxed, and I enjoy it a lot more.

I’ll leave on Sunday with more stories and more appreciation for my family.

******
I’m in Camp Nano right now, and I’m trying to maintain two hours per day to keep up. My family’s accustomed to me ducking out to write. I’ll keep you posted.