It was a beautiful morning for a run today.  Slightly overcast, light breeze, the kind of morning that forebodes of temperatures reaching 100.  

The 4th of July is my favorite holiday.  For me it's about feeling grateful, being surrounded by people you care about, and crazy good food.  And yes, all that is reminiscent of Thanksgiving, which is my second favorite holiday for those very reasons. 

But why does the Fourth squeak out with the win? The fireworks.

The loud booms that resonate in your chest.  The bright colors in the air.  The pure joy on everyone's faces.  It's the part that makes me feel like a kid again. There's no other place I'd rather be than laying on a blanket looking up at the fireworks explode directly above me while the debris collects all around. 

Tonight I won't be headed out to see the big shows.  But I'll still be surrounded by people I care about and stuffing myself with wicked good food.  And at some point during the evening, just after dark, we'll be trying NOT to blow our fingers off. 

And since that won't be happening for many more hours, I'm sitting on the floor in my apartment going through last week's newspapers.  Catching up on the politics I do follow and the issues that concern me.  While browsing the opinion section, which happens to be my favorite, I see the paper has printed part of the Declaration of Independence.  

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.  That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed… But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new guards for their future security.”

I'm not going all political here, I'm just feeling grateful.  And while I'm grateful for the big things like my freedom, my country, the military, my family, and the right to pursue my own happiness, I'm also grateful for the little things.  Like BBQs, friends, running on a perfect summer morning, and fireworks.

“And for the support of the Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

Happy 4th of July.

And may God continue to bless America.