Fourth of July Musings

1. The day was off to a good start this morning with mass at Lourdes. Cardinal Dolan came home and since he was here, he said mass with us. It was nice, and there was quite the turnout. But my short night of sleep sure made for a lazy rest of the day. Oh well. That's what a holiday is for sometimes, right?
2. Sign of the times: I looked up and down our road today and only saw ONE house with an American flag out front. Now, I must admit, we are at fault in this too. And I don't know how many times Jarrod and I have both commented "We need to get a flag" but we still haven't bought one. When I do, I really want it to be made in the USA because, well, you know. Non-surprisingly, not all of them are made here. But anyways, isn't that sad? 50+ years ago, every single porch would have been flying a flag, or multiple! There is an old newspaper photo from 1950 I found at work one time showing all of the flags outside the businesses on Main Street for George Washington's birthday! Let alone, Independence Day. When was the last time anyone gave much emphasis to Washington's birthday?
3. I'm happy to report I'm over my fear of fireworks. I should be, right? I mean, I'm well into my 20s now. But alas, in my younger days, fireworks scared the ba-jesuses out of me. I hated the loud booms that came with them. 
4. The fireworks show was really good! It would have been even better if no one around us was smoking, but I guess clean air is too much to ask for... At least I didn't smell it the entire time, just in little spurts.
5. The only part that totally sucks about seeing the fireworks is the "everyone trying to leave at the same time" part. And jeez, why are people so selfish these days? We were stuck in a lot for about 20 minutes before our line of cars even moved. Then TEN cars passed behind me before someone finally let me back out of my spot and join the line. I'm sorry, but what ever happened to the 'every other one' rule? You let someone in, they go, you go, next person goes, on and on. It's hard not to get aggravated about it, but I was able to stay patient. Because once I was finally in line, then three other people wanted to get in front of me. I was going to let two of them in, but I didn't mind because I'm sure they were just as frustrated as I was that no one was letting anyone back out. Ugh... people!
6. I am so darn tired. It is getting close to midnight, and I have to get up at 6 a.m. for work tomorrow. Sigh... luckily my treatment is almost over. Goodnight folks and happy Independence Day!