We are now ending a month-long national holiday devoted to the celebration of things we did not talk about in polite company in the first half of our Boomer Generation. It is sort of weird, since we don’t mind what other people do in the privacy of their homes whether we approve or not. It is none of our business. Celebration of it for thirty consecutive days seems a little excessive, though. Remember the moment a couple years ago when activists insisted the term “marriage” was a universal concept equally applicable to all domestic partnerships of however many combinations of chromosomes there are walking about in human form.

At the time, we thought the term “Partner,” with equal legal protections between the types of unions would be sufficient. It would differentiate unions that produce children, accommodate adoption and recognize ones that protected lifetime relationships. The mildly different meanings would be useful and shorter than trying to sort out what sort of union we were talking about. This morning there was coverage in the former Mainstream Media about crowds shouting things about orientation and children and it left us old timers feeling bereft. We just had a couple of single day holidays devoted to people who are “Mothers” and “Fathers.” The 24-hours-of-honor was deemed sufficient to recognize something intrinsic and universal to the species.

It took a while to figure it out. It is actually a sort of replacement exercise that gives us the opportunity to add a dozen new holidays to the existing schedule while minimizing the old ones. We are about to celebrate one of those in the next few days. You may recall it. We called it “The 4th of July!” The exclamation point is not in the formal name of the holiday, but if you have just overthrown the rule of the most powerful Monarch on the planet, we think the emphasis is appropriate. We recall the parades and long weekends at the little cabin in the woods Up North in Michigan, since the holiday swelled up a bit to include the weekend and a Federal holiday to stretch things out a bit in honor of the significance of the day.

Just this brief observation might be controversial in our shifting holiday scheme. The 4th of July celebrates things like the ability to say prety much what we think about Kings and others. This year, there is earnest discussion about restricting speech that could offend someone. That leads to additional confusion out of the Patio where the Writer’s Section winds up in befuddlement. The simple observation that something is ridiculous shouldn’t be confused with disliking- no, “hating”- people who disagree with our assessment.

We intend to celebrate the 4th pretty much the way we always have. The parade may be a little smaller, since the entire month has ben devoted to other acivities, just as June was. The five that are coming at us are not as well known as others, but include several awareness months celebrated throughout the month of July. They include Disability Pride Month, National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, French-American Heritage Month, National Bison Month, and Plastic Free July.

We do not know if we are permitted to BBQ any Bison during the period, though we celebrate our minor Disabilities with a hearty groan in the morning at first rising. That is a constant reminder to celebrate both mental and physical health once the pain wears off, though Splash often include expletives uttered vocally en Francais for added emphasis. We have deleted the classic film “The Graduate” from our DVR archive due to the celebration of plastics. We are holding on to the 4th as a day of particular honor to a nation that has attempted something quite unique and commendable in human social history.

We liked the old freedom to say things we thought were true. The Bill of Rights has a bunch of stuff we also enjoy without disparaging fellow citizens who seem to disagree with us. In fact, that was supposed to the entire point of the holiday. If the Patio is a little empty this coming week, it may be due to an extended road trip conducted in Internal Combustion automobiles to go Up North and fire up the grills!

Copyright 2023 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocora.com