July 4, 2009
July 4th Bombs Bursting in Air
What a thing to celebrate. What a country. Why couldn’t we have “America the Beautiful” as our song? Why this song that celebrates bombs bursting in air? On this very American holiday, we are not celebrating in the normal way which would involve potato salad and macaroni salad (these should be made with mayonnaise and left in the sun at a picnic or barbecue, ignore the possibility of food poisoning), barbecued chicken, hotdogs and steak if you can afford it, given the economy this year, you are probably on hotdogs and chicken. Then there’s alcohol. A lot of Americans prefer cheap beer, Budweiser, Coors Light etc, that’s pretty typical. Some more sophisticated Americans are drinking Sam Adams. Americans like to get drunk, act stupid and watch fireworks. American holidays are bizarre. Like Thanksgiving? Eating a lot and watching football. The Mexicans have Day of the Dead. The Chinese have Chinese New Year. Brazil has Carnivale. Fabulous rituals. We have potato salad.
So what are we doing? We are swimming in the pool and we are having seaweed, rice, soy sauce and raw fish, a sushi meal, just like the Japanese who worked on this island. We’re celebrating America in the best possible way, by being together as a family and by eating our favorite foods. We are celebrating joy and love.
Here we are.
