7-4-13 RMB Another Holiday

7-4-13 RMB Another Holiday

Dear Rita Mae Brown,

Happy 4^th of July! Really, I hope you had a good one, despite the following letter.

Oh joy, another holiday. People change on holidays, things that are ordinarily not important become critical, timing of dinner, what to cook, which recipe to use and more of such silliness. Who will visit who and where and at what time and how many other visits can we fit in? 

I learned early on, or possibly taught myself, that it was important to work, work and then work some more. All of the sudden there is no working because it is the 4^th. That bothers me. What makes the 4^th more special than the 5^th? Or the 25^th more important than the 26^th of another month? 

Maybe that’s why I don’t like holidays. They are an interruption, an interruption that includes change, grumble, grumble. 

Oh, there is an explanation for each one. Someone decided this is the day we celebrate blah, blah blah…fill in the appropriate reason for the day in question. Maybe I just don’t like being told what to do. I don’t like being told that on one certain day you must visit and rejoice. I have nothing against visiting and rejoicing, I just want to do it in my own time; in my own way.

But, alas, I dutifully showed up to take my sister and the boys to our friend’s house, where we visited with more friends, while the boys swam in the pool. I reluctantly admit that I had some nice conversations. I admit, also, that I would not likely visit and rejoice much without the holiday interruptions. I would be working. 

We came home to a frightened dog as fireworks blasted away at our local park a few miles down the road. Pretty colors streak the sky that can be seen from my front door. I’d gladly trade the pretty colors in exchange for the dog’s peace of mind. Does any animal like fireworks? Aren’t there tons of pets all over? So why do we keep up this tradition that scares them so?

Then again, why do we do so much of what we do?

With more questions than answers,

Loraine