Independence Day: The 4th of July

Growing up, I never put much stock into what the 4th was. It wasn't really taught to us in school, that was a holiday that happened in the summer, so, why do more than gloss over it in the primary grades. Well, I was in the 6th grade, and we took a field trip, to the Patchogue theater, only it wasn't the theater then, it was a large movie house with a balcony section. We were going to see the movie: 1776. Interesting, the whole sixth grade walked there, it was less than a half of a mile from our moddle shool and our teachers were enough chaperones. he movie sparked my interest in history, more than many things had in the past. I realized that the places on the pages of the text books were real, that the people were alive in their times, that the stories could be embellished, could be fictionalized, but that they were real people, real humans, they breathed, they ate, they survived through conditions that we weren't ever going to be used to, that life as they knew it was life. I then looked back to my trips to Sagamore Hill. What a wonderful experience, what a treasure trove of history. What happened here, how were people interacting what did they say and how did they act. Where did they sit at the dinner table, why did they choose the seats they did...and on and on. The trips we took to Williamsburg Va. Those trips were fantasy and reality combined into one. My creative mind watched the people dressed in character, the way that they carried themselves in costume, the fun they must have had dressing for workevery day.The school trips to Old Bethpage Restoration Village, walking in the makeshift "village" with restored buildings from all over Long Island, people who dressed in costume, who baked real bread, who mmade real soap, who ran real blacksmith shops, and liveries and the like. It was amazing to me. My friends thought I was superweird. I saw the beauty in the past, I saw that there was merit in thinking about it. I enjoyed it. I wanted to research it, I wanted to "know" the "characters" I wanted to live the experiences, as they did. I guess that is why I wanted to write. I guess that is where my creative side comes through.

I guess I digress again. I wanted to write about our Independence Day, but I guess I did in a way, but I wrote about my independence, my thought processes. My inspirations for my ideas and such.

Anyway, enjoy your holiday, wherever you may be, what ever you do, whomever you are with, have a small intimate gathereing, have a large event, but enjoy!