The 4th comes around once a year, in fact this observance should make it the 236th time. This city of Mandan really goes out to celebrate. Yesterday we strolled through "Art in the Park," and I ended up buying another bookcase from a furniture craftsman from Madison, SD. It is the 5th piece I've gotten from him, solid oak. I can't bear to go into a furniture store and buy any of that junk they sell, veneer and chipboard and glossy finishes and whatnot... Today there is one huge parade, and a nationally known rodeo plays for three days. Mandan is under consideration for the title of the most patriotic city in the USA.
I brought the 47 star flag back from New Mexico. That state is celebrating just 100 years of statehood this year compared to North Dakota's123 years. President William H. Taft signed the documents making them a state. He told the gathered delegation, "I am glad to give you life. I hope that you will be healthy." When I recently visited that state, the locals complained about budget shortfalls and underfunded programs, but that's pretty typical. About one month later Arizona came into the Union as the 48th state.
I went to the gym on Monday. While there, I asked a grizzly old Vietnam vet (who has a purple heart on his pickup's license plate) if he was going to celebrate the 4th. He quickly answered, "At my age just getting out of bed in the morning is celebrating." He's the one who told me he almost got it in Vietnam, he and two other guys being pinned down on a riverbank with Viet Cong firing at them from the jungle. To them it seemed as if it came out of nowhere, but a patrol boat showed up with guns a-blazing. He said those bullets really cut the jungle apart, and he survived to tell me about it.
It's hot and humid around here these days. This morning I opened up the patio door and just as quickly closed it. Fresh cool air it was not.
I went to the gym on Monday. While there, I asked a grizzly old Vietnam vet (who has a purple heart on his pickup's license plate) if he was going to celebrate the 4th. He quickly answered, "At my age just getting out of bed in the morning is celebrating." He's the one who told me he almost got it in Vietnam, he and two other guys being pinned down on a riverbank with Viet Cong firing at them from the jungle. To them it seemed as if it came out of nowhere, but a patrol boat showed up with guns a-blazing. He said those bullets really cut the jungle apart, and he survived to tell me about it.
It's hot and humid around here these days. This morning I opened up the patio door and just as quickly closed it. Fresh cool air it was not.
