Oddities, Profundities, Profanities and Dad Stuff
Image by zoomion via Flickr
I made a list this weekend. A list of all the writing projects that I have started and have not finished. The depressing part was it went onto a second page of 8.5″ by 11″ notebook paper. All I could think of was that I was so behind.
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English: The earliest known draft of the United States Declaration of Independence, a fragment in the handwriting of Thomas Jefferson. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Hey folks, if you haven’t noticed, this post is simulcast both here on Catharsis of the Bogue and Cantankerous Old Coots. It is almost the 4th of July here in the United States, one of my favorite holidays.
This image was selected as a picture of the week on the Malay Wikipedia for the 26th week, 2010. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
If you didn’t know, July 4th celebrates the day when a group of British citizens here in the American Colonies decided to give the finger to King George and make their own country. July 4th is the day when those men we now call Patriots, signed one of the most important documents in the history of the world, the Declaration of Independence.
This is not just another day. This is our Independence Day. This is the day John Adams wrote to his wife about, saying,
“The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.
Those brave men who wrote, and then ratified that Declaration were so far from the milquetoast government that we have now. They knowingly put their names to a document that labeled each and every one of them traitors to the most powerful country on the Earth at that time. And they knew what they could make out of this country. They knew that King George was not the way. They knew that we had to have our own laws, our own officials, our own taxes.
And now, this country, with all of the problems that we do have, still shines as a beacon to the world, a democracy, a republic that has lasted for over 200 years. This Thursday is July 4th, when we should be with our families. We should raise a flag at dawn and salute whilst saying the Pledge of Allegiance. We should read that Declaration of Independence and understand what they were fighting for. We should read the Constitution and know what our country is built on. There is no better time to be a patriot.
Tonight, Tuesday the 2nd, I took it upon myself to teach my Cub Scouts about the Declaration of Independence. They range in ages from 8 to 10. Most of them had only heard of the Declaration (and no, Abraham Lincoln did not have anything to do with the Declaration, despite the insistence of one 8 year old). I gave each of them a copy that they could read with their families. We read it together and discussed what it meant. The other leaders and I tried not to realize that We, as Citizens of the USA, need to send a slightly edited copy of this document to Washington. But I digress. I know it is important to teach the Declaration and it’s meaning. And to debunk the map on the back. It exists only in Hollywood.
The Fourth of July, Independence Day, should not just be the day we watch fireworks. It shouldn’t be the day we finish cleaning the car, or mowing the lawn. We should be thankful for this country. We should give thanks to whatever God we worship that we are here, and are free of tyranny. We should thank our Service Men and Women for defending that freedom that we began fighting for back in 1775.
I love going to community festivals on Independence Day. I really like to be with others, celebrating this country and the fact that we are Americans. I love the “Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations” that John Adams predicted. I love to stand and remove my hat as the flag passes by during the parade, even when most people don’t bother. I love to sing that National Anthem with a field full of people, all of like mind.
Many people say “Happy Birthday America.” I do to. But more importantly, I say , “Happy Independence Day.” May you all have a great Independence Day, go out and celebrate, don’t let it be just another day.
-Justin
**Editors Note** It has been a year and a half since I started this post. I didn’t know what to do with it, I was not sure how to finish it. Now, the direction is a bit different and the meaning is more profound for me. **
Far out in the uncharted backwaters of Utah, some 140 miles to the southeast of my house lies a quiet little town nestled in the foothills of the Book Cliffs.
Residing in a house that is 67 years old lives a woman who is only 22 years older than the house. (That’s 89 just in case you can’t do the math.) It was to this little old house that the family and I ventured to a couple of weeks ago. The city is East Carbon, but will forever be known to me as Dragerton. It is the place where my Dad was born and raised, the place where many members of my family came seeking work in the coal mines.
Now, I would love to say that this is a beautiful little oasis in the desert, but the fact is, the town is dying. Lack of jobs keeps the population low. Many of the houses there, including my Aunt’s were built before 1948 by the coal companies, so there were places for the workers to live. Workers bought the houses from the company, the company ran a store, and basically controlled everything in town. to start with. You have heard that Tennessee Ernie Ford song 16 tons? The line in there about “St. Peter don’t you call me cause I can’t go, I owe my soul to the company store….” Yea exactly.
Tennessee Ernie Ford
When I first started this post I intended to write about how the town was dying but people kept living there because it was their home. About how my great Aunt moved there from Indiana with her husband, her sister (my grandma), my Grandpa, and my Great Grandparents. About how they lived and scraped by, about how she buried 2 husbands there and still returns to run her own house. How we would visit her to hear stories of the old times, of my Uncle that I never met, and of my Uncle that I knew and had a special place for.
We would go down and look at pictures of the old mines, and learn about the jobs that they guys had, things they found, like dinosaur footprints on the ceiling. (No it’s true. millions of years ago dinosaurs wandered all over what is now Utah and they left footprints in the muddy stream beds and swampy areas that eventually fossilized. The plant matter below became coal and when they dug out the coal, the stone footprints were on the ceiling. There are a few of them in the Natural History Museum at the College of Eastern Utah in Price. It’s kind of cool.)
Now, the focus of this post has changed. My Aunt used to go to Arizona in the winters and live in Dragerton during the rest of the year. But she is now 91, (92 in just a few days) and she is finally getting frail. She has always been such a great example of strength and endurance but she is just getting old. This past winter she couldn’t go to Arizona any more. It was just too hard, and she is having trouble walking and getting up by her self. She is now in an assisted care center where they can help her get up and not fall. They have meals for her and make sure that she has company. She still talks about going back home to Dragerton and having us all come and visit. I would like that, but I don’t think it is going to be possible.
What hasn’t changed about this post is the main idea. I set out to write about the end of some things. My Aunt is the last of the older generation in my life on my Dad’s side of the family. My Grandparents are all gone on both sides, My wife’s grandparents are gone. The only one left is my Aunt, and I honestly don’t know how much longer that will last. I am privileged to have known my great grandparents and my grandparents as well as my aunt and uncle. The history that they have seen, the exploits, the hunting trips, the fun times, the lean times, the family times are all stories that I used to just absorb at nights on the patio, or out shooting, or hunting rabbits. Now, to think that only my Dad or his sister, or me know these stories brings about some sadness.
Life is one of those things that you always know will end, but you never want it too. I am glad that 2 of my kids knew their Great Grandfather, and they all know their Great Great Aunt. That generation has values and sensibilities that seem old fashioned and worn out now but those are important to me. I try really hard to keep some of those values alive and not let my kids become entitled little whiners that have everything given to them. I think that has helped them deal with all of the challenges we have faced as a family, from a kidney transplant to losing our home. They know what is important, Family.
None of us want to dwell on the fact that my Aunt is in the final stages of her life. She has always seemed so…permanent. But we know, that it will come eventually. All we can do now is visit and talk and recall those times when we were down there with her as well as learn all of the stories that she can tell us. It won’t be the same without her. My Dad will be the oldest one at that point, and my kids will get stories from him, but, for me, those will never be as good as the ones I heard growing up.
That big wheel just keeps on turning as Lynyrd Skynyrd says, and eventually I will be the one regaling my grandkids with stories. My mother and father will be ailing, and I hope that my kids, and their kids not only know who they are but have the respect for them that I do with my older generations.
It seems things will never end when you are young, but they do. We just have to honor the memories we have and not let the stories and history die with the people that we love.
Talk later.
-Justin
The first sentence of this post was inspired by the lovely and talented Courtney Cantrell, who wrote this post on my buddy Aaron’s blog and just made me smile. You see I love those Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy books. Go read them if you haven’t. It will be worth it and someday your life may depend on your towel.
I also found this picture, it is the hospital in Dragerton. My Dad was the first one born there in 1951, and his sister was the last one born there in 1964. Go Figure.
Hey there folks, did you know that today is either martin Luther King Jr. Day or Civil rights Day? That means Federal holiday. No mail, no banks, no SCHOOL!
Image via Wikipedia
sometimes these things sneak up on me. Of course this post should have been posted yesterday but no school means all the kids are home and it is a major feat to get any work done. Sometimes I look at the calendar and think, good grief these kids have too many days off. I was ready to send them to school on Jan 2 this year, just to get them out. There was no school that day either. My wife commented how none of her coworkers kids had to go on the 2nd so we finally checked the calendar at the district website. It was 130 am. There was no school.
I would have had the kids up and to school before we realized that there was no one else there. I did get to have fun when they slept in and then went scrambling around worried about how late they were going to be.
So yesterday there was no school and we all celebrated human rights day by sitting on the couch and watching documentaries about Bigfoot. Don’t judge. Later came the Disney Channel marathon.
How exactly are you supposed to celebrate Martin Luther King day? I don’t have the experience of race issues to know how much better it is now. I grew up in a neighborhood where most everyone was white. There were a few black kids at school and they were just fine. I never had a problem with what anyone looked like. I know from history that this was not always the case, but I have no firsthand knowledge of it. Continue reading
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