25th of December

In recognition of the USA's Independence Day holiday I had the entire staff here at Space Beagle take the day off to spend time with their families and, hopefully, reflect on what the Founding Fathers did on the 4th of July in 1776. Their bold declaration that our rights come from the Creator and not the King gave the rest of us a chance to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

As my wife and I greeted friends and family throughout the day nearly everyone would say, "Happy 4th of July" but I would counter or open with my own greeting of "Happy Independence Day.........." which seemed to make most people pause to reflect on the holiday for a moment. I struggled a bit to stress my thought that simply reducing perhaps one of the most significant moments in human history to a mere position on the calendar -- as the "4th day in the month of July" -- completely undermined the purpose of the holiday. But my wife saved the day by articulating for me (that is why most men get married anyway isn't it??) that we say "Merry Christmas" to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ (my paraphrasing here) instead of saying, "Merry 25th of December!!" which is exactly the point I was trying to stress throughout the day.

May the Spirit of '76 be with you,

Todd