A passing daze....

On this fourth day of July, 2012…

I wuz just recalling the 4th of July celebrations of my own Daze of Yore…well, mine 'n quite a  few others back in those 'good ol days' when the celebration started a couple weeks before the actual 4th 'n ackshully only gave out when the last of the firecrackers gave out….the lazy, hazy, crazy days of Doughboy firecrackers (doubt that 1 in 10 even know what a Doughboy was 'n, No, the term didn 't originate with Pillsbury)…Doughboy firecrackers were the most popular back then…they were cheap (relatively speaking) 'n powerful enough to blow off fingers (which, according to the news of the day, happened to myriad careless boys every year)…for the young, there were real sparklers that were capable of starting fires 'n responsible for a lot of burned fingers…the real piece de resistance, howsumever, were the Roman Candles…they fired a ball of fire (I disremember just how many fireballs per candle) 'n I can't recall the range but Roman Candle wars could make for an exciting evening 'n since we didn't have a firehouse around every other corner back in those halcyon daze of yore, it wuz in the realm of possibility that you could take out a house…'n since the little village known as Beattyville didn't have running water, there wuz no such thing as a hose brigade standing by to dampen the spirits of the young (also older) hooligans who thoughtlessly fired their Roman Candles into the nite air without knowing or caring where they might land…I don't recall any houses burning down 'n tho' my mem'ry is fairly good (I think) I don't remember any of my friends losing any fingers tho' there were a substantial number of buttered hands around that p'ticklar time of summer….

I do know that we were all proud Americans back then, one country, indivisible, with liberty 'n justice for all…that's a sentiment that a lot of people t'day think is just hokey…Cynicism seems t'be the thing t'day 'n seems like 'our country' is more divided than ever…

It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view 'n which should be true 'n appropriate in all times 'n situations.  They presented him with the words, "And this, too, shall pass away."