Humpday Happenings...Independence Day Edition...

Welcome to America's 242nd birthday...and from what I can see, we're still going strong.
Now, you probably have an idea of what this post is going to be about, so let's get this show on the road and stop keeping you all in suspense..

Our Hoosierland weather for today will be another "H-H-H" day - Hazy, Hot, and Humid with partly to mostly cloudy skies, and temps rising to around 89 degrees.

Again, we're being told there is a chance of showers in the afternoon (so far, haven't see a one over the last few days).
So what say we get ourselves hydrated with a refreshing beverage as we look to this day and what we can learn from it, shall we?
*** First off of the flag pole is our WHO SAID THAT? quote for the week:

"Those who won our independence... valued liberty as an end and as a means. They believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty."
I feel this exemplifies the true meaning of the 4th, and goes to show that whatever sacrifice would be made, it would never be in vain. So, who said that?
The answer at the top of tomorrow's post. Meanwhile, back in Louisville, Kentucky...
*** Next, time for our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
JULY 4 -
---It's Independence Day

(get the flag out and fly it proudly)
---It's National Barbecued Spareribs Day

(well, that's rather expected isn't it?)
---It's National Caesar Salad Day

(Wonder why there's no salad named after OTHER emperors?)
*** Next up, I've always enjoyed the 4th - a time for family, and yes, even firewoirks (the public display variety, mind you).

Philly didn't allow the types of pyrotechnics they do in Indiana, and with good reason...they knew there was a safety hazard (and that people CAN be stupid when they want to be).
And we never did anything that placed anyone at risk of injury along those lines...
Yet, we weren't all stuff-shirt people who didn't know how to celebrate; we just knew a lot better WHY we were celebrating, and not viewing today as  "another day off" or a time to grab those sales at stores, or even to annoy people with huge fireworks.
It was a more civil time, replete with parades and such. Decorating your bike in red, white, and blue was a big deal.
The five and dime stores made out with us buying all those roll caps for our pistols, which we were allowed to fire off with abandon.
Can't say we could do likewise these days.
I think our childhood was much more fun on the 4th. We had learned in school what it was all about, and there was no "revisionist history" being shoved down our throats, so all of us at an early age had a working knowledge of Independence Day
I miss those times (and it's people)...
*** Next, let's visit our "Kitten Corner"...

The kids did well yesterday, spending their usual time napping, eating and being so damn cute.
Every once in a while, they'd raise their head when some idiot set off a loud mortar round in the area.

We hope they do just as well today with ALL the idiots we'll have out there.
*** Next up, let's take time to check in with "Midnight and Company"...
Our furry twosome spent a good part of the day near or on the patio.

Whiskers was around ALL day, while Midnight had to do his "patrol" before he returned.

Later on, they were both on the patio until the sun set, and got their treats for the evening.
Again, I hope they stay HERE when the noise-making begins. They should feel much safer at our "Fortress".
*** Last back to the patriotism pulpit, I was thinking about what to say about today that hasn't already been said.

I looked back at previous year posts on the 4th, and saw some really good stuff.
(when you look back into your past, you should never cease being amazed)
So, in true self-plagaristic form, I'm going to borrow from my own post (2014), and let some other people do the talking::
"If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under." 
~Ronald Reagan 

"I look forward to a great future for America - a future in which our country will match its military strength with our moral restraint, its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purpose."
~John F. Kennedy

"Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory."
~George S. Patton

"America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand."
~Harry S. Truman

"True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else."
~Clarence Darrow

"The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults."
~Alexis de Tocqueville

"When the American spirit was in its youth, the language of America was different: Liberty, sir, was the primary object."
~Patrick Henry

"We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution."
~Abraham Lincoln

"If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter."
~George Washington

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
~John Adams

"Our national motto is 'In God we Trust,' reminding us that faith in our Creator is the most important American value of all."
~Marco Rubio

I think that still sums it all up about as well as we can ever expect or hope.
Have yourselves a safe, blessed, and patriotic 4th. We'll catch you on the flip side.

Be well, make a difference to someone today, and..
Stay SAFE out there, America.