The Fourth of July isn’t a favorite holiday. I like quiet, and this is a noisy holiday. Days of it, not just the 4th. It seems odd people celebrate the founding of a country based on the rule of law by disturbing the peace. I just don’t get it. I don’t like fireworks shows either because every once in a while they always toss in a bomb just to make a loud, unpleasant noise: “…the bombs bursting in air…” Ugh.

It is odd, then, that the quiet place I will spend the Fourth of July afternoon is the military museum where I volunteer every Thursday, nestled among the noisy artifacts of war, now rendered inoperable. Yet it is quiet there, library quiet, if you are old enough to remember when the spinster librarian shushed you every time you peeped. That quiet. I will take a book to read. I started it three weeks ago there, and I’m nearly done. It’s a history about how America ended up in WWII.

Don’t let me rain on your parade, though! If you like the noisy elements of the traditional celebration of this holiday, by all means blow up a few hundred bucks worth of fireworks! Just don’t do it in my neighborhood. Thanks!

p.s. Andy and Dougy aren’t afraid of loud random noises like thunder, sirens, or fireworks, which is a blessing. Some animals suffer needlessly in fear till the noise is done. My cats are tough!