Independence Day.
On Independence Day I wondered if riding was an expression of freedom or merely a distraction from the real meaning. Military themes and observances are common here. A monument in remembrance of one of the first unit organized in the Continental Army. Maybe this has something to do with the meaning of Independence Day.
Tanks and other implements of war stand as silent reminders to the price paid for the landscape in which we can express our independence. The price is hard to comprehend.
Markers stand among the gravestones in the older cemeteries indicating those citizens who served or fell in wars and conflicts throughout American history. When I think of July 4th I often imagine the battles so many endured or died in to gain and protect our independence. At times I feel I am not living up to my responsibility to protect it. It seems like there is a responsibility that comes with independence off the battlefield that makes demands everyday. It’s probably more than imagining I can do whatever I want.
Probably.
Riding stirs my thoughts and I wrestle with the meaning of Independence Day. As I write this I believe the meaning is clear. Freedom is change, or rather the courage to change. That was true in 1776 and remains so today. The world changes. Independence might be more a flow than a point. Maybe it mirrors what I like about riding — the journey is the important part and not the destination.
Here’s to all of you and best wishes for your own celebrations of Independence Day and hopes that it stays with you every day.
I would not let burning fuel for recreation bother me, particularly on Independence Day. We are free to enjoy some of the simple pleasures in life. If you think about it, watching a movie involved fuel in the production, a walk in the park with new tennis shoes involved fuel in the process of making them. Almost everything we do involves fuel in one way or another. The important thing I received from your post is that you really were enjoying freedom.
FREEDOM
Too many have given their lives to achieve it.
Let us Cherish it, Defend it and Keep it.
Tom Staggs
Debt is the antithesis of freedom. Much is made of political freedom, where freedom from debt is a little too uncomfortable to think about. Oh and Roosevelt’s four freedoms are lost in the winds of change while I think about it.
I prefer to internalize the Fourth of July, and wonder how it looks from the Khyber Pass.
It’s too deep a subject for a simple comment. I think the biggesst key is to never lapse into taking it for granted. The rest of our actions should be guided by that missive.
I do find it ironic that we claim to be the freest nation while government at all levels seeks to exert ever deepening control over business and personal affairs.
Perhaps that’s one area where change comes in. We have the power to change things if we have the courage guided by wisdom.
Another area could be to change our habits. Where we walk by folks on the sidewalk and don’t make contact, brighten somebody’s day.
The possibilities are endless. Once again, a great, thought provoking post.
Dear Steve (SITS):
Sometimes the fight for freedom transcends what happens on the battlefield… Sometines the fight must be carried on against those in government who think they know best for the people who have entrusted them to make good policy, and to convey the benefits and shortfalls of that policy, before it becomes the kind of law that breeds a self-sustaining bureaocracy that refuses to go away.
That fight is every bit as important, and tiring, and risky considering what some politicians will do to keep their office, as dodging bullets in a firefight.
I was in the town of Lincoln, New Hampshire, on the Fourth of July a few years ago. Acutally, that was 15 years ago… When I noticed a monument in the center of the town. It ewas a simople granite block with an eagle on it. It listed the names of members from the town that had died in wars from the Revolution through the Gulf War.
They were the same last names, over and over again. And how were they honored? By a concert in the square, a parade, and cook-outs in yards across the community. There was no display of military might… Just hot dogs and hamburgers.
Deep at heart, the American people will always get the message, provided they can read, be motivated, and act on the issues that demand attention. And that is quite another subject.
My big celebration was on July 5th, when I was invited to participate in an antique bike ride. It was a parade of seven, over 174 miles of twisty Pennsylvanian countryside. It left me drained, but pleased to be a part of a quiet movement, that was still bigger than me.
Fondest regards,
Jack “R” Toad
Nice thoughtful thoughts Steve W. I like how you think outside yourself. You know…you aren’t stuck in your head. Its good to see that (in anyone).
-Paul
Jeff: Yeah, it is sort of frightening to think of how energy is involved in just about everything. I just try and be sensible with things in the same manner I do when I ride.
And enjoy living.
Tom Staggs: Yes.
Conchscooter: I think dealing with debt is huge. And freedom lies beyond it. Great thoughts.
irondad: Your comment about America being “the freest” makes me wonder if there is some rating somewhere that makes us think that. We certainly have a lot of freedom but I don’t think complete freedom exists anywhere. But we’re certainly high up on the list.
My brain buzzes thinking about government changing. But changing personal habits holds out the hope for some change in freedom to do things.
Your missive of not taking it for granted is an excellent point of departure.
Jack Riepe: What’s going on in Pennsylvania right now with it’s budget shortfall is a textbook case of government action that will directly affect the freedom of a lot of people regardless of whether they slash the budget or raise taxes. At times like these it makes you wonder about who we have elected and what they are really about. A real test of representative democracy…
I don’t know what people think about the Fourth of July. I don’t hear anyone talking about freedom in the neighborhood. But I can hope they do realize what a gift we have, however distorted by the government, here in the United States. Regardless of what we do with it we still have a tremendous ability to make choices and do things that others can only dream about.
Your July 5 celebration sounds great. Nothing like a long ride to clear the head and heart!
“Be it remembered,” he (John Adams) wrote in his Dissertation, “that liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we have not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasures, and their blood”. What and how we support is the question that seems to be at hand.
Shakespeare said,
“there is a tide in te affairs of men,
which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in the shallows and in miseries…..
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.”
I think our freedom; our liberty was and is offered up to us by individuals who took the tide during the flood. Surely we honor such actions on July 4th of every year in whatever manner that is within us.