Ours is a small family. The size influences how we celebrate holidays, which is less often as we age. When I was younger, it was very Polish of me to want each holiday to be a special occasion. In the rural Minnesota community where my forebear Maciej Nadolski settled, holiday celebrations were well-organized, especially Easter and Christmas. In some cases, a procession developed on the outlying Polish farms and grew as it visited each of scores of farmsteads enroute to town. It meandered through the countryside, collecting people from their homes, and ended at the church they built when the land was deeded from the railroad. All that pageantry has gotten sanded off in the wood shed of time. Also, there are automobiles now.
Independence Day falls into the category of “day off work.” When I was in the paid workforce, I most often had to work on the holiday. We sometimes watched organized fireworks displays. When I was more active in politics and had the day off, I traveled several miles north to Ely and walked with the Democrats in their city’s Independence Day parade. I haven’t done either of those things in a long time.
The big Independence Day, in 1976, I was on leave from the military and spent the day at Mother’s house. Because I hadn’t known in advance I would return home for the holiday, I had no plans. It didn’t bother me, either. I was doing my duty to serve the country. If folks wanted to celebrate signing the document, that was fine with me.
Next year is the 250th anniversary of signing the Declaration of Independence. The president came to Iowa yesterday to kick off his celebration. I’m not aware of the plans the way I was for the bicentennial. However, it seems like the kind of broad, inclusive planning that took place in 1976 is missing for 2026. Apparently our president will be telling us what to do. No thank you.
This year on the holiday I will put the garage door up and hang my American flag above it. Beyond that, I’m not sure what I will do, except go on living. Maybe for old times sake, I’ll get a copy of the Declaration of Independence and read it.
Our child asked for an authentic copy of the Declaration of Independence for their bug-out bag so I gave them mine. It is not really American to need a bug-out bag, yet here we are, after almost 250 years. Hopefully we can mind our own business and no one will come after us. If they do, we must be ready.
Be safe out there this holiday weekend.
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