Today is my least favorite holiday. It combines two things I don't like, explosives and drunks. The self-righteous, even rabid, patriotism is also a turn off. I love the ideal of independence. Also the spirit of revolution to free people from tyranny. There's lots that is good about the founding fathers crafting the Declaration of Independence. Thoughtful, intelligent people creating a new form of government based on laws and equality.
However, when they held the self-evident truth that all men are created equal, they really did mean "men," that is, white men. Not women, not Indian and Black males who were not considered men. I suppose we can excuse that way of thinking as a product of a less-enlightened time. Yet it's still hard to get around the fact that this new, independent United States of America was a land already inhabited by people, like the Iroquois with their own laws and form of highly functional democratic government.
Independence is a freeing concept. Not having to depend on anyone for anything. On your own, out from under another's thumb. Growing a garden makes me feel sort of independent - it gives me some sense of security, foodwise. But there are many things I eat and use that I don't or can't produce in the backyard. I depend on others for fuel, tools, bread, clothes, and so on. It's OK, it doesn't hurt me or make me less secure. True freedom and security come from interdependence more than independence. That's how nature works. Everything and everyone is connected. We need each other, so we ought to try to get along.
In the garden today
As I watered the corn, a curious hummingbird came within a foot of me to inspect the spray. The corn plants are all different heights, and some of the seeds didn't germinate. So I planted some more. This will make for even greater disparity in heights. I hope it makes for a longer, continuous harvest of those sweet, sweet ears.
The occasional boom of bombs bursting in mid-air startled the other birds and set off every dog on the block. And it's hot - true Fourth of July weather. The lettuce and peas are hanging in there - they are fainting by the end of the day though. Even the sweet peas that "they" say won't grow in the heat are flourishing. Living here on the central coast of California, I can ignore what "they" say with impunity.
I went to a neighborhood potluck today - my next door neighbor had made a delicious pie with the plums hanging from the branch of my tree that reached into her yard. Happy Interdependence Day
1 comment:
My corns have silk, I think I am ahead of you. But you are taller.
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