The year 1776, celebrated as the birth year of the nation and for the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was for those who carried the fight for independence forward a year of all-too-few victories, of sustained suffering, disease, hunger, desertion, cowardice, disillusionment, defeat, terrible discouragement, and fear, as they would never forget, but also of phenomenal courage and bedrock devotion to country, and that, too, they would never forget.
Especially for those who had been with Washington and who knew what a close call it was at the beginning - how often circumstance, storms, contrary winds, the oddities or strengths of individual character had made the difference - the outcome seemed little short of a miracle.
-David McCullough, 1776
I love the 4th of July. My favorite holiday; it has an almost-sacred feeling about it. The above quote is the final summary of 1776; it's an amazing read and I recommend making the time for it. David McCullough doesn't beat around the bush in stating that only divine providence could have allowed some ragtag rebels to gain their independence.
To celebrate, we camped out with Faith/Tyce in Sussex on Thursday, watched the Menomonee Falls parade and fireworks with the Van Blarcums on Friday, and had a wonderful barbecue and fireworks in Cedarburg with the Thompsons on Saturday. What a weekend! Here are a few pictures of our campout on Friday.
One of our independence day traditions is a buttermilk pancake breakfast. We never make 'instant' pancakes - always from scratch. This year, we had the added complexity of making it while camping. Then Jordan took it up a notch by demanding a smiley-face pancake. Due to our camping limitations, this is the best we could do...but it sure did turn out cute.
Either Tyce is jealous of my pancake making skills or he's showing his wrath at my BYU sweatshirt. Could be both, actually. ;)
As our family tent broke during the Father and Sons', we had to borrow these tents from Tyce. With its bright pink color and....symmetry...it gained the nickname "Camp Barbie". Carter did not do well sleeping in a tent without his Mom and Dad. I was still trying to get him to sleep at 2:30, much to the comic relief of Faith/Tyce. 
1776 is one of my favorites. We have the special edition with all copies of all the documents, letters, scetches, and so forth. Love the book and I also love the holiday. Thanks for the post!
ReplyDelete