4th of July ‘Report”

10 points for anyone who gets the pun in the title of this post…

What a lovely Independence Day. Suzan and I arose early for our annual session of Flag Counting, this time accompanied by our friend Wendy. The rules of Flag Counting are simple…

1. You do not talk about Flag Counting (that was Wendy’s)

2. Only American flags, outside, that can unfurl count. That means nothing hung in a window or no flag murals, xeroxes or anything like that.

3. You must, as much as possible, not know where you are going. The whole idea behind Flag Counting is to get all together lost and disoriented while seeing your environs with new eyes and a fresh perspective.

4. The accompanying music must be of the blantantly but superficially American sort. For me, that means Springsteen, Mellencamp, and The Hooters.

Perhaps due to anti-war smolder in the city, flag turnout was quite a bit lower than last year. Mysteriously too, we ended up in my friend Jack’s neighborhood without ever trying and dropped by for a chat.

After dropping Wendy off, we beelined to Bill’s Place for a classic All-American meal then stopped at Green Apple Books on the way home. Many of Northern California’s independent bookstores were celebrating Independence Day by waiving the sales tax on all purchases. Green Apple was even giving away free hot dogs.

I went in looking for one book. And came out with six.

After snagging some garderning supplies for Suzan (I got her a rooftop garden for her birthday), we headed home and killed time before the fireworks. We had plans to meet up with Tantek and Amber but I left his phone number at home. We settled for a drink afterward after meeting at the foot of Buena Vista Park.

Arriving home before midnight, I hustled to the roof of our building to perform a yearly ritual. Since 1994, I have ended the 4th of July with a song by The Hooters called “Washington’s Day”, about faith, healing and the hope that when the world is a better, truer place, that we will all be there with the one’s we love to tell the story of how it happened.

Here’s how it goes…

“Did you think I could ever forget?
That night by the Arlington Flame?
In the silence I heard it,
Through streets so deserted,
You whispered and called me by name.

Did you think I could ever forget?
That powerful look in your eye?
Where Lincoln stood strong,
and you held me so long,
There that night on the 4th of July.”

That’s a little of why this is my favorite holiday.

• Category: Back in the Day