Freedom to of and for

Having a holiday weekend is such a treat.  And for me this year, I also had Sunday off from church, so I really had extended time off and made the most of it.  I tried to blend and balance R & R with household projects and tasks.  As much as I appreciate the opportunity of 'free-time' to do procrastinated or prolonged tasks, I also don't like to lose sight of the original intent of the holidays themselves.

Even our puppy, Chai celebrated this year.  We took her to be professionally groomed. I am not used to dogs being groomed.  We've always bathed the dogs at home or the larger dogs, at the U-Wash Doggie establishments.  However, Chai was a canine version of the Swiffer and every time we took her to her obedience class, I would spend 15-20 minutes removing burrs, stickers and what-nots from her coat.  Given that the weather here in Chico has been rising into the triple digits, we thought it might also be cooler for her.  We asked that she not be cut too short, or given the official breed cut because we rather like her scruffy looks.  A wonderful groomer, Kristen at TrailBlazers managed honor our request and even adorned her with a little patriotic red, white and blue bow. Which just happened to match her new red collar, too.   Awwwwwwwwwwwww.
It was so cute -- almost too cute. Ewwww, I didn't want to become a frou-frou mom. Yet, there I was scrambling for a camera.  And it wasn't just me who thought she looked cute. When we went downtown to listen to the free community concert, people kept pointing at her and making gurgly baby sounds of appreciation.

Traditionally, on the Fourth of July holiday weekend,  as a kid I would watch "Yankee Doodle Dandy" the way most kids watch "Barney."  Later on, I added to my patriotic arsenal the musical film version of the Broadway play, "1776." 

I had a special fondness for "1776" beyond my love of the history around the American revolution; but I had also been an usher at the Music Center in Los Angeles when this show went on tour from Broadway.  I was able to watch the show almost every night of the week that I was on duty and would even trade shifts so I could watch it as often as possible before it closed.

Neither of these films I currently own or could find available to rent.  Instead, this year Don and I watched for a second viewing, the HBO series, "John Adams."  Extraordinary.

Whether my admiration for this film is a further sign of my maturity or that the material and the finished product of "John Adams" is so exceptional a (re) viewing of the series is now going to become a yearly event for me.

Owning the DVD has the added advantage of special features which include the making of the series-with historical facts and commentary by the book's author, David McCullogh- and the ability to have onscreen facts/trivia appear throughout the series.  Since we had already viewed the series, having these pop-up windows was not too annoying and quite informative.

Perhaps because of the timing, I was quite struck by the historical fact that black slaves built the White House. That important fact was somehow not taught in my grade school.  And yet, today,  an African-American now lives there as the 44th President of United States.  We've come a long way, baby.


"The Divine Plan is one of Freedom;  bondage is not God-ordained."
 Ernest Holmes