For several years, our Independence Day was spent at the Hicks’ manor in Sonoma, a comfortable home to which they moved from San Francisco after Alan retired. Alan and i, among other friends, would claim our spot on the plaza and Maren and Maureen would join us later. The parade, as you can see below, was local and wonderful. Miss it. With no energy yet from the scourge, my post will be short, but that’s okay: there is no shortage of posts and articles about our Independence Day.

i will keep my comments short today, but as you celebrate, i do hope all of you will remember the reason for the season and drop all of the politics George Washington warned against and thank those who made our Freedom possible. The ideas of equality and freedom expressed by those men were limited by their culture, time, and knowledge, but the idea remains in its totality, its underlying essence of liberty, freedom, and independence.

i again refer to Major R. Kenneth Morgan, my Latin professor at Castle Heights Military Academy, who defined “Freedom” as “The freedom to do anything you want unless it restricts the freedom of someone else.”

May you have a wonderful Independence Day.