Oddly enough, a fair few of my students have been working on essays about independence of late. That is to say, these past weeks, the idea of an independent Scotland has been on my mind more than ever before. And honestly, I don't want it.
Perhaps that's a minority opinion, but I stand by it. By itself, what could Scotland achieve, really? Ours is a lovely country, but it's awfully small; were we to declare ourselves an independent nation, rather than a part of something greater - something like Great Britain - I can't help but think we'd be consigning ourselves into insignificance.
But The Speculative Scotsman isn't a political blog, is it? So I'll stop short my diatribe there. I only bring it up because today, as most of you must know, is a special day for our American friends. It's a day on which they celebrate their country's hard-won independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain... with fireworks! And barbecues!
Why?
I'm not the guy to ask, alas. Maybe check in with me again next year, after I've played Assassin's Creed III. :D
In any case, as established in March and April, America is awesome - I want to go to there again! - so if the folks over there think this is an occasion worth celebrating, and 250 years later they evidently do, then I'm all for echoing the sentiment.
I hope you'll all join me, then, in wishing our American friends a fantastic Fourth of July! Maybe your fireworks be bright, and your barbecues a delight.
If you have any awesome tales of Independence Days past or present to tell, please: share away. You know where.
Reading this post, it occurred to me for the first time that my 4th of July activities today will, besides the inevitable (and hopefully quite tasty) barbecue tonight, consist of reading a British author's history of a time long before ol' Washington's father's father's father was around (Steven Runciman's A History of the Crusades) and, later, watching a British television series (Doctor Who). Whoops...
ReplyDeleteCheers!
ReplyDeleteThe Sound and Fury of Kristopher Denby