Today is Monday, July 4, Independence Day 2022. I don’t have much time to post this blog since Elliot and I just returned from watching the Macy’s fireworks show in Long Island City. I know I said this particular holiday was not one to celebrate because of our perilous situation regarding the diminishment of rights once protected by the federal government. Call me a hypocrite if you like, but we harbored an inclination just to see the show without attaching any symbolism to it. Which we did! We managed to avoid the crowds by standing apart from the multitudes that walked down to the river. We stood outside a restaurant’s outside shelter on Vernon Boulevard and 47th Avenue. Our view was somewhat cut off because of our vantage point, but it was fine. We also didn’t wait to see the entire spectacle because we anticipated a huge outflowing of cars from the parking garage where we left our vehicle since there were no spots anywhere on the street. If we go the next time, we have decided it’s less stressful to take the subway rather than taking the car.

Before I retire, I have to sadly acknowledge that unique American tradition occurring on this, our 246th birthday, which was another mass shooting, this time in Highland Park, Illinois, where six people were killed when a gunman opened fire at a Fourth of July parade, injuring more than two dozen individuals. Thank God a “person of interest” was arrested the same day, around 6:30 p.m. local time, nearly nine hours after the massacre. Again, without fail, the shooter falls into the young, white category; who could even speculate why this 22-year-old suspect would use a high-powered rifle on a crowd of innocent paradegoers. We have to admit that this country does a marvelous job of instilling hate in these young men’s minds for whatever reason. It’s time we had a ban on assault rifles; the recent gun legislation signed by President Joe Biden did not go far enough – and everyone knows it. This country still lacks the will that other governments have had when confronted with similar incidents involving firearms and it’s just appalling that we still haven’t learned from their lesson. When will this madness ever stop? We instinctively know the answer to that question, given our ungodly obsession with guns.

Stay safe and be well.