4th Fanatics: What if?

Every year around mid-June, a strange phenomena occurs at my house. It's called obsession and it has something to do with fireworks. Shooting them, sorting them, selling them, buying them, displaying them - life at the Regnier's is all about fireworks. So some of you that understand this behavior are already asking, "So is this a problem?" Well, yes, kind of. You see, I don't share it. I live with it, I listen to it, it consumes my life for two weeks out of the year but I just don't get it. It amazes me that people get so much joy out of blowing up a little piece of cardboard wrapped around explosive.
Party pooper? Yeah, I've been called that and worse. I don't know the difference between artillery and missiles. I don't know why a square box that makes colored sparks is called a cake. I don't understand the lingo such as brick, case, package, unit. I can't fathom the fascination of it.
OK - I'm as patriotic as the next person and I can remember enjoying fireworks when I was a kid. It's just that the kids in my house never seem to grow up when it comes to fireworks. I love the fact that my husband puts hours upon hours into putting on the annual community fireworks event in Bennington that brings so much enjoyment to so many. I  like it that he runs the fireworks stand in our garage to enable us to present "Celebration in the Skies". I even kind of enjoy watching a firework or two, especially if it's purple.
So, I've come to the conclusion that my aversion to fireworks is not really an aversion to fireworks at all. It's simply a by-product of summer heat. Anyone who knows me knows I don't tolerate heat well and that is a definite understatement. I get headachy, my stomach hurts, I think I'm going to melt and that's after the first five minutes. After ten minutes I turn into nothing but a pile of grouchies and sweat. Heat and I do not get along and guess what the weather in Kansas is like nearly every July 4th?
I had one of those "What-if" moments this 4th of July (the morning our air conditioning broke) while I was sitting outside trying to look like I was doing something productive for the fireworks stand. (BTW, thank you Steve, for coming to fix our a/c so quickly. I was ready to move to Alaska. Steve was my hero of the day!)
Back to the what-if. Imagine with me for a moment what our celebration of Independence Day might be like if our forefathers had signed the Declaration of Independence, oh, say in mid-January. We could have sledding parties instead of backyard barbecues. We could watch football games on TV instead of scorching at a baseball field. Hey, maybe we could even have a fireworks display where we all sit around in our parkas covered up with blankets as we oooh and ahhh at the sky. Furthermore, we wouldn't even have to wait till 10:00 at night. We could have our fireworks show at 7:30 then get home at a decent hour. Just think how much more enjoyable the fireworks stand would be if you could come inside a nice warm garage, maybe about 30 degrees, to shop in 'climate controlled' comfort. We could even serve hot chocolate and coffee in case someone was wimpy about the 'cold.'
So what were they thinking, Patrick Henry and John Hancock and the others? It would have been so easy to just schedule their big moment about 6 months earlier. Who's to say it might have even aided their cause. Oh, I do wish someone had suggested it back in 1776.
But, I guess our forefathers had something else in mind. Our independence and our freedom. We as Americans should grasp this and hang onto it with all we're worth no matter what time of year it is. Fly your flag, support our troops, thank God we live in a country blessed beyond what we can fathom. The signers of the Declaration of Independence laid a foundation for freedom we should never take for granted. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Psalm 33:12
OK - so they didn't think of quite everything, but they sure got the important stuff right. Be proud to be an American!