Hi.
Coffee: House Blend, Ithaca Coffee Company; It’s been a long time since I’ve ground my morning coffee; I’ve gotten in the habit of drinking the work stuff, or splurging for out-of-housers on my days off; today, I wanted to feel that old sensation of tiring my arms out, and I’ve still got some of these beans my friend gave me a month ago, so I put my all into it; the coffee came out tasting like green beans fresh off the vine
There’s a puppy in the apartment. His name is Gus. He’s my roommate’s brother’s dog and we’re watching him while they’re out of town. This morning, I was up before anybody and went to pet him in his sleeping-crate. He gnawed on my fingers with prickly puppy teeth.
I walked by the pool today and saw people sunbathing. Storm clouds came but they stayed there, bearing the heat and imminent rain, cooking on the grill, exposing their right to live here freely, embracing independence with burned bodies.
It’s the 4th of July – a celebration of America’s independence. I haven’t done much to celebrate. A friend posted a link to the Declaration so I read it. I saw how it said all ‘men’ are this and that, equal and free, etc, etc, and couldn’t help but remember my time studying Classics in college, ancient Athenian law, where there was a functioning Democracy with extensive freedoms for all citizens, only ‘citizen’ was a small category that included only Athenian-born men.
I grew up loving the sound of ‘America,’ and have grown old getting more and more skeptical of what I hear. When we celebrate, what are we celebrating? An old dim dream? Or something you can put your arms around?
There are children being caged on American soil. And I’m not just talking about the migrant communities. In a country of for-profit prisons, can we really celebrate freedom each year?
More work to be done.
Currently Reading: Queen, Suzanne Crain Miller
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We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…
Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence
Livesay Writing 
Very well put. A bit of my own sentiments exactly. Each year I feel more and more ashamed to celebrate. We hung out with a co worker of Chads who just came up from Costa Rica today. He will teach Spanish here for a time. When I asked him if there was anything he thought he would encounter that he hasn’t, he said he had worked at a call center before becoming a teacher so he thought Americans would be meaner just from his impressions from that job. I hope we can stay “nicer” as a whole for his duration here but something tells me he may have a different answer on his exit interview. Interesting way to spend the 4th. Welcoming someone to a country that has proved less than welcoming for so many…
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Sorry for the late response – but I think this is the most American 4th of July story I’ve heard.
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