July 4, 2026

It's the 4th of July. It's hot as blazes and been that way for most of the week.

 This year the fourth it's in a different way. Our country is 250 years old. That should be a reason for celebration. However I'm not feeling it. It seems like most of the things that my ancestors fought for, (and yes, I have an ancestor who fought in the American Revolution), is being destroyed. (While I am grateful to my ancestor John Kilbury being a Patriot, I also recognize that he, and those other ancestors who came before him, did some horrible things. This beautiful land that I am walking on, does not belong to me. It was taken from the people who lived here for thousands of years and that needs to be remembered and reflected upon.)

 For much of my life I spent the 4th of July at the Jersey shore. I was at the Jersey shore as a child on July 4th 1976. We watched the ships on the television sailing in to New York harbor. There was so much excitement. There was so much celebration. It really wasn't just about one day, but about a year. A year where we celebrated and LEARNED. Celebrating 200 years of Independence was awesome, 50 years later not so much so. For the first time in a long time I'm not flying in American flag. That's flag should stand for freedom, justice, and liberty. Unfortunately this year I feel that it does not. 

 With that said it doesn't mean we shouldn't reflect, remember, and indeed (somewhat) celebrate what has been accomplished over the past 250 years. We may not be as great a country as we once were (and I'm not sure that we are ever truly great) but we were pretty darn good. Imperfect as we were (and are), we were better.

 So how am I recognizing this day? (Actually this weekend since many of us started celebrating on July 3rd.) Well...

On the 3rd I had intended to go watch the fireworks at Skytop. However, the heat and the thunderstorms that rolled in kept me away. The storms were gone by the time the fireworks were set off, but I didn't want to deal with the heat, the humidity, the damp, and the crowds. Instead we stayed in our air conditioned home and watched Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen celebrate the 250th anniversary of the country on CNN. It wasn't New Year's Eve celebration but it was interesting nonetheless. That is until the power went out. 

 Now we do have a generator so certain things were kept on. But as I have discovered, some of the items and rooms that are on the generator really don't need to be and there are other more important items that should be. Like the office. It needs to be on the generator line so that the computers and Wi-Fi stay up.  I'm going to have to reach out to the company that put in the generator and figure out how we can get this moved around. 

 Luckily by the time the power went out it has cooled down a bit. So I opened all the windows in the house (which had been closed) and tried to encourage the cooler air into the house.  (By this point there wasn't much wind so that didn't help too much.) 

 I notified PPL of the outage. We were told power would be restored by 11:00 p.m. July 4th. Not exactly what I wanted to hear! I thought of all the food that I had purchased recently in the refrigerator and freezer. That was not going to last that long. But what could I do? We tried to sleep and not worry about what we could not control. Easier said than done. 

 Thankfully about an hour and a half later the power came back on. Which meant we had to go throughout the house and reset things and close up the house again as the air conditioner turned on. Then we tried to go back to sleep. But it was a no-go. Back to Anderson and Andy. We watched the ball drop and “celebrated the 250th 4th of July. And then we turned off the TV and tried to go to sleep again. Eventually we did 

 Unfortunately both of us woke up at our regular time in the morning. That is to say around 5:00. Not what you want when you've been up past midnight, but... At least we have power. 

 We got up got dressed and had coffee. I wished our son was here, but he's working in retail so you know where he is!

  After thinking about it I decided that today might be the day to go for an early-ish morning walk at Skytop. To walk up to Indian Ladder Falls and reflect on this land and those who were it original native people (something that I think we need to honor). While we may be "free", our freedom came at a cost to the people who lived here long before we arrived from across the sea. They cared for this land, something that we don't seem to be willing to do. Something that we should do. Because this land, that was made for you and me, needs to be here not just for us, but for the generations to come. Why were we put here on this earth if not to care for it? 

 The path around the lake and up to Indian Ladder Falls was quite muggy even at 9:00 in the morning. And believe me they were plenty of bugs that wanted to find their home on my skin. Do not like that at all! Who does? 

 I was lucky enough when I reached the falls to find a couple who were from the Jersey shore area, We chatted and that's why I have this lovely photo of myself in front of the falls and not some horrible selfie. Thank you couple from Point Pleasant, New Jersey. It was great talking to you and spending a few minutes on the pathway. 

 By the time I got to the lake trail a lovely breeze with blowing. It made the walk back to the lodge so much easier. There may be no AC but nature CAN provide something better. 

 I headed to the lodge to use the facilities. (Remember...coffee!)I ran into my good friend Robert, who told me that right after the fireworks the power went out!

The generators are still powering the resort but it is not powering the AC. As you're high in the mountains so most times you really don't need AC. (I’m a big believer in mountain air.) With a good mountain breeze, life is more than manageable. 

 Before heading back home, I had to go up to the observation deck to take everything in.

For the first time I realized how far and yet near Buck Hill Falls is. I could see in the distance the white tent that the residents have erected were the inn used to be. Previously I had nothing as a reference. But now I know what exactly I'm looking at and the homes that I can kind of see are definitely Buck Hill Falls cottages. 

 Perhaps one of the most beautiful things this holiday grants us is the opportunity to see the grandeur in this country that is offered to all. We have been blessed with the beautiful planet. We have been blessed with a beautiful country. Isn't that worth celebrating just as much as our independence?  

Finally, I have heard that there is a new "movement" that we turn Independence Day into a day of giving. One famous couple recently donated over $25 million to various charities. (Was it in honor of the holiday or of their wedding?  Does it matter?)  I don't have that to give, but I still can give. I can support charitable causes I believe in such as The Nature Conservancy, Family Promise,  Sesame Workshop and several others (like my local library). What a great way to show our respect for our country and to support those causes that help others. It seems very patriotic to me.