Show OH ly SAY JL CAN YOU SEE do you know the national anthem by BYRON BYRD it a moment too soon to begin thinking about the fourth of july in tact fact it hurt to think a little bit about labor day one good reason for an early start is the star spangled banner with the world in m the shape its in in it behooves us to approach our national anthem with at least a modicum of familiarity most often we attack mr keys poem as though it possessed but five words we begin resolutely with oh say can you see and then never complete the question see what our only reply is a mumble and as for the melody we are downright anarchistic we mouth along in our own independent fashion throwing in a note here tossing in another there until finally the anthem begins to take on the appear ance of fort mchenry after the british fleet finished its bombardment the star spangled banner is a atod song if you can sing it B by Y beginning our practice should be able to it day and while were about it it do any harm to brush up on my country of thee so many americans now go to canada canad a for winter sports and fishing that a disturbing minority of our good citizens end up my country of thee with god save the king now as friendly as are the rel relations a existing between E england and america and as much as the american people wish mr and mrs george VI a long happy and distinguished career the fact remains that terminating my country of thee with god save the king is A case could be made for it being also but being achron is bad enough and should be sufficient to bring about a speedy end to the whole business other good reasons there are other reasons for thinking about the fourth of july early for one thing there is no discipline no efficient preparation our children ren are arent t certain if the fourth of july is in commemoration of the whiskey rebellion or of the charge up san juan hill and we elders on the other hand are utterly helpless when one of the youngsters asks why james buchanan was chosen to deliver the message to garcia or who helped the green mountain boys take the louisiana purchase from the indians A touch of american history therefore would not be amiss between now and independence day then there is the picnic typical of american fiddle braininess we find that in our hurry we packed our basket with oae one small bottle of ketchup ketchu pone one jar of dry mustard one diaper a tangerine paper napkins wt pounds of potato chips and a box of paper paperclips clips As for the beverage we discover that the babbling brook which looked so inviting fromi from i t the he road is little more than a drainage system of a nearby farmyard and since we neglected to bring a supply of typhoid antitoxin we bacel face an afternoon of steaming coffee although the heat is driving the meri mer i cury through the rivets of the thermometer and the humidity is causing the cuffs of our trousers to roll up like rugs beware the firecracker there is still another phase of an american picnic that is especially exasperating that is the matter of athletic equipment whenever we select a fir shaded spot along the rocky shore of a mountain lake we find we have packed our tennis racket catchers mask and hockey stick i on jn the other hand when our choice is is a small grove beside a thistle dappled field we lift the lid of the rumble seat to discover that a last minute impulse caused us to pack our outboard motor and a take apart billiard cue we bought one time for no accountable reason in a boardwalk auction house in atlantic city america someone has said is the home of the free and the land of the brave this is a good point but too often many young americans take advantage of their freedom to exploit their bravery this is distressingly true during the firecracker season when our children celebrate celebia te the fourth of july that is from may 1 until october 31 the least our public officials could do is pass a 1 law aw prohibiting children under nine months of age from purchasing and setting off fireworks unless accompanied by a saint bernard dog equipped with a fire extinguisher aside from the fact that generation after generation is growing up with only three fingers to a hand and only one ear to a head the setting off of fireworks by children too young to walk constitutes a fire hazard it 1 is s easier than one imagines for a babas burning dress to ignite the curtains the foregoing are examples of what occurs when we permit a holiday to catch us unawares like an overdrawn checking account lets not put off thinking about the fourth of july another moment |