'Merica

Independence Day.  Its so much more than a day for picnics and awesome fireworks.  Its the birth of our country.  The day we said we are simply not going to sit idly by and allow this injustice to continue.  The gauntlet was thrown down.  The men we hail as heroes were, in their day, traitors.  According to the crown had they been caught they would have been executed for their treasonous behavior.  Now, 238 years later we celebrate them and the dangerous decisions they made.  With time, I suspect that most simply see it as a day off work, but to history nerds like me it reminds me how lucky we are and that were it not for their bravery and intestinal fortitude, life as we know it would be so very different.  I love this holiday because perhaps more than any other it reminds me how lucky I am, not just to be born in a Western country, but to be born in a FREE country.  We owe that to those men who met in secret, determined to correct an injustice at any cost.  Though our country is free, it cost us dearly.  Today, surrounded by my fellow countrymen and my new Australian friends we celebrate those men and their gift to us.

Ambassador's Residence all decorated