Bastille Day

Today is the birthday of our sister republic. Of course it could be none other than France, which may well be the only place in the world I would choose as an alternate place to reside, if Iowa should ever become uninhabitable.

Bastille Day commemorates, of course, the storming of the Bastille, the prison fortress and hated symbol of royal privilege and tyranny, and the promulgation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man shortly thereafter in the year 1789.

Of course we here have a special bond with the people of France, because of her support of our own contemporaneous efforts to remove the boot of royalty from our necks.

It's also a date that is important to me personally because it was about this time we declared our independence from credit card hell 2 years ago, and the two of us declared our independence from tobacco in 1980.

High summer is the season for great liberations, and we're grateful. Ever has it been that the hopes and aspirations of people the world over have looked to both republics for inspiration, and even in the darkest hours the flame has flickered, but has proved unquenchable.

Long may she wave. Let her light burn brightly.