What is July 4 all about?

It's about the birth of our country, and those who have fought and died to keep that country free.

It's about those freedoms that were fought for, like the freedom to worship as we please, and live as we please, and (one of my personal favorites) write whatever we want in the newspaper.

Well, within reason. And libel laws.

It's also about spending the first part of the day playing with your kid in your backyard, and getting an unexpected text message from your oldest and best friend. And going back to the house that was her actual home, and your second home, when you were teenagers, and spending hours sitting outside in the breeze, just shooting the breeze.

It's about going to see fireworks, parked on the right-of-way in front of a stip mall, talking about old memories and making new ones.

And about little ones falling asleep on the way home, and being carried inside by daddies, only to wake up long enough to remind their moms to take their sandals off.

I hope you had a great, safe, freedom-filled July 4. Did I host a grand feast? Nope. Did I spend a small fortune on bottle rockets and sparklers? Not this year. But I got to spend time with some of my favorite people in the whole wide world. And my voice is tired from all the "visiting" we did. And I wouldn't change our spur-of-the-moment, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of day for all the Roman candles in the world.

That, I think, is what July 4, and freedom, are all about.