Read the Declaration of Independence and then it’s time for fireworks and grilling, maybe some apple pie too!

Today in the United States we celebrate Memorial Day, the day we remember American casualties of any military action. Though many worry that we lose sight of the meaning of holiday as it also seems to mark both a three day weekend and the beginning of summer, I think those people died so that we could enjoy both and would ask us to use the privilege well. That said, go to a parade if there is one, or if you haven't paid your dues lately, go for a walk in a veterans cemetery and think about the cost we've paid for the right to do what we want today.

I'm not trying to talk politics here, but I don't want to be so politically correct that I avoid important topics either. I'll let you decide how I did.

By luck, birth, and upbringing I'm an American with a deep and serious love of country. If you were born in a different country I hope you have the same feeling for your country. Today in the United States we continue our experiment in democracy by voting to decide who will lead our country for the next four years. It's been a long and tiring process, and I wasn't running for office! But that long and tiring process is a lot like a baseball season, designed to weed out those that can't stay in the game all day every day. It's okay to argue, debate, disagree on all of this and more, it's the nature of people and America. But on January 20, 2009, we'll celebrate a day that transcends those squabbles for a while as we watch the peaceful transfer of power to the forty third President of our country.

I hope you voted today, and that regardless of the winner, that you'll celebrate being part of a country where you get to participate in the election process and exercise your first amendment rights to free speech!