Sam and Dada share their first Independence Day together.

Yesterday started like most days here. Sam, my editor beside me, asleep on his loveseat, while I read some blogs and worked on my own. But then I decided, being as how it was our first Fourth of July together, Sam and I should do something a little different. We'd take a short ride and visit a couple spots around our end of town. Sam got real excited when I suggested he put on his halter.

Pavilions shading litte tables on Transmountain Road

With a light, cool breeze, it was a very nice morning as Fourth of July's go. So about a mile or two and a couple of minutes from the house we found ourselves up on Transmountain Road. It's an eleven mile road that connects the northeast and northwest sides of El Paso by crossing over the mountains dividing the city.

We on the northeast side of El Paso are very fortunate to have these mountains relatively unscathed, unlike the Northwest side. That's because our side of the Franklin Mountain's beautiful flora and fortunate fauna are protected from the bulldozers of progress because they were once part of Fort Bliss and are so full of old artillery shells, exploded and unexploded, that it will cost millions of dollars to clear the land so it can be safely bulldozed to build suburban malls and sprawls.

Sam, waiting in the car. He was ready to leave (and I couldn't blame him)!

We didn't go all the way over the mountain. Our plan was to stop at a pullout with little pavilions shading picnic tables. I thought we'd walk a bit and maybe I'd take a couple of pictures of the valley below. But that didn't last long because the picnic area has no facilities and that left Sam wanting back in the car, so strong was the smell of human urine!

So we headed back down the mountain to the Transmountain Campus of El Paso's Community College. And, wow, what more fitting sight on Independence Day than the city's biggest America flag, towering above the fifty state flags. It belongs to the local chapter of the National Flag Foundation and one of the group's stated goals is "to stimulate love and pride of country in America's children and to serve as a primary source of Flag etiquette..."

The big flag and the fifty little flags.

Erecting this monument to our flag has taken a lot of time and community donations by some very dedicated people. It's still a work in progress. And while it's an enthralling sight watching such an enormous piece of cloth waving softly above the landscape, I couldn't help recall the words of some aliens, not of this Earth, as they wrote in a book entitled, "E.T. 101," several years ago:

"Earth cultures have one basic thing in common: They are all dysfunctional. Once a culture has decided which dysfunctional aspects it wishes to represent, it raises a flag to declare its position, packages its preferred brand of dysfunctionality for consumption at home and abroad, and passes it off as a national heritage to be proud of and protected at all costs."

But God forgive me, I shouldn't be having such thoughts on the Fourth of July. So to divert our attentions, Sam and I decided to walk around the natural landscape of the community college a bit. Sadly, I don't have a picture of the very first thing we saw as we got out of the car--three rabbits!--probably out for a walk on a beautiful Fourth of July morning. Sam was so ready to chase the bunnies but, fortunately, he was leashed, sparing the bunnies (but more probably sparing Sammy!).

Sam in his striking red halter as we started our walk around campus.
(I edited out his leash attached to a metal pole.)

Sam also saw a big, big lizard he wanted very much to go home with for dinner. Once again, the leash spared the wildlife.

After a short walk, it was time for the short two mile drive back home. Sam and I did stop briefly at the Lowe's store. I couldn't believe they were open on the most important of American holidays.

I mentioned how disappointing this was to my neighbor when Sam and I got home. But he had a suggestion for me: "Why don't you move across the border."

I had some nice comebacks to that, but in honor of Independence Day, I prefer not to go into them here, only to say my neighbor stormed off. But that's our relationship. Today, all was fine between us.

That was the wind down of the morning which was the beginning of the rest of a nice day. It culminated with fireworks out our front windows, just down the road a mile or so at the minor league baseball park.