MountainMornings

I admit it, I get all teary on the Fourth of July. Something about that parade, with the school bands and fire engines and the troops of boy and girl scouts. But since we moved to Central Virgina, Bob and I like to go up the mountain to Monticello – the home of the author of these words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident…” This year marks the 49th Annual Independence Day Celebration and Naturalization Ceremony, and 77 people from 44 countries around the world will swear allegiance to these United States of America.

Last year we heard Tracy Ullman, the keynote speaker, talk about our spirit of American confidence, with a capital “C!” She spoke about her father, and how he hated paying for the Royals and thought he’d have a real chance at a better life in America. The sky was the limit he thought, whereas in the UK once a shoemaker, always a shoemaker. Other years we’ve heard the artists  Christo and Jeanne-Claude speak, who are known for slinging orange drapes over Central Park, and we’ve listened to I.M. Pei the architect extol our country’s virtues. In fact Pei was the speaker the summer we moved here, in 2005. I registered to vote that day in VA at the ceremony, in Jefferson’s garden.

I wonder if documentary film maker, Alexandra Pelosi, attended our unique event. She traveled all 50 states to interview newly naturalized American citizens right after the ceremony and before they hit the Olive Garden, to find out why they wanted to relinquish all ties to their ancestral homes and become US citizens. Maybe you saw her Jon Stewart interview? She attended naturalization ceremonies at the Mall of America, at a circus, and a number of baseball stadiums. They even had one at WrestleMania. Guess I’ll just have to watch her special on HBO on July 4th, or buy her book,  Citizen USA: A 50 State Road Trip – maybe she caught me taking a picture of Tracy along with our wedding photographer, Jack Looney.

A picture within a picture…if you see Monticello look for me. I’ll be the one in the big straw hat, crying.