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July 4, 2003
Independence Day
Today is America's birthday. Last year at this time, I was working at Microsoft as an intern, and Ang came up to visit for a few weeks. On the Fourth of July we went on a mini road trip around Redmond. We eventually stopped at a small town called Carnation, which was having a big celebration. It was the kind of small town that I grew up around in sub-suburban Toronto, but with an American flavour (like a bluegrass band).
There were flags covering every surface that could possibly be covered. Women had red white and blue ribbons in their hair, and men wore star-spangled shirts. One old man wore army fatigues and an American flag bandana. He started yelling at me when I took his picture, so we didn't stay in Carnation long.
Observation: Americans are much more overt about their patriotism than Canadians, but Canadians are a lot more defensive about theirs.
I let Andy and some other Americans plan the activities for today. Whatever we end up doing I'm sure I'll have a great time. I'll bring my camera and add to my long-neglected photo gallery.
Happy Fourth of July to my American readers!