Happy Independence Day

It's the Fourth of July, can you believe it? Many of us may not always agree with the course the nation and its people are following. "Jefferson, I think we're lost," Michael Stipe declared in R.E.M.'s Little America. I'm not sure if he referred to that Jefferson, but I like to think he did. But our country's independence, and our freedom to protest for a better America for all its inhabitants (including animals), is worth celebrating.

That said, I am hours away from devouring a veggie burger smothered in vegan cheese hot off my parents' grill. Mango lemonade, carrot salad, corn on the cob and Trader Joe's soy cherry chip ice cream are all on the menu. I cannot wait!

Enjoy the simple pleasures of summer. Gazing at fireflies. Taking in the sweet smell of honeysuckle. Sipping lemonade in the sun. Eating watermelon.

As Tori Amos reflects in her haunting song "Gold Dust,"

"How did it go so fast, you'll say as we are looking back, and then we'll understand, we held gold dust in our hands."