Back when I was a kid, this was definitely my favorite holiday that wasn’t Christmas. Why? One word – fireworks! Back then we’d go to the local baseball park and listen to the stylings of the Stan Colella Orchestra (which is still going strong, though Stan croaked about a year ago) before it finally got dark enough for the fireworks to begin. It was my dad, my sister, and me – my mother was absolutely terrified of loud noises, including thunder, balloons popping, and of course fireworks so she stayed home and my brothers were either out and about whooping it up somewhere or my brother Tim was enjoying his own fireworks display in Vietnam.

Of course the biggest July 4th was that one in 1976. It’s hard to believe that it was 40 years ago today that the first “Bicentennial Minute” aired on CBS. If you were around back then, you certainly recall those historical tidbits (sponsored by Shell Oil) broadcast nightly beginning a little more than a month before Richard Nixon resigned in shame, running strong through the death of Elvis in the summer of ’77, and soldiering on to the final broadcast narrated by soon-to-be ex-President Gerald Ford on December 31, 1976.

The July 3rd minute was narrated by then-VP Nelson Rockefeller, who was the only NY Governor I ever had until he resigned at the end of 1973 for some reason or other that I can’t recall. But he answered Ford’s call and became the second un-elected VP in a row (you may recall that Tricky Dicky’s original VP – a real sweetheart by the name of Spiro Agnew – had to resign in disgrace as well).

I shudder to think what the Teabaggers would have done to Rocky, who, despite his rather appalling drug laws and his actions that led up to the Attica prison riot, was considered a “liberal.” In fact, he was so liberal that, try as he might, he never could win the Republican presidential nomination (and this was back before Republicans went totally insane).

Of course the July 4, 1976 Bicentennial Minute was narrated by Betty Ford, who I believe urged everybody to get out there a have a few cocktails to celebrate our founding fathers.

But, alas, I’m 40 years older now. The one dog inherited the fear of loud noises from the other dog who is no longer with us (well, actually, he’s actually in a tin can on a shelf behind me as I write this), who I can only assume inherited his fear of loud noises from my mother (who is not in a tin can on a shelf), so I don’t get to enjoy fireworks (or thunderstorms, which I always loved as a lid) and instead now dread them if they’re close by.

And whatever patriotism I ever felt is jaded by the likes of Richard Nixon, Dubya, the NSA, and, sadly, our current president who I had such hopes for, once upon a time (by the way, did you see that a Quinnipiac poll found that 33% of voters think Obama is the worst president since WWII? Really? Only 28% said Dubya, which just goes to show that it’s not the person who makes the mess that gets the blame, it’s the person who steps in it and tracks it all over the house).

So I’m happy to have the day off (we will get Friday off next year when it’s on Saturday, right?), but it’s not the big event it used to be. For me, anyway. Hopefully it is for you all, and I hope you enjoy whatever it is you do (or don’t do) today and for the rest of this holiday weekend.

‘Cuz it’s been my experience that once the Fourth is over, Labor Day gets here awful quick.