Workin' in the U.S.A.

It was a short day in an even shorter week, but with an extra long to-do list. Even so, I still made some headway, but left about 45 minutes later than I'd hoped. Even with that being the case, I still only worked a little over eight hours today. (I normally work at least 10.)

The day started out right though. I'm happy to report that Pearl's CD player is fine and dandy in spite of its recent trauma. Getting into downtown pre-dawn was a piece of cake. Getting out of downtown mid-afternoon though was murder as preparation for Fair St. Louis interrupted traffic, including shutting down my normal route out of town when I drive.


The one plus in the reroute was that the way home wound me past the steel mill. I can't tell you how wonderful it was to see cars in the parking lot and laborers going in and out of the building. My how we take such things for granted sometimes! Even if the employment numbers for June were bad, I'm here to tell you, that in our part of the woods, it must be getting better.


I know it's not so for others and I feel for them. It's going to be a while before we can move out of this mess. But on this weekend, of all weekends, it's important to remember just what it is that Americans are capable of, what we've survived, how far we've come.


Happy birthday, America. I'm hopin' that your best and brightest years are still ahead.