.jpg)
July 8, 2024
Editor, The News-Gazette: Where you there? Last Thursday, I mean. The day seemed special, even if you did nothing special. As usual, you ate too much. And you likely took the day off. There were no worries where your next meal was coming from.
Ah, yes, it was a special day, so special that we call it just simply by a number - the Fourth, no need to mention the month or the year.
However, let’s assume that the year is not 2024, but 1776 and you are not living in the second of many Lexingtons in a land of many states. Rather, you are in a much larger place with streets paved with cobblestones. It, too, is along a river, a much wider one. But what about the good folks of Philadelphia 248 years, were they any different than the good folks you run into everyday?
I don’t believe so. Sure, there was no hothead down from Massachusetts trying to get a meeting stirred up, shouting, “Does anyone care?” Yes, Mr. Adams we cared. And still do. As far as the cool one from Virginia, Mr. Jefferson did not live on our side of the Blue Ridge. Still he knew how to write.
Of course, there were many then who are not now. Both places grew, one much more than the other. That place grew so large that three bridges were built. We built only one. Nonetheless, whether it was the Delaware or the North, now the Maury, both places built the same dream.
Philly residents simply call their three bridges by their first names. It makes the local traffic reports shorter. It does something else. It reminds us that there were giants in those days who outgrew their cities. Some did it with words or a few threads. Think about that if you happen to drive across “The Ben,” “The Betsy” or “The Walt.” The three helped to make your day. And it was not just the Fourth, last Thursday. It’s everyday. DAVID REYNOLDS Rockbridge County
