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Nov. 25, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: Tomorrow is the quiet Fourth of July, no fireworks, no hot dogs, no dip in the pond. Just a quiet indoor day reflecting with family and friends.
This raises a question: Which holiday better reflects America, Thanksgiving or the Fourth? My vote goes for tomorrow. Other nations celebrate their birthdays. But I’m not aware of one that officially sets aside a day just to say, “Thanks.” And we say it not to those we elected earlier this month, but to a higher power that governs all.
This is especially true in our neck of the woods. We are both blessed and lucky. The luck comes by way of hard work. Some claim that the harder you work, the luckier you get. They are right.
I once spent a month in Africa with my daughter and was often asked what they think on that continent. Too many believe that the USA is simply lucky. Hard work was seldom mentioned. A serious omission.
Is that it? Not quite. There is also optimism, a trait that has carried America through good times and bad. No farmer has ever planted a seed without faith in tomorrow. And no nation can grow like ours without being thankful for those unseen things that will never die. DAVID REYNOLDS Rockbridge County
