Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July, everyone! I hope that you all have fun activities planned, such as floating down a river whilst drunk, or maybe sitting in a lawn chair in your backyard whilst drunk, or perhaps playing softball or something else whilst drunk. I will be off the grid a bit for the next few days, and thus have scheduled out some posts for Thursday through Sunday. You'll be getting a nice dose of some Field Gulls classics from Davis, Kenny, myself, and maybe a few others, so enjoy.

Did you know, by the way, that technically, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain actually happened on July 2, 1776? This was the day that the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence. Thomas Jefferson (probably busy surfing eBay for bottles of rare French wine) and four others dilly-dallied with legalese and wording for the next two days before the Declaration of Independence was officially drafted and signed.

According to Wikipedia, John Adams, a Paul Giamatti-looking man, wrote to Abigail, his wife:

"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."

Holy crap!

Even though he was off by two days, it's pretty remarkable how correct he was: "It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more." He did fail to include motherf*cking jet flybys, feedback-laden guitar riffs, stunt men, NASCAR, bikinis and beer bongs. But still very close.

Adams followed George Washington into the White House, and he was then succeeded by his Vice President, Thomas Jefferson, who spent two terms as POTUS being a kickass renaissance man and buttressing his estate at Montecello with barrels of rare French wine (Jefferson was the best, you guys). Though Jefferson and Adams were initially political rivals, they ended up becoming great friends later in life. Two of the most influential and well-known Founding Fathers in Adams and Jefferson ended up dying on the same goddamn day in 1826 - the fourth of July. That's just weird. Ok, I'm outta here.