Celebrating Freedom, Community, and a Little Adventure
“Just Thinking"
Tomorrow, we celebrate our nation's independence, a monumental day every year, but even more meaningful this year as we celebrate America's 250th birthday. Having lived through our nation's Bicentennial in 1976, I feel truly blessed to be here to celebrate another monumental anniversary, with the freedoms and opportunities that make this country so special.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction." — Ronald Reagan
Every year, Tracy and I make our way downtown to watch the Martinez 4th of July parade. It's a fun tradition, a wonderful display of patriotism, community spirit, and small-town America that feels like it came straight from a Norman Rockwell painting.
This year, however, there is a little twist with a little more excitement, rather than merely watching from the sidelines, I'll be participating in this year’s parade. I have decorations for my truck, I couple of flag poles, one with Old Glory and one with a special 250-year flag, I had a couple of red, white, and blue Chuck Barberini Real Estate magnetic signs for the doors. I have bunting for the bed of the truck and the Marine flag for the tailgate. My buddy Joe will be sporting a new, classic patriotic shirt, and we'll be handing out beads and candy to parade-goers along the route. Number three son, Cole, will be behind the wheel, Aunt Debbie will be riding shotgun, Joe and I will be enjoying the ride in the back of the truck.
The weather is expected to be much milder than in years past, when July 4th temperatures often hovered near 100 degrees, making for a more comfortable and enjoyable celebration a perfect day to enjoy the parade.
There is another anniversary this week that I have loved since the first time that I heard it, it defies logic as well as gravity. On July 2nd, 1982, Larry Walters sat in an aluminum lawn chair in San Pedro California, attached to the lawn chair were 42 helium-filled weather balloons.
He had packed a few snacks, a camera, and a pellet gun he hoped to use to pop balloons when it was time to come down. Friends helped with the launch lines, and when everything was ready, Larry gave the signal and the ropes were released. He didn't drift lazily into the sky as he had expected, he shot upward, higher and higher until he reached nearly 16,000 feet. Larry gripped the arms of his chair, too startled to use the pellet gun. The wind carried him northward, directly into the controlled airspace around Los Angeles International Airport. Soon, commercial airline pilots began radioing the control tower.
“You're not going to believe this,” one pilot reportedly said, “but I just passed a man in a lawn chair.”
Eventually, Larry gathered his courage and began popping balloons, slowly descending toward the ground. After several hours aloft, he landed safely, tangled in power lines but otherwise unharmed.
When reporters later asked why he had done it, Larry gave a simple answer that would become famous: “A man can't just sit around.”
As we celebrate 250 years of American independence, I'm reminded that one of the things that makes this country so special is the freedom to dream, to participate, and sometimes even to do the unexpected. Whether it's a hometown Fourth of July parade in Martinez, gathering with family and friends to honor our nation's founding, or a man named Larry Walters lifting off in a lawn chair beneath 42 weather balloons simply because he wanted to see the world from a different perspective, each story reflects the spirit of America in its own unique way.
Tomorrow, I'll proudly wave the red, white, and blue as part of our community's celebration, grateful for the blessings of family, freedom, and the opportunity to live in this remarkable nation. Here's wishing everyone a safe, joyful, and memorable Fourth of July. God bless America, and happy birthday to the greatest nation on earth.
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