Our Town Book

"So all that was going on and we never noticed...Oh, earth,you are too wonderful for anybody to realize you. Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every,every minute?" To answer poor dead Emily's question: I know I don't. Especially not today. Not on this Fourth of July.

Most Independence Days I think about hot dogs, potato salad, Souza, and fireworks. And maybe--for a brief moment'about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

This year, though, I am thinking about everything we have lost. Little towns like "Our Town," eaten up by urban sprawl or abandoned to the ghosts of the plains. Our sense of a common purpose. Our civility. Our truthfulness. Our faith in our justice system to bring about justice. Our belief that science and government can make things better. Our openness to the strangers among us--especially the children of strangers. Our friendships with people who are different'or who believe different things'from ourselves. And even our ability to agree about what flags should be honored and how our national holidays should be celebrated.

The only hope I have is that, by being honest with ourselves, by spending a few moments this Fourth of July reflecting on all America has lost, we may perhaps realize--now, this minute--how wonderful our life on earth'in our America, in our town'really is.