Today is a good day for sparklers. People ignite them and watch the blinks fly like a swarm of fireflies escaping from a skinny gray stick. There are fireworks too, that zing across the sky with enough pop and sizzle to turn night into day, if only for the duration of a child's scream.
The celebration is all about
freedom. Liberty is the linchpin of human interactions. It chops like a cleaver between domination and companionship, fear and trust, slavery and employment, abuse and marriage.
It is easy to harangue governments whose power gets out of control, and ignore our own tendency to manipulate. One time I wanted John to blow off a barbershop weekend he was signed up for, in deference to a family reunion. I wheedled. I scolded. I
stonewalled.
He went.
Looking back it does not feel like partnership to have strenuously, if unsuccessfully, twisted his arm. He is a grown up too and gets to make decisions. If I wanted complete control, I should have opted for a mannequin. But how much fun is that? Last time I glanced in a store window display no one was smiling.
