Independence Day - A True Patriot

Yes, I’m a true patriot on this 4^th of July, 2014.  Eating a hotdog (in truth eating two) to celebrate this day of independence is risking life and limb for my country.  Eating the fat, ungodly mystery body parts and heaven knows what else packaged neatly in the dog, savoring the burned flavor of the “meat”, the strong accent of mustard smearing the bread and mixing in the juices of the sauerkraut, all buried inside the spongy soft untoasted emptiness of the white bread is something I have been waiting for – for exactly one year since last we visited this day in 2013.

I’m so careful with what I eat; this is no dress rehearsal of my life but the real thing.  My cholesterol, my triglycerides, my PSA, my blood pressure, my weight, and my state of mind all depend upon my physical well-being, something I have wanted to contribute to willfully.  I eat only fruit for breakfast, one tomato, some low fat cheese and several olives for lunch (sometimes I add a little humus). But I indulge a little bit in the evening washing down mouthfuls of wine celebrating the end of the day with a little lightheaded abandon and lighthearted freedom.  My cholesterol has responded, my dose of Lipitor reduced to unapproved levels (10mgm every other day) and I feel good about my efforts to foster good health.  I may die tomorrow but at least I’m trying to always die the day after next, not today or tomorrow, never today or tomorrow.

Yes, I am a true patriot, willing to sacrifice my heath and my life eating this unhealthy symbol of American life.  But it’s worth it because I’m an American. 

And it’s to this last sentence that I claim veracity to in this otherwise silly waste of writing that I attest is indeed the truth.  Particularly on this day in 2014, when there are so many things wrong with America and its leadership (see The Daydream and the Nightmare – Peggy Noonan WSJ) that I feel sense of patriotism and loyalty for what America represents and has given to me and my family.  God only know what a retched life I might have lived being born a Christian Arab in the Middle East considering the history of the last 60+ years.  And America will recover from this latest period of misdirection and mayhem, I am certain.

Alas, to celebrate America's Independence day, I look forward each year to going to my best friend’s home, a Jewish dermatologist in Kailua, to enjoy my yearly dose of July 4^th, and the next hotdog I have been thinking about and craving - for exactly one year.  Unfortunately, this year his wife, also my friend, cancelled the yearly barbecue July 4^th celebration at their home due to an unexpected ankle injury. 

Too much for me to bear, a trip to Safeway to purchase a package of Hebrew National hotdogs, buns and sauerkraut was all it took to make the day.  A while later, after two dogs were consumed, my tummy weighed down with a foreign partially digested substance unfamiliar to its usual inhabitant, I was ready for a long nap. 

Now awake and still alive, I am documenting this moment just in case there is no one to follow, just in case July 4^th, 2014 is the last one that I enjoy the hotdog I am already craving in 2015.