RED, WHITE AND........GREEN????

Some weeks ago my wife and I were walking on the beach near our house at a VERY late hour (writing these things tends to keep me up). As we neared a fairly deserted part of the beach we noticed what looked like a body bag on the beach (no, not too much CSI, just my years in law enforcement). As we approached it we realized it was a loggerhead turtle returning to the ocean having just laid her eggs.

I remembered it in comparison to another beach-walking event. I am the first to admit that I love fireworks. My son and I have been known to spend way too much money on them in trying to get as close to a professional show as possible. Why we spend our good money to entertain complete strangers is beyond me but my wife consistently blames testosterone. That said, after one very loud July 4th my son and I returned to the beach early in the morning to finish cleaning our mess. What I found didn't surprise me. Its what I didn't find that both surprised and disappointed me. Missing was the myriad of other people shooting fireworks with us who were no where to be seen yet left their own debris on the beach.

I suppose part of my issue is the pride I have in how pristine our beach area normally remains and when we have guests we like to show it off. But as I watched that turtle head slowly back to sea it gave me greater pause to wonder what happens to all of that junk that we send flying in their direction. As we celebrate our independence on this earth are we, in turn, limiting other creatures from enjoying their independence in THEIR homes.

There's a simple answer: responsibility. July 4th in the U.S. is a time to celebrate and fireworks are a great way to do it. I'm not sure we'll be doing it this year (probably the growing presence of the Beach Patrol helps that decision) but I suspect my son and I will be out on a pretty deserted beach on Sunday morning cleaning up after some pretty irresponsible people. I hope you're not one of them.