From: jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid   
      
   This evening, for the first time this year, I saw the word   
   "independence" in connection with the festivities.   It was on my   
   husband's calendar.   
      
   The word most commonly used to indicate that an event is connected to   
   the Fourth of July is "firecracker".   The special sandwich at   
   Jimmy-John's this week is a "firecracker wrap".  (Submarine fillings   
   wrapped in a red tortilla.  (Orange, actually, since the natural color   
   of a tortilla is yellow.))   
      
   There were a few references to "the nation's birthday" even though the   
   actual start of the nation was on March 4, 1789.  Up until then, we   
   had been free and independent states.   
      
   Guy Fawkes Day is a similar bonfires-and-fireworks holiday, and I   
   wondered whether it had undergone a similar shift -- until I realized   
   that even a yank can recite "I see no reason/why gunpowder   
   treason/should ever be forgot".   
      
   Of course, there is a direct connection to fireworks.   
      
   --   
   Joy Beeson   
   joy beeson at centurylink dot net   
   http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)