Holiday?

It's always been a work day for me. Not this year, simply because there are no more work days. Long years ago it was something to celebrate, a point of pride in a historical bit of progress, a we-are-better-than-they-were kind of pride.

Not so many years ago, attitudes changed. Things that were never taught in schools began coloring attitudes. It became harder to be proud when genocide became a result of Columbus landing on the shore in this hemisphere. Proving the world was round, opening new lands to conquer, all morphed into tales of shame. Perhaps the day should be remembered, in the spirit of acknowledging the real history of Europeans swarming over these continents and the tremendous cost that accompanied that piece of history, a lesson for all of us, a more real perspective. Be as proud as you wish of our form of government, our Bill of Rights, our system of laws. Just know how we got here.

The best comment on the day came this morning out of the Stephanie Miller Show, from Chris Lavoie. I don't know if it originated with him, leading the relatively sheltered life I do, or whether he was quoting a well-used phrase. I do know it sharply caught my attention:

"Columbus discovered America like the asteroid discovered the dinosaurs."