Day 2,632 —Happy Birthday America! — with a PICTURE of a TREE at NIGHT

I heard someone say that people from other countries find it strange that people from the United States call themselves Americans, but I prefer it to USA or the other versions of the name. 

If you are not familiar with our strange July 4th customs, the usually revolve around fireworks and BBQs (sometimes a pool is also involved). 

For many Americans we celebrated today by participating in cardiovascular activities outside. I did a 10-mile run first and didn’t see a lot of people out, but there was a few. I was thinking I would run into the city but ended up going over to Maplewood instead. I saw some signs there for some type of festival they are having next week. I think it was called “Let them Eat Art.” It looks like one of those things I would like to go to in theory, but probably will end up not feeling like it when the day arrives. 

I saw a few people going into work at coffee shops, which made me feel nostalgic. I worked at a coffee shop for about a year, and it was fun at times, having those types of monotonous jobs have their perks. I loved going in and not doing anything for a couple hours; it felt like I was getting paid to stand around, which was nice.  

I took Big Bend home, and I was genuinely tired. My feet still were not in a lot of pain, so I think I am doing just enough to still call this a break. I visited with my family for about 30 minutes, and then I left for my bike ride. 

I saw so many people out. There were runners of all shapes and sizes, some carrying water, some in big headphones, some in cool sunglasses. There were so many bike riders out. Many people in their 60s and 70s were zooming by me. I saw a lot of young kids and families. And you cannot forget all the random people walking on the trail in casual clothes. To me they always look like they got lost and just ended up there by mistake. I was thinking people would be sleeping in this morning, but not today—not on America’s birthday! 245 years today! Happy birthday America!