It’s early morning, but plenty of people are out on the trail on this Saturday, which is sort of a holiday weekend. Independence Day in the U.S. was celebrated mid-week.

The Declaration of Independence is dated July 4, and this is the date on which United States Independence is celebrated. However, this date, back in 1776 was not the beginning of the United States of America (USA) in a legal sense. A confederation existed, officially from 1781 when it was ratified by all thirteen states. The USA begins its existence in 1789 with the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Civil War, also known as the War Between the States, determined that the USA was a monolithic ruled state, and not a union of individual states with self-determination.

Declaration of Independence (National Archives):

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript

Articles of Confederation (Library of Congress):

https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=127

See also my poem about the American Flag, published under my pen name Davis Falk:

http://www.davisfalk.com/2016/07/ode-to-piece-of-cloth.html

I have relatives in town this week for the holiday. But I have been able to stay more or less at my target weight, despite eating out more than usual and preparing food at home for others in addition to myself. Also, I am out exercising. I don’t believe it’s impolite to do things in my routine, especially when guests are staying more than a couple of days. And my guests have indicated they feel the same way. Makes it easy to Keep the Fever.

Weight (change since Jan 2018): 213 (-56)
Workout time: 106 Minutes
Total Distance (total since Nov 2017): 5.05 Miles (146.89)
Steps: 15,150
Goals: (1) Run 10.5 miles in one day by 11/18/18 (2) Lose 100lbs by 12/25/18