I'm such a sucker for patriotic pageantry.
The music, the Stars and Stripes, the salutes to veterans, the tributes to our country's heritage.
I love all of it.
With that, I'm planning to come down with an acute case of Independence Day fever on Friday, the Fourth of July.
PBS is broadcasting its annual Capitol Fourth special. Panhandle PBS will carry it twice on Friday, at 7 p.m. and again at 8:30.
The event will occur on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, the very same Capitol where Congress meets, fights among its members, and quarrels with the president (who lives down Pennsylvania Avenue).
But we'll set all that political and policy stuff aside for an evening. Capitol Fourth will include plenty of music from the National Symphony Orchestra. The host for the evening will be Tom Bergeron who, I'm quite certain, will not be televising any funny home videos during the presentation.
Capitol Fourth is a great musical tribute to the United States of America, which on Friday will celebrate its 238th birthday, or more to the point, celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain.
I'm glad the U.S. and the Brits have made their peace since then. Maybe our British friends will join us in celebrating our nation's big day.
