My first reaction as I turned the calendar was IT’S JULY ALREADY! Where has this year gone?

Well, there were the holidays, parties and presents to get ready. That took care of December, which went by fast. Then there was January when we all got back to everyday life, back to bridge clubs, book clubs and potluck parties. February was Valentine’s Day and all that chocolate, and March when we were supposed to have spring and start the whole gardening thing like cleanup from winter and Easter to celebrate and eggs to hide. The April showers seemed to last forever, and then there was May to celebrate our mothers. In June we celebrated fathers, but with still more showers. However, we all planted and gardened in between the rainstorms.

Now it’s July already.

Here in the U.S. we have lots of holidays, but I think we need one more. We could call it Survival Day. We could celebrate just surviving the busy schedules we set for ourselves.

All the people that commute from the Kitsap Peninsula know about survival. Getting up really early to catch a ferry to Seattle or Everett or other destinations across the water … just ask them about surviving the rain and cold and dark (that could be during their commute both ways).

How about the kids that catch the school bus daily? They wait by the side of the road, climb on the yellow bus, then survive the taunting or tom-foolery of the other kids on the bus and when they finally get to school, all the learning they have to stuff in their heads, then head off to football or baseball or some other sport practice. They are definitely survivors.

Retired people that live in this part of Kitsap are surviving the rising cost of everything because of gas prices. Too bad our income doesn’t rise as fast.

Yes, all of us are definitely survivors. Even those that don’t live in our beautiful area have their survival stories. But isn’t that what America is based on? Survival of rights for everyone? Survival in this wonderful nation? Survival to fight the good fight?

But wait! We already have a Survival Day – and we celebrate it in July. So I say to you happy survival of our daily plans and surviving what the world dishes out. Happy Independence Day. Happy 4th of July.

Contact Donna Lee Anderson at welltoldtales@aol.com.