Happy 4th of July

Hope you all have a wonderful safe fun 4th of July holiday.

This picture is a KAP taken last 4th of July of the beach at Montones, part of the beach a couple of miles east of us.

July 4th is one of three back to back summer holidays here in Puerto Rico. The first is Noche de San Juan, the night of Saint John, honoring St. John the Baptist. This is an "unofficial" holiday the night of June 23-24. People camp out (and party!) on the beach until midnight when, according to tradition they throw themselves backward into the ocean three times, supposedly to remember John baptising Jesus. Who knows? It may have been a truly religious holiday at one time - and probably still is for some people. Mostly it seems like a good excuse to ignore laws against camping on the beach and party all night. This year's celebration was pretty subdued. We had a beautiful lightning show that lasted for hours. The storm passed right over us and then moved out to sea. Interestingly, it didn't rain, just lots of lightning and thunder.

Like I said, the 4th is the second holiday, again with camping and partying on the beach. The third is Constitution Day on July 25 with follows a similar pattern to the other two.

There are two other "local hero" holidays in July. July 15 is the birthday of Don Luis Muñoz Rivera. Muñoz Rivera (1859–1916) was a prominent journalist, poet, and politician who advocated independence from Spain and later, the United States. His son Luis Muñoz Marín was the first democratically elected governor of Puerto Rico. In recent years his birthday celebration has been included in with the 4th of July.

July 27 is the birthday of Dr. José Celso Barbosa (1857–1921), a medical doctor and an early advocate of statehood, founder of the Republican Party on the Island. This is a Commonwealth holiday and all government offices and banks are closed. Sadly, many Puerto Ricans don't know who Barbosa was or why July 27 is a holiday.

End of history lesson for today.

I hope to get some KAP pictures of the beaches today. But Lola's is open tonight and we have a lot to do to get ready. You'll know tomorrow if I got pictures today.