There’s something special about small town Texas on the 4th of July. The heat and dust never stop people from turning out to see parades and fireworks, and the horses! That is always what I like best about parades, to see the horses decked out and fancied up for the celebrations, snorting and dancing because they look good, and they know it.

It seems like the larger the town, the fewer celebrations there are on the actual 4th, but a lot of out of the way places still have the best things going on Independence Day. Small town Texas has not forgotten what they’re celebrating on this date. The old anthems are sung, hats come off across the crowds, prayers are said. There’s still a sense of joy and gratitude about the whole thing, unlike some places that barely note the day.

I guess part of it is that it’s not such a long time distant when Texans themselves fought for independence. Many of us know what it is, what it costs and still value it. The small town parades and competitions remind me of a passage from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s book, Little Town on the Prairie. Wilder described the Fourth of July celebrations in early America vividly and fervently. She wrote the story of that day, how hot it was, the noise and circus like atmosphere.

A man made a speech, and Laura recorded it: ““Well, so here we are today,” the man went on. “Every man Jack of us a free and independent citizen of God’s country, the only country on earth where a man is free and independent. Today’s the Fourth of July, when this whole thing was started, and it ought to have a bigger, better celebration than this. We can’t do much this year. Most of us are out here trying to pull ourselves up by our own boot straps. By next year, likely some of us will be better off, and able to chip in for a real big rousing celebration of Independence Day. Meantime, here we are. It’s Fourth of July, and on this day somebody’s got to read the Declaration of Independence. It looks like I’m elected, so hold your hats, boys; I’m going to read it.”

On that day, listening to the music and speeches, Laura had a thought about how our country is structured, what it means to be free. As a result, she wrote, “God is America’s king. Americans are free. They have to obey their own consciences. This is what it means to be free.

The laws of Nature and of Nature’s God endow you with a right to life and liberty. Then you have to keep the laws of God, for God’s law is the only thing that gives you a right to be free.”[…]

“Our father’s God, author of liberty —” The Ingalls girls knew the Declaration of Independence by heart. Maybe that’s something we should all do.

When the parades are over and the fireworks start, it’s not just another day off work for many in small Texas towns. July 4th is a day to remember, to reorient ourselves to our heritage of freedom and to give thanks for the principles that have made our society the only one on earth where people can be free to speak and think what they like.

At least it used to be that way, although lately the ideas that formed America are being challenged, some say even outright opposed. Small town Texas, however, has not changed all that much from what it was in the early days when it comes to marking Independence Day. Out in the heat, with flags flying and the horses dancing, you can feel something joyful in the air during the 4th.

We remember, we honor our country’s principles for a reason. God forbid this is ever lost. What is true is that if we hold on, if we refuse to give up our rights as a free people, if we honor and recall our founding principles it will always be so, and that is something to celebrate indeed.

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Diane Adams is a local journalist whose columns appear Thursdays on BrownwoodNews.com