Dear LPG,

I cannot help but notice that quite a few of the posts featured on the LPG website are inspired by national days of celebration and, while some people find the frequency with which they occur somewhat annoying, I think that if nothing else, having a celebratory theme to get an ordinary day started can never be a bad thing.

My focus today was drawn to the many celebrations that are specifically geared around the patriotic feelings that nations experience when they become independent from others.  On the internet, the fountain of all knowledge (as long as you accept that some of its nuggets conflict with others), informed me that there are 163 countries that officially celebrate their national independence days although, my mathematical powers of deduction have forced me to conclude that when you consider the 225 countries that the world boasts, there are 62 countries that,  in spite of the fact that they celebrate a lot of other aspects of their national patriotism, never felt the need to be independent as such.   These include France and Russia which don’t actually have one of their own; and yes… the United Kingdom counts its self as one of the ‘have nots’ too. I suppose that some countries are born independent.

Most people know the date when their country of origin celebrates and what they do to let the rest of the world know that their specific day has arrived, although so many people can boast personal recognition with two or three of these days.  

Amongst so many others, the Wright brothers, Carl Benz and all the other inventers that taught themselves (and the rest of the world) how to get from one country to another, have a lot to answer for.  

…and that is something to celebrate in itself, but I can’t actually find a day when dual, or even multi, nationality is celebrated, so we ‘nationally mixed up’ people will just have to continue to celebrate this aspect of our patriotism twice a year or even more often than that, depending on just how internationally complicated our personal heritage is!

But what better excuse for an extra celebration…

CL, Penge

CL shares her web evidence….

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