We take pride, here on Martha's Vineyard, in being a place apart. At a dinner party, a friend wanted our view on whether the Island is part of the forty-eight contiguous states, and we actually hesitated while framing an answer. But the right response, of course, was to say that the Island is doubly so, having over the years been part of two great American states, New York and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

But this Thursday is the Fourth of July, and nothing can stop us from celebrating the birthday of our nation or from honoring the dreams of its founders. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."