I am a serious sucker for pageantry.

I love the sound of bagpipes in a parade; the sound of “Ruffles and Flourishes” when the president enters a room; I love the red, white and blue.

We’re flying our flag again today. We join millions of other Americans in displaying the colors as the nation celebrates its 240th birthday.

Think of it: It’s been 40 years since the Bicentennial! Holy cow!

I’ll admit I usually stay close to home during the Fourth of July holiday. We don’t usually travel much. Whether it’s back in our hometown of Portland, Ore., or in Beaumont, Texas — where we lived for nearly 11 years before moving to the Texas Panhandle — or here in Amarillo, we enjoy seeing the colors waving.

Once when we were first married, though, we did travel from the West Coast to the Great Lakes region to visit some members of my wife’s family.

Her Aunt Margaret and Uncle Joe lived in Kenosha, Wis., which sits on the western shore of Lake Michigan, just a bit north of Chicago.

We were there on the Fourth of July, 1973. It was hot and humid as the dickens.

But my memory of that community is stark, vivid — and indelible.

If you walked though neighborhoods, you saw row upon row of homes decked out in Fourth of July finery. Banners hung from front porches. Flags flew in what little breeze there was from windows. Streamers hung from trees. “Happy Birthday, USA” signs could be seen everywhere.

Man, oh man. I couldn’t get enough of it. I loved seeing these displays.

Sure, I get that we should always demonstrate our love of country in this manner. Maybe we should at our home, too … although we do display a red-white-blue banner in our dining room window from Memorial Day through Sept. 11 each year.

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not a love-it-or-leave-it kind of guy. I acknowledge the many problems our nation has brought on itself. I will complain about them from time to time. It’s our right as citizens to do so.

We all should recognize, thought, that there’s much more good about America than that which is not so good.

It’s the good we celebrate today.

Bring on the pageantry!