We awake today to what will be a four-day work week for most people, and, truth be told, more like three-and-a-half days. By midday Thursday, most of us will be looking for an early slide into the long Fourth of July weekend, with nothing but thoughts of food, fun and fireworks on our minds.

But maybe not this year.

Maybe this year, our traditional summer kickoff holiday mood will be darkened by a set of unpleasant facts that keep coming up like a a bad hot dog.

The price of gas, the price of home heating fuel, an endless war, layoffs, a bad stock market and McCain-Obama all-day, all-night from now 'til the pundits come home with the cows -- it's a dismal and unavoidable list.

It will take determination to have a long and happy holiday weekend with such thoughts intruding on plans for non-stop revelry.

There is little if anything any of us can do about these worries during the holiday weekend. We could, one supposes, be careful with our gas consumption, which is always a good idea. Or spend some time re-balancing our retirement funds.

Or we can just set all that aside for a few days and, instead, give ourselves a break. The Fourth of July is our oldest national holiday, one associated with freedom, joy, celebration and even rebelliousness.

You won't be able to fix any of the problems on our list between Friday and Sunday. So we hope you can pack up your worries to be re-opened a week from now and, in the meantime, plan and then indulge in a good, old-fashioned Fourth of July.