Two summers, 50 years apart

In 1976, I was 13 years old and the proud owner of what I considered one of the finest fashion accessories in the United States of America.

It was a large, round white Bicentennial belt buckle displaying the official logo of our nation's 200th birthday. The belt itself was white patent leather and so wide that the belt loops on my bell-bottom jeans seemed to emit a faint hiss of protest every time I threaded it through them. Combined with my lengthy, mid-1970s hairstyle, I fit right in with my peers.

This July 4, our nation celebrates another milestone: its 250th birthday. Officially, it is called the Semiquincentennial, an impressive-sounding term many of us will forget by July 5.