If the Fourth passes with nary a firecracker blast, we can still be patriots.

Looming bad weather threatened to put a damper on Golden Triangle celebrations of Independence Day, forecasters predicted, but it doesn’t mean we can’t do appropriate things to deepen or celebrate our love of country.

Fireworks certainly have a treasured place woven into the history of this day. It comes by way of an unlikely source, dour John Adams. Here was his vision of Independence Day:

“I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

“You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. — I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. — Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.”

Adams was among the five chosen to draft a declaration, alongside Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Robert R. Livingston of New York and Roger Sherman of Connecticut. Jefferson, whose reputation as a writer preceded his appearance in Philadelphia, made the first draft in 17 days. The committee edited freely, to Jefferson’s consternation, and the Congress made changes of their own.

Fifty-six members of the Congress signed the Declaration but in August, not on July 4; Robert Dickinson, a wealthy Pennsylvanian, declined to sign.

If the rain keeps you indoors this day, here are some suggestions for proper observance of the day:

• Read every one of the Declaration’s 1,458 words, signatures included.
• Tune in to the Boston Pops annual concert and fireworks display.
• Access Revolutionary War movies, including those recommended by the Journal of the American Revolution. These include “John Adams,” based on David McCullough’s biography. It stars Paul Giamatti.
• Consider Texas’ own struggle for independence, and read “Lone Star Nation” by H.W. Brands, available for $12.99.

It the rain eases and the clouds part, head for the Seawall and the celebration planned at Lamar State College Port Arthur, where fireworks are scheduled for 9 p.m. in the vicinity of the Carl A. Parker Multipurpose Center.

Motiva promises ice cream, worth a celebration in itself.