68 this morning, partly cloudy and humid.
Happy 4th, friends on this side of the pond! Mu mother, being British, would just sniff if someone wished her a happy 4th of July, but it was all in fun. My parents called this day Kids Day, and we celebrated with a breakfast cookout at the Manassas Battlefield Park, then watermelon, hotdogs, and all the rest later in the day. It was the only day of the year that we could have all the pop (soft drinks) we wanted. In the evening we'd roast marshmallows, Dad would set off a few fireworks, we'd twirl sparklers, and then sit around the homemade outside fireplace and sing. It was such a glorious day.
When my boys were young we would go into town for the big 4th if July parade, all-day entertainment, carnival, and fireworks. It was fun to see neighbors and friends and just enjoy watching the hundreds of people who came from who knows where.
And when I was storytelling, i was often on the road, performing somewhere or other. Then we got into selling antiques and vintage, and for a few years setbup at a local, huge vintage fair. We made a lot of money, but we sweated buckets doing it.
These days, Larry and I stay home. We are glad others still get together to celebrate, but we are happy to mark the day right here in the heart of Appalachia, drinking iced tea on the porch under the ceiling fan after working in the garden. We might have a fire in the firepit and maybe even light a sparkler or two. Maybe.
Whatever your way of marking this day, I hope it has been as peaceful and joyful as our day has been.
What a lovely way to spend the holiday...and good memories from your childhood as well as your children's.
ReplyDeleteNowadays we seem to focus more on being grateful for the sprawling, marvelous, chaotic, conflicted land we live in, acknowledging both its good and its bad. No country is perfect, if the news is any indication. But I am so glad to live here, flaws and all.
DeleteVery sweet memories.
ReplyDeleteIt must be wonderful to have a day where the whole nation celebrates together.
We attended Australia Day 2017, I think it was maybe similar.
Germany certainly has no such day, it would feel wrong.
On one hand. On the other... my parents were kids in the bad times and my Grandfather did not join (only watchmaker in town), the other not German.
But we have nothing to really celebrate, not even German Reunion as The Wall is still in too many heads...
It was nice reading yours!
Thank you, Iris! I guess the day was marred for many by the shootings, a sad part of life here today. Germany has had its troubled, bad times for sure, but there is still much to admire in your country.
DeleteOur Canada Day festivities are pretty quiet too — for us at least.
ReplyDeleteKinda nice, isn't it?
DeleteLiterally the only thing about the rain and more rain here in recent weeks is that I didn't have to worry about the eejits with illegal fireworks setting the woods alight.
ReplyDeleteWell, there is that. We didn't hear many this year at all, oy once and very far away. I don't mind them, but wish people would just enjoy the municipal ones and not try to compete with those gorgeous displays!
Delete