4th of July

My Dad served in the Navy during World War II as a captain. Now he is buried in Arlington National Cemetery and flags will be placed by each headstone in honor of our nation's birthday, July 4th.

When I was little it was an exciting day. We always had 'safe and sane' fireworks, starting during the day with the 'snakes' which were pellets that we lit with a match. As they burned, they left a snake shape of exploded ash. Then we would stomp on the snakes and they just became ugly dark marks on the sidewalk which we washed away with the garden hose.

There was usually a special cookout dinner with burgers or hot dogs, potato salad, and often strawberry shortcake for dessert. Once it was dark we had sparklers, hand held, which we waved around. My Dad always prepared for fireworks by having buckets of sand and water. The used sparklers went into the sand and the water was in case we had to put out small fires.

My favorite firework, besides sparklers, was the fountains. Once lit, they shot a fountain shape of sparks...WHOOSH....up into the air and the sparks had different colors.

Most of the time that I've been with Sweetie we have had dogs. Dogs are not happy with fireworks and sometimes are downright frightened by the noise. So, for a long time, July 4th has not included any fireworks and we play music and keep the windows shut to drown out as much noise as possible from the fireworks shows put on the the surrounding cities. Just to make it more interesting, the city closest to us has their show on the 3rd and two others nearby have theirs on the 4th, so two nights are spent shut up in the house, calming the dog.

This year it will be different. Due to the pandemic, none of the cities are having shows. There are still folks shooting off illegal fireworks in the neighborhoods, but the worry there is fire, not noise. It's dry enough now that even a small fire could spread. Unfortunately people are so upset about not having big shows (or perhaps they are just bored by having to stay home during the pandemic?) that they have already begun fireworks out and about and the fire departments have had their hands full.

For myself, I'll think of my Dad on the 4th of July, and I'll think of my siblings and the fun we had in the backyard with fireflies flitting around us as we celebrated...and got to stay up late! I'll be grateful that I live in a country that protects freedom of speech, even as I hope that we will progress so that there is less to protest. I love my country, even with all it's imperfections. Just like people, wouldn't it be boring if it were perfect?

If you are from the U.S.A. or just a fan, hope you have a happy, safe, and quiet 4th of July! Please stay home, practice social distancing and cover your nose and mouth so that we can have fewer folks sick in the coming months and fewer deaths. If you can find good strawberries, have some shortcake...life will seem sweet.