Celebrating Independence

Yesterday was one of the most perfect July 4th days in my memory. It was coolish, clear, and every bit of the day went well in my part of the world. A rare sleepin morning wound up with the tradition in my neighborhood: a parade of locals.

There was a marching band, sort of, (they march, they stop and play, then they march on) that is made up of volunteers from the several streets around here. Pete & Dori's daughter Annie was right up there in the front row playing her trumpet. No doubt whatsoever that this was a significant reason why the band sounded so splendid this year... Neighbors you don't see for ages were out for the parade. Kids had decorated bikes, some of them decorated themself, their wagon or the dog. I particularly liked the blue glittery ballerina princess on a large tricycle, towing a...something. The parade goes down a couple of these long streets, and winds up at the grade school the next street over and devolves into a short concert and ice cream social. The simple pleasures of a very American tradition are so cherished when times get hard. This parade has been happening yearly for close to 50 years.

Some time fiddling about in the kitchen, making gluten-free black & blueberry tarts to take for dinner was well rewarded. A cookout with Steve & Arron and a batch of friends in their exquisitely planted back yard featured grilled goodies, supreme salad, and the fun of watching how much aerosol can whipped cream Elizabeth could pile on one tart. I also made some iced tea of black tea flavored with blueberry. When we were no longer hungry, we packed up and headed to see the fireworks that the city of Euclid puts on. This has been Steve's tradition for many many years & a part I love about it is, before the light goes, those gathered take turns reading the Declaration of Independence. Steve remarked about how last year, some folks near us thought we were reading some radical contemporary manifesto. I got the very short paragraphs this time, dagnabbit.

Friends who were here from DC declared the fireworks were "better than anything they have on the Mall in DC" and I doubt not their word: this was spectacular! BETTER than last year, though I thought that unlikely. Fireworks have improved so much in the last few decades and the colors were astonishing! So much purple! orange! pink! Shaped charges of a rose, cube, or heart were thrilling. A barrage of waterfall like cascades was my favorite bit, though there were a dozen other kinds of display that were gorgeous in the extreme. We had glowstick bracelets, the kids next to us had glowstick braclets AND pendants and glowing.. stuff. The ice cream truck parked nearby did a grand business before the booming started.

Friends, fireworks, parade, food & celebrating the privilege of being American, it was a completely wonderful day. I drove through Euclid Creek park on the way there, and saw the huge crowds set up for a day of pleasure there and felt the joy in celebrating as a group so much in evidence more keenly than seeing it just as a capacity crowd. There's that about this holiday that just needs a good variety of people to make it right.