Today is amazing. Everything about the morning is beautiful. The sunlight is dramatic. It shines in and around everything. The sky is dark blue. It is 65° with a strong breeze. I even had to shut the window behind me. The dogs were joyful. They romped with wild abandonment through the backyard. Nala circled the yard over and over. I wished I could have joined them.

I have a list for today. I need a few groceries to tide me over for the weekend. I also want to buy the rest of the plants for the deck, for the clay pots. I have a concert this afternoon, Songs Across America is our current book. It will be a busy day.

For July 4th my father sometimes bought us punks. We’d twirl them around as if they were fireworks. We’d blow on the ends to brighten the embers, and we used them to light sparklers. I loved the sparklers. They spurted beautiful white sparks. They were fireworks in my hand.

One year my mother left up her Christmas tree. It was in a corner in her living room, and she lit it every night and decorated it for every holiday. For July 4th it had flags and streamers and red, white and blue garlands. It was festively patriotic.

When I was a kid, we went to the July 4th parade in Wakefield, the next town over. It was a wonderful parade with floats and bands and drum and bugle corps and drill teams. We watched the parade from on the porch of my father’s friend’s house. It was a huge event. I remember the food. The kitchen counters and kitchen table groaned under the weight of all the food, and barbecues in the backyard were always cooking hot dogs and burgers. When I was older, I marched in that parade. I was in St. Pat’s drill team. I both dreaded and looked forward to passing that house still filled with people on the porch, including my parents. They cheered when we walked by, and they called my name, prompted by my father. I sneaked a wave.

I have a concert this July 4th. I also have a few punks and some sparklers. I’ll decorate the front fence with flags and banners. I’ll cook a couple of hot dogs for myself. I’ll have a banner 4th.

This entry was posted on June 28, 2024 at 12:12 pm and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.