Happy Fourth!!

Haha, well, the chances of you actually reading this and it still being July 4^th are very slim, but that's ok. I'll confess, I'm feeling a little homesick. Well, maybe homesick isn't quite the right word. I want a fireworks show and to get stuck in a huge traffic jam on the way home. And, I miss life the way it was. My family used to always spend the Fourth of July with my Grandparents Smith. They lived on Cape Cod in Massachusetts (and there was a time when my family lived on the Cape too). My uncle's birthday was today and my Daddy's is tomorrow. So, Grammy was in her element, hosting family and making lots of yummy food, and as always, making all of us feel superspecial.

In the morning, we would get up, hop on our bikes and go downtown to the Falmouth Green. There was always a group of men dressed as the Falmouth Militia. They did a military salute to the Thirteen Colonies with fake gunpowder in their rifles. They always had the flags of the 13 colonies too. One year Mommy realized they didn't have New Jersey's flag and made sure the next year that they did have one. That year my brother and I got to hold the flags for South Carolina and New Jersey. I remember getting sent a certificate for participating. The salute was always one of my favorite parts. There was always a town chorale too that sang America the Beautiful and other patriotic songs.

A story about America the Beautiful-if I can remember it right. Katherine Lee Bates wrote that oh-so-famous song. If I recall correctly, she was from Falmouth, MA. The street the library on is named after her. I think she wrote it after she was inspired by the view from Pike's Peak. But, she was a good New England girl. Anyway, there was a 200^th anniversary of her writing that song one year (in the 90s) and Grammy got everyone in the family America the Beautiful shirts that were made to commemorate the Anniversary. I tell you, this lady was the glue to our family and I can't tell you how much I miss her!!!! I just got rid of the shirt a couple years ago. It was super worn, sweat stained, and much thinner than it used to be. But I can't tell you how much I loved that shirt. Maybe I still have it, actually. I don't know. If so it is in Arizona (and I certainly am not).

Anyway, after the festivities on the town green we would usually continue to the beach on our bikes and climb around on the rocks at Trunk River or hang out for a little bit at Surf Drive. Then we would go back home (to Grammy & Grandpa's) for a yummy lunch. My brothers and I were usually recruited to husk the corn. We'd sit on 5 gallon buckets and husk away, sometimes having pleasant conversation, sometimes bickering, as young siblings are wont to do. I would often beg Grammy for us to eat outside. I loved sitting around their brown, round picnic table with the big orange umbrella with white fringes and putting paper plates in their wicker paper plate holders.

Grammy always decorated some kind of yummy cake for Uncle Mike and Daddy. It usually consisted of stripes of raspberries or strawberries and a top left corner of blueberries. YUM!!!!

Then we would play games together or just sit around talking. (Oh and there was usually watermelon that my brothers and I loved eating and then spitting out the seeds at one another. It was great fun!)

The highlight was at night though. We would all pile into out Previa and go down to Surf Drive hours before the fireworks were actually going to start in order to get a good parking spot. We would make rounds every half our or so, picking out the 5 cent refund cans out of the trash like good grandchildren (Grampa used to always go canning multiple times a day and would make a fair bit of money from it). We'd watch the barge with the fireworks on it go out and take its place. And then, finally it would get dark. I would climb through the sunroof of the van and sit up there, whistling patriotic songs, getting more and more excited for the fireworks to FINALLY start. Then at last, the fireworks would begin. They would shoot up into the sky, looking like they were going to fall right on us. The waves gently crashed on the sand in the background in between the BOOMS. It was so beautiful. So fun. So special. It was really weird when Grammy died to not go back to Falmouth for the Fourth. In Auburn, ME they did the fireworks over Great Falls, which was nice, but not near as cool as fireworks being set off from a barge. But at least they were still near water. It was really weird for me though, my first summer I was away from home for the Fourth of July, I didn't know where they were going to set off the fireworks if they weren't near water!!

Oh well. Well, tonight, someone in town set off a few fireworks. I heard them all, but only managed to see one. I saw a few on TV in the news, but that doesn't count. So, this is the year of one firework. Other years I haven't seen any, being in national parks and all (2 years ago I did go to Jackson though to see the fireworks there). But being out of the country did make me want to actually see fireworks.

Ok, I think that's enough reminiscing for now. Thanks for reading! Happy Independence Day!!!