4th of July

 We had a nice celebration up on the hill with Levi, Mattie and the kids. Their neighbors joined us, and Grandma came over too. We ate a late supper on the porch, just a simple meal but plenty of it. They had been working at breakneck speed to get the last of the cut hay in the barn, since there was a chance of thunderstorms. 

Then began the wait until it got dark enough for fireworks. Levi doesn't want anything that makes a boom, because it scares the animals so we stick with fountains and sparklers. We had brought in two packages of assorted fireworks and five or six packages of sparklers. 

Little Rudy was in an agony of excitement as he sat on his little bench. The older kids disappeared for about an hour or so. Two were spreading calcium chlorite on the dirt road to stop dust. Two were using rotary mowers to finish mowing the grass. The oldest boy went down to help the neighbor with his chores. 

Rudy asked several times if it were almost time. It was getting darker and darker. Then it finally did get dark enough, but then we had to wait until the oldest boy got back from the neighbors'. Poor Rudy was very close to exploding himself. 

When Andy did come back, I was pleased to see that the neighbors came back with him. When Mattie said it was time for fireworks, a half dozen pairs of feet went pounding in to the house to retrieve the boxes and the long-handled lighter. Everything was dropped in their mother's lap. 

The sparklers were first. We found some good ones this year. They burned in colors and took about 4 minutes to burn out. Likewise, our collection of fountains contained some long burners too. Some of them made that satisfying crackle as they burned. It made quite a satisfying display that lasted about 40 minutes. 

No sooner did our show end then the English down the road set off three aerial fireworks with the loud booms. We heard a shout up the road and suddenly a horse went racing past the house. Somehow, in the dark, they were able to recognize it as one of theirs. Everyone rushed to get headlamps and headed down the road, but the chase ended very quickly when the horse came racing back and put himself in his own barn.

All's well that ends well. 

This horrible heat was supposed to end Friday evening at 8, and after a long miserable day where no one felt like doing anything at all outside, finally, blessedly, it did cool down and for the first time in a week, we were able to sleep well. 

So well that Tim had to wake me up Saturday morning. He didn't want to miss the 4th of Julu parade.

I am going to tell you a shameful secret. I am not a fan of parades. I went because Tim loves them. 

The first thing I noticed is that the crowds were much sparser than usual. I wondered if that was due to the heat. It was cooler, only 89° but it was humid. We sat on the bench in front of my old church. Usually that site is packed. This year, it was comfortably not packed. A fellow in front of us wore his veteran hat and his veteran shirt. He tried to start conversation. He told us that he arrived in Vietnam on July 4th. Ironic, since my discharge was July 4th, 1986. It soon became evident that this was about our only commonality. 

The parade started with our politicians. Ash Khare, Our very own fraudulent electorled the parade in a convertible. What struck me was the dead silence. He waved grandly to a silent crowd. The republican candidates marched along smiling and waving to the silent crowd. The democrats  had quite a display. Again...silence, although our veteran friend flipped the bird and began muttering under his breath about 'goddamn communists'. That surprised me. I was sore tempted to ask him what exactly it was that made him decide that we were communists. (Later, I discovered that calling democrats communists is our dear leader's holiday message. ) But as I said, everywhere else...silence. That was shocking to me. I think everyone is just tired of the chaos.

Finally we got to the parade. It was local business after local business driving their shiny trucks with their business advertising. Landscaping companies pulled their lawnmowers, excavating companies pulled bulldozers, oil tanker trucks from multiple trucking companies, John Deere show their shiny tractors. Like that. There were also fire companies spraying water on the crowds, very popular. Churches with floats calling for one nation under God. There were a half dozen marching bands, the Shriners and the ZemZems had their little cars and motorcycles zipping about. A rock band marched along side a truck hauling the drummer and the amplifiers playing screaming guitars as they played 'American Woman'. Interesting choice, I thought. Roller skaters, gymnasts, a radio car display. An off road group driving muddy jeeps. A local junkyard hauled two crushed cars, red and white. I think they could not find a blue car.

In honor of the 250th birthday of our nation, the parade was 2.5 hours long.

I watched the kids catching candy, all having a good time. I am ashamed to say that I was glad when it was done. Really, there must have been over 100 trucks blaring their airhorns. Cars from a local dealership, all shiny and pretty, revving their engines. A motorcycle driver who blared his motorcycle so loudly that it was actually painful. That was when we headed for our car. 

But I survived. 

So will the country.

Over in England, my youngest, a new citizen of the UK, spent her 4th by going to Sulgrave Manor for a picnic. It is the ancestral home of George Washington.