Fourth of July Memories......

It's been awhile since I reminisced so I thought a holiday a perfect time.

• as a child it seemed to be a tradition to go to the neighboring town with our neighbors and family friends. (Ruth and Jerome and their kids, the Lidners) I remember listening to the band play in the gazebo, then cringe at the sound of the booming fireworks but yet loved the display in the sky.
• we sat so close to the place where they fired off the fireworks that our blanket started on fire and a mom that was with us, her umbrella started on fire.
• as a very little one, I remember hanging out in the car with Mom and Jolyn as we watched the fireworks with not SO much noise.
• now after the fireworks, there seemed to be a long run tradition of coming back to our house, doing sparklers, eating watermelon and spitting out the seeds outside (in the dark no less) I remember catching fire flies during this time too. I always thought Julie and Renee were so cool they would do cart-wheels with sparklers.....they were also 5 years older than us!
• I remember this is the time that I discovered my Grandma Weinberg liked salt on her watermelon????
• some 4th of July's we spent out on the deck and watched the neighbor cities display their fireworks, we could watch at least 4 of them in the distance.
• somehow we grew old enough to take along camping and that seemed to be the next chapter of memories.....many camping trips to Decorah or Waukon.
• We would travel to watch fireworks....one time the women-folk traveled in the back of the truck (topper on) and I think a few of us almost peed our pants from laughing so hard......did it have to do with blonde jokes?
• I remember Mom taking pictures of the fireworks...back when cameras didn't have that capability......she still has them in her photo album!
• What about all the ooooohhs and aaaaahhhhs!?!
• We even traveled to MN one year to visit our former Pastor and watched fireworks in their back yard....
• Campfires and smore's were embellished with sparklers....and even cousin Gregg would get out the copper and we would watch the flames turn different colors as it burned.
• Getting a speeding ticket, while Paul was the passenger, it was our first time camping together....no wonder he doesn't let me drive anymore!
• many a hot night with the crickets chirping.........and fire-flies flickering.....
• Now that I have to work every other 4th of July, we try to camp on the off times and stick around for the city celebration during my work times....
• I remember when C-man was one month old and we went to our first party.....he in his cute plaid teeny-tiny outfit........then that night back in the apartment was the noisiest night and a rough one for me...I think he slept through it all.
• Now we watch the parade in the morning (great time to get our fix for the year!) then usually dinner at someones house...sometimes we've had an intimate BBQ lunch at our house.
• Last year, we found out that our neighbors really know how to party it up, Karaoke and ALL!
• My new memories now are watching the kids enjoy the parade.....watch the fireworks (if I'm not working) C-man gets excited about the WHOLE day. Parade, carnival, CANDY, going to G&G Roberts, and sparklers, snappers, & Fireworks.
• I'll never forget when I was pregnant with baby O and he and I, decked out in our Jammies, walked a block west and found a spot. He named all of the fireworks..."that was a slim-jim one!" "that's a super star!" "those are shooting stars" "those are swirly-whirly bug ones!" It was a great play-by-play!
• If I am working, I like to take a little time and sit at the end of the hallway on the third floor and watch the cityscape of lights exploding from east to west, as if they were participating in their own symphony!

I guess I have exhausted all of my 4th of July memories.....what I really and truly should be thankful is the freedom that I have to experience all of these wonderful memories. How grateful we are to be in America, land of liberty.

Happy Independence Day!