07.05.06 |
So, did you go see fireworks or perhaps have a picnic with family and friends to celebrate America's 230th birthday?
As I have aged, holidays that fall in the summer have taken on less and less importance to me.
I can remember as a child that our family would spend the day in the backyard playing badminton or volleyball ... tossing a frisbee ... chasing each other with squirt guns and whining to Mom because "Bob got me wet" only to then jump in the pool to cool down.
Late in the afternoon, the barbeque grill would get fired up and out would come burgers, dogs and all the fixins. It was the food of the gods.
As the sun began to set, Mom would bring out the wooden barrel ice cream maker and fill the magic container with ice and salt ... and we kids would take our turn at cranking that handle knowing that in time, out would come creamy smooth homemade vanilla ice cream that cooled our tummies and prepared us for some serious firework watching.
We would then climb the ladder that to me, as a child, seemed so high, so dangerous ... to the roof to sit on layers and layers of sleeping bags and blankets to watch the various firework shows around the Valley of the Sun. The heat would radiate from the roof through the layers of protective fabric and soon we would all be waiting for lemonade and ice cold watermelon.
Very ceremoniously, Mom or Dad would open that bright red "Coca Cola" metal ice chest that magically appeared upon the roof and in no time, we were all dripping with sweet juices of watermelon and salty rivers of sweat.
When the sky quieted and the neighborhood settled, Dad would help us kids down the ladder and the 4th of July faded into the summer night but burned brightly in our childhood memories.
Last night just after 9:30pm, I got into my car, drove through McDonald's for a Diet Coke and then drove to the brightly lit parking lot of a Mexican food restaurant; this safe location offered me the perfect view of the fireworks at Steele Park (Fabulous Phoenix 4th).
There alone in the air conditioned comfort of my car with the Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" CD for company ... I watched stunning fireworks for thirty minutes and quietly wished America "Happy Birthday".
[10:45AM PST] [Permalink] []
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