Belated 4th

I was too busy knitting and celebrating yesterday to blog, but I wanted to pause for a moment and note how much the day means to me. Literally living in the shadow of Monticello, it's hard not to get caught up in the spirit of the day, which we of course, celebrate for several days. It's also the birthday of one of my husband's many aunts, so there was a multipurpose family picnic, and then we headed off for what has become Mark's celebration of the day. He has helped a pyrotechnician friend set up for fireworks for several years, and announced this morning that he wants to become certified too. (GAH!)

It's a great event. Sure, the actually display is probably shorter and less impressive than some of the big fireworks displays done in your cities, but this one is funded by the development where many of our friends and family live. The beach is closed at five pm, and the local fire department (not ours, but a neighboring one, where we have many friends) has a family picnic while Mark and the rest of the fireworks crew set up. There's something truly magical about stretching out in a beach lounger only a few yards away from where the fireworks are being set off, feeling the ground tremble, and remembering to say a little prayer for those setting them off with every "oooh and ahhhh!" It's also hard not to have at least one smug moment when the crowd claps and screams, knowing that my husband and his friends made it all possible.

I hope your Independence Day celebrations were special, no matter how you like to wish America a happy birthday. Just once though, I think the USA and Canada should celebrate for about a week, together, and invite the whole world to our party. Remember the commercial, "I'd like to buy the world a Coke?" That would be a nice start. A diet with Lime for me, okay?