As I thought about what makes the Fourth special, I found I could pretty much narrow it down to four things: family, friends, food and fireworks.
FAMILY: My memories of the Fourth of July have always involved family. When I was young, my mom, grandmother and I would pack up a picnic and go somewhere to see fireworks, whether it was on a hillside near the Louisville Zoo or down by the Ohio River.
This year we spent part of the Fourth with some of my husband Scott's family. A great aunt who lives in Florida was in town and Scott's aunt hosted a family gathering. I've been married to Scott for 15 years, but there were several people there I'd never met. It was neat to see Scott's grandmother pose with her remaining siblings for a picture. Then all the cousins got together, then grandchildren and so on.
Truth be told, I wasn't really looking forward to going to this gathering. I kind of had other plans in mind. But when I realized how much it means- especially to the older generation- to have everyone gathered together, I was glad we were there.
FRIENDS: After spending time with Scott's family in Bowling Green, we headed back to Auburn for a cookout and fireworks with some church friends. We gathered on a family farm for a cookout, games and fireworks. The adults sat under the trees while the kids jumped on the trampoline, played volleyball, blew bubbles and just ran around. At dusk, sparklers brightened the darkening skies as the children ran through the field making shapes and spelling their names with the light while adults kept repeating warnings about holding it out far from your body and not getting too close to others.
Then it was time for the show. This annual tradition of inviting the church family out for fun and fireworks means that each year they improve upon their fireworks show. This one was really impressive, with the audience supplying the appropriate amount of “oohhs” and “aahhs,” while small children covered their ears at the noise.
FOOD: I haven't yet mentioned much about an important aspect of both of the gatherings- food. Lots of it and not that healthy, low-fat, low-calorie, stuff either. This was good, classic American cookout food. Burgers are a given. But at Scott's aunt's house, you could have made a meal on all the other offerings. There was fried chicken, various pasta and potato salads, corn, squash, chicken fingers, baked beans, fresh watermelon, fish, breads and more.
Our church gatherings are known for their array of food. We also started off with the basic burger, accompanied by barbecue, chips, potato and pasta salads, layered lettuce salad, beans and more.
And then there is dessert. A smorgasbord of pies, cakes, cookies, cobblers and various other temptations. I think it goes without saying that Scott and I, between the two celebrations, greatly exceeded our recommended caloric intake for the day. Thank goodness the Fourth only comes once a year.
FIREWORKS: Of course the Fourth of July wouldn't be complete without some form of fireworks, be it sparklers and pop-its or the big bursts of light high in the sky. I've been to the big-city fireworks shows with the huge explosions, giant flags flying through the air under helicopters and orchestras playing patriot music in the background and they are pretty amazing. But there is something nice about setting up lawn chairs and blankets in your friends' yard and watching as friends create their own fireworks shows. And these aren't just your Wal-Mart variety fireworks. At our evening gathering, the fireworks rivaled those put on by mid-size cities and organizations.
Usually, while watching the explosions of light in the night sky, I do take a minute to thank God that I live in this wonderful country and for the fact that I can spend a fun day with friends and family, eating lots of food and watching fireworks. It just doesn't get much better than that.
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