Celebrating Our Freedom

The Fourth of July means one thing in general to American citizens. We are celebrating our independence from tyranical rule by the United Kingdom (aka Great Britain).

Last night as we were sitting out in front of our home watching the "legal" fireworks being enjoyed by our neighbors, we also saw quite a few of the "illegal" fireworks. They were awesome! My husband made the comment that several people would probably be arrested for celebrating their freedom. I searched the local papers and there were no instances reported where a fire was started due to fireworks of any kind. So why are these spectacular fireworks illegal? If they are going to confiscate fireworks, they should donate them to the following year's fireworks show since Tulare almost had to cancel them due to lack of funds.

As a child in Wisconsin on at least one 4th we gathered around a pasture to watch fireworks. It must have impressed me since I still remember it.

Personally, the Fourth of July marks the day my Dad quit fighting cancer and went to heaven. My son was 12 and it had a huge impact on him as he was the oldest grandchild and greatly influenced by his Grandpa Bailey. My daughter was affected because the next day was to be her seventh birthday. What a bitter-sweet celebration.

Back to the present, I also searched the local news to see if there were any reports of run away dogs. There weren't any. We know of at least one. It was a little Chihuahua and I have never seen a dog run so fast!!! He whipped by with his ears tucked back so quickly we nearly missed him. A young man rode by shortly afterwards on a bike, but he couldn't catch him. No telling where that poor dog ended up.

As to our dogs, Ashton and Pete snuck into the garage and lay in the shadows. When David realized they were there, he told them to get in the back. They both went, but Pete kept sneaking back in. Hense the nickname "Sneaky Pete". After awhile we moved to the back yard since there were several sky high displays going on north of us.

Ashton is about 11 1/2 years old and I can remember many, many 4ths spending time with him as he would bark and carry on when the loud booms and whistles started up. If I would let him in the house where he could lay on the dining room floor, he was calm. This year I observed him as we were all in the back together and I realized something new. Ashton was not afraid of the fireworks, he was pissed! When a really loud, bright fireworks would go off, he would run forward toward the display not backwards cowering. He was trying to protect us! Wow, what an amazing dog.

Ashton with Pete in the background.

So we had a good July 4th celebration without spending any money and even learned something new.

Jim's visit



Jim playing catch with Chris Bailey.

My brother Jim came for a quick visit so we had a BBQ. I hope everyone had a good time. I hope they got plenty to eat. I made beans, macaroni salad and a zucchini slaw (had to sneak in that zucchini). We had hamburgers, brats & hot links. As I was busy organizing and cooking, I managed to take a few pictures. They are available for viewing on my Face book page.

This morning as I lay awake at 6:30 am in spite of not going to sleep until 1:00 am, I started thinking over the evening.

Dylan brought some samples of produce from his garden including a GIANT zucchini, a Roma tomato & an okra pod. I didn't get to visit with him as much as I would have liked, but that is the nature of a big BBQ and what happens when you're in charge.

Deanna is the family caretaker and made several offers to help. She's also a great mommy to Carson and their soon to arrive second son. I didn't get pics of Carson this time, but have taken several in the past which you can see in my other Face book albums.

Our friends Chris & Linda came with their son Christopher. (Ricky was visiting elsewhere). He is just too cute and knows how to boss his mom around. Is that something that the baby of any family excels at?  Our friend Jesse was also there. He calls me his "other mom". These guys are just like family to us. Jesse offered to come and do any handyman worked we needed to have done. We've had him do work for us in the past like build our east fence/gate and paint our eaves. I told him we're broke right now and can't afford to pay him. He said, "Oh no. You don't have to pay me; I'll do it for free." Is that awesome or what? And recently when we needed some branches trimmed, Chris climbed up on our roof and sawed away while David stood below to catch them. See, family!

Deanna didn't realize she was supposed to pick up her sister Kayla, so Kayla had her mom Rochelle bring her. Now John and Rochelle have been divorced for years. Rochelle has treated my brother like shit (excuse my French), but they lived together for many years even after getting divorced. Earlier this spring she told my brother it was really over and moved out. My brother was really torn up over it. So then she shows up at my Mom's for Easter. Then instead of just dropping Kayla and Maddie off, she stayed last night. From my understanding, most people ignored her. She just doesn't get it. You don't see my ex or David's ex hanging out at family gatherings. (Disclaimer - I don't mean to hurt any one's feelings, but this is my blog and I get to say what I think.)

I also think that cell phones should be banned at family gatherings, but maybe the owners would feel like they lost a limb. Or maybe some people would be so bored they wouldn't come. Or then again, maybe they would be more focused on the current conversations and observant of what is occurring around them.

I did get a few minutes to visit with Jim and I'm hoping everyone else did too. I thought it was interesting how we try to find points of interest when we talk to someone we don't really know that well to keep from feeling awkward or just have something to say. Candy asked Jim about the Broncos. Steve's a Broncos fan and so they commiserated their poor season together.

We talked gardening and chickens. Jim says Denver now allows backyard chickens. So does New York. My town will come around in about 5 years even though we're a so-called agricultural community.

I asked him about Terri, his wife and what projects she has going this summer. Terri is a school nurse and so each summer during her "time off", she works on projects around the house. This year she's varnished some doors, painted a hallway/stairway (I think) and is wallpapering. I found out she has quite the garden in her backyard. They grow tomatoes and squash among other things.

I asked Jim about his children. We haven't seen them in 12 years. I don't think Jim realized it had been so long. We missed seeing them grow up. Maybe that's why I try to keep track of my great nieces and nephews since my brother's kids got away from me.

Maggie just graduated high school and is working as a life guard. She had the same job last year and was able to return as some kind of supervisor so she got $4 more per hour. She's driven. She will do anything to earn money like take care of the neighbors' cats and dogs. She already has several thousand saved up in the bank. Maggie is a lot like Jim; he used to mow lawns at the age of 7 and he would NOT loan you money. He was smart about money even back then.

Matt is 21 and has had his share of accidents. He's a pretty easy going guy and I think Jim has a hard time understanding him. But they seem to have a close relationship. They recently went to a reggae concert and got locked out of the house. Jim told the story of their attempts to wake Terri and Maggie to no avail. They ended up with the fire department providing a ladder so Matt could climb in his bedroom window. (Jim was too big to fit.) Terri and Maggie were fine; just fast asleep. This led me to realize that my brother inherited Dad's ability to tell a great story.

I remember Dad pushing back from the table when we had company and telling his stories. Maybe that's why I always loved having company for dinner.

So all in all, it was a success. It just flew by so fast that I'm glad I had a chance to mull it over this morning.