A day of celebration. A day of joy, picnics, fireworks. A day of unpacking - wait! How did that get in there? Really, one should take full advantage of a holiday and do special things. But this year turned out to be very quiet and stay at home-y. Not that I hadn't planned to go see fireworks and eat picnic foods. There certainly were many opportunities to do that. But with the rain, and the dozens of yet unpacked boxes in the apartment, I ended up just puttering about and working on getting things settled.
How fortuitous that in the middle of my first week at Roberts I had a full day to relax, take care of things at home, and adjust to new schedules and patterns. Besides, its not like we have had an irrevocable family tradition of going to the same place every July Fourth and doing the same highly anticipated activities. It has usually been a celebrate-wherever-you-are holiday. If you could manage to participate in a picnic, with or without swimming and boating, eat some sweet corn (which I can't do now anyways) and watermelon, see a few fireworks wherever the local place was offering them, then it was a banner year. If not, then a quiet meal of hot dogs and hamburgs at home with family, then watch the Boston pops on TV was a pretty good substitute.
I recall one year when my boys were fairly young and we were with my parents for some reason. We went to West Mountain (normally a ski resort) to watch the fireworks. I hadn't been to a live show for a number of years, and the weather, though a bit chill, was comfortable enough. We sat looking up the mountain at the brilliant colors high in the sky above us. The event was well attended and we shared oohs and aahhs with our fellow patriots sprawled on blankets and in lawn chairs about us.
When I was a kid, we would walk as a family over to Knox Jr High School on South Perry Street in Johnstown, NY (yes, its still there and thriving for those of you who think institutions from the dark ages are long gone) where they set up their fireworks near the new athletic field. We would sit on the small banked hills near the bleachers to watch the noisy displays play out against the black sky. I think the entire town came to that event - certainly I knew most of the people sitting nearby, and it was back in the day when kids in the elementary grades could walk around by themselves and not worry about being accosted. Sometimes my friends and I would wander about, dodging the cotton candy vendors and laughing at the little kids who were scared by the noise.
So I guess that missing the Rochester fireworks our first year back was OK. I didn't even watch the Boston pops. But friends and family called to wish me a happy fourth, that and made the day special. Connections. I am happy that despite living far from many friends, I can still connect via phone, email, and the occasional visit. So happy fourth, perhaps next year we will do it up with more of a bang.
I recall one year when my boys were fairly young and we were with my parents for some reason. We went to West Mountain (normally a ski resort) to watch the fireworks. I hadn't been to a live show for a number of years, and the weather, though a bit chill, was comfortable enough. We sat looking up the mountain at the brilliant colors high in the sky above us. The event was well attended and we shared oohs and aahhs with our fellow patriots sprawled on blankets and in lawn chairs about us.
When I was a kid, we would walk as a family over to Knox Jr High School on South Perry Street in Johnstown, NY (yes, its still there and thriving for those of you who think institutions from the dark ages are long gone) where they set up their fireworks near the new athletic field. We would sit on the small banked hills near the bleachers to watch the noisy displays play out against the black sky. I think the entire town came to that event - certainly I knew most of the people sitting nearby, and it was back in the day when kids in the elementary grades could walk around by themselves and not worry about being accosted. Sometimes my friends and I would wander about, dodging the cotton candy vendors and laughing at the little kids who were scared by the noise.
So I guess that missing the Rochester fireworks our first year back was OK. I didn't even watch the Boston pops. But friends and family called to wish me a happy fourth, that and made the day special. Connections. I am happy that despite living far from many friends, I can still connect via phone, email, and the occasional visit. So happy fourth, perhaps next year we will do it up with more of a bang.
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