In typical 4th of July fashion I’m wearing my red, white, and blue. I'm wearing blue jeans and my dodgers tee. Granted my tee is mainly blue with a little white and red but it's got all the colors needed, it's baseball related (and what's more American than that?!) and they are playing this evening too. It's a trifecta! (On a side note: Let’s hope they win. They’ve been moving up and I’m happy to report are ahead of the Giants in standings. Yes, this makes me very happy.)
I went to the store already and got myself all the goodies I'll need to make my Independence Day feel like a picnic. I figure I'll have a bologna sandwich for lunch (which as far as I'm concerned will be like having a hotdog). And I got an individual side of potato salad as well as an individual side of hummus. I picked up some Paul Newmans lemonade as well as a bottle of Chardonnay and a bottle of white wine (I didn't know what I'd be in the mood for later). I also picked up a salad for dinner and some chicken to go with it.
For breakfast I stopped and got a white mocha at Starbucks (I thought I remembered seeing a sign at Peets saying they were going to be closed so I didn’t bother driving there). And then I went and got a super onion bagel at the bagel place - which I'm noshing on now. My air conditioner is on. My nook is charged and I've got movies to watch. I may not have fireworks to watch tonight (though I could if I wanted to) but I think it's going to be a good day anyway. I’m certainly looking forward to it.
And to wrap this entry up, I just want to share with you a memory I have of 4th of July.
I was about 4 or 5. We lived on our old street (not the one I grew up on). This was back when anyone could do fireworks in front of their house, and more often than not it felt like a huge block party full of pyrotechnics galore, shared by all. I remember watching the spinner go around and around and around on the tree trunk across the street from us. A fire pinwheel, if you will. It was awesome! And then we did the spinning flower ones on the ground (my favorite) and a whole bunch of other ones that aren’t legal anymore. Us kids were told to stand back for fear that we’d get an arm blown off or catch on fire. Let me tell you, I was respectful towards those fireworks and stayed the hell back. I remember even then being paranoid that the roof or lawn was going to catch on fire. I still get that way when I’m around the legal ones going off in selected neighborhood streets. And then there were the sparklers. The sparklers I grew up with weren’t like the ones we have now. Our sparklers had a sturdy base and just crackled and sparkled away and then when it reached a certain point we’d throw the sticks into a bucket and leave em be to cool. I remember loving playing with sparklers but at the same time completely scared that it was going to burn down to my fingertips and take my fingers with it. I remember someone telling me to throw mine in the bucket and I freaked out in my head thinking it was going to explode on me or something and just that no one had told me it was going to happen. Of course that wasn’t the case, but I didn’t know any better. I was too young. I guess with everything else, I am fortunate to say I have great memories. I have a few other memories of the 4th that are all from when I was older, but nothing stands out to me as much as that one year. The awe through the eyes of a child.
