Pomp and Parade
Illuminations From One End Of This Continent To The Other
And so, July 4th.
Here I am celebrating in front of the house where I grew up, with my cousin Anne, and a bunch of the kids in the nearby neighborhood. That’s my sister to the right of me.
My sister always teases me when we dig up old photos because it was often just me and a bunch of girls as part of the original gang.
Anyway, this could be maybe the late 1970s? Maybe it was the Bicentennial? There were always sparklers involved, maybe a little kid parade. You know, I have no memory of our home Fourth of July parties involving back-yard fire works. There must have been, right?
Now-a-days, at least in my town, it seems like fireworks go on for two or three weeks. Incidentally, if your dog hates fireworks, you can pin the blame on John Adams. It was his idea to light up the skies to celebrate. He wrote about it in a letter to his wife, inscribed on July 3. (Technically, the Continental Congress voted for independence via a thing called the Lee Document on July 2nd. The Declaration then formalized the whole thing on the 4th.)
Adams’ wishes came true the following year in Philadelphia where massive celebrations took place, including ships parading down the Delaware River firing their cannons 13 times. (Get it, 13 Colonies!)
It wasn’t until 1783 that Boston became the first city to designate July 4 an official holiday. It became a federal holiday in 1941.
Anyway, I do recall some less savory celebrations where me and a bunch of my older teenage buddies would go down to the park at the end of our street and shoot bottle rockets at each other. Or that one time, my buddy dropped a lit M-80 inside the car and we all scrambled to get it out the window before it blew up.
Wonder what John Adams would have thought of such shenanigans. What trouble will you get into today, or what trouble did you get into in the past? Tell us your July 4th stories. What did you do? What does it mean to you? Where is it going?
Try to relax, whatever you do. And be careful. Light a sparkler for me!
Ironically in the same year July 4 became a federal holiday we were at war in December.
I always wondered it we should be celebrating on the day the declaration was actually signed or at the end of the war and the treaty signed. Oh well. I have always loved July 4th, with picnics, gatherings, fireworks, decorating my bike with crepe paper, etc. Last night the children next door were jumping on their trampoline while singing the Star Spangle Banner. Funny and moving at the same time. The unity of the country was always strong on that day. Only hoping.