Sweet Fourth of July

We had a sweet, but quiet (we have no grandchildren) Fourth of July yesterday. Our daughter and her boyfriend came for a BBQ. The food was good, the weather warm, the conversation lively and when we tired of this combo, the air conditioner refreshed and the TV entertained. 


 When I was a child in the 1950's Fourth of July meant potato salad, fried chicken, deviled eggs, peach cobbler and home made ice cream. We were often at my uncles' farm in central Pennsylvania. The picnic lunch came first, at Whipples Dam. It was a place, like so many others that the men of the WPA developed during the Great Depression, where extended families gathered to enjoy the out-of-doors and each other. To me, it was my special happy place. I was happy because all my family seemed happy. All the adults forgot their worries, they were more lenient with their children, and that was saying something for dyed-in-the wool, old school Presbyterians, and the weather always cooperated, even if it rained. 


 In the late afternoon, after stuffing ourselves at the picnic, we would go to the street fair that was held in the middle of town. Closures at each end of the street allowed free access to what was probably only a mediocre traveling carnival with a lighted Ferris Wheel. But to me, Disneyland never fascinated more. Cotton candied to death, and pockets jingling with coins, I wandered up and down the isles thrilling at each sight, sound and smell.  A few hours of time elongated into endless time as I experienced freedom in where I would go, what I would look at, and what I would spend my coins on. Funny, though, I kept crossing paths with my parents. When dusk came, the magic really blossomed. The carnival lights twinkled Christmas tree colors and the temperature softened to short-sleeve warm. By this time Mom and Dad were always in eyesight.  


Lastly, when darkness completely spread across the sky, the clan gathered at Baily's Field. Blankets and lawn chairs covered the grass and I laid on my back to watch the fireworks. Lazer light shows have nothing on the spectacle of sky glitter falling towards me. It seems now that the Fourth of July was a holiday created just to entertain and thrill me. 


Yet, the memorable and wonderful Fourth of July holidays of my youth compare equally sweet with the gentle Fourth of last week. I thrilled from the time spent with our daughter, watching her enjoy the company of her boyfriend, listening to my husband tell the same old stories, the political conversations I had with a new, but captured audience, cooking new recipes and feeling confident that the happiness of the Fourth of July holiday truly continues to be especially for me.