JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I was thinking of writing something , you know, star-spangled and patriotic, but in the run-up to this holiday ( a four day weekend for some!) I found myself dwelling happily on all the things I just plain love about American's celebration of their national holiday. So, of course, that means... a list!
1. BBQ. Whether it's southern pork slathered in sauce, or Latin American slow-roasted and thinly shaved meats, or good old hot dogs and hamburgers, I adore a good barbecue. Make a side, bring a six pack, and show up at your friend's house for a whole day of sun and fun.
2. Naturalization ceremonies. What better way to honor the founding of our country than adding new citizens? Am I crying? No, that's just the chopped onion for the hot dogs.
3. Themed desserts. The more red-white-and-blue, the better. Thank heavens some of summer's favorite fruits are reliably red strawberries and watermelon. Also, grateful that the Founders went with those colors. Can you imagine coming up with sweets if we had gone with, say, the colors of one of our Revolutionary allies, Spain? Try making an appealing shortbread out of red and yellow.
4. Dogs wearing patriotic gear. SO CUTE. Just make sure to get them into the quietest place in the house before the fireworks start going off. Poor babies.
6. Houses flying the American flag and bunting. This really looks good in New England, where so much of our housing stock is pre-twentieth century. A dear friend of mine sent me a pole, bracket and flag for my birthday this year, and I'm ridiculously excited about installing it tomorrow.
7. Small town parades. Honestly, any and all Fourth of July parades, but the home town ones - with the high school marching band, and the kids on their decorated bikes, and the fire department driving its antique hose truck - those are the best. Have I told you I won the decorated bike award at the Argyle parade in 1973?
8. The high-brow music. Many cities, Portland among them, have free outdoor symphony concerts on the Fourth. They play the usual marches, the military service hymns, and the 1812 Overture (which has nothing to do with America but is GREAT for fireworks. They also play new and interesting works by American composers, and classical pieces the audience might not otherwise hear.
9. The low-brow music. I have SO many problems with it politically, but when someone puts on Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red White and Blue" and cranks it up I am right there singing along. I mean, how can anyone resist a line like, "We'll put a boot in yer ass, it's the American way?"
10. INDEPENDENCE DAY, the Roland Emmerich movie. A family tradition (I watched it yesterday with the Maine Millennial and her new beau) that never pales. The evil aliens. The stirring presidential speech. The redemption of the drunken dad. And, of course, Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith at their sexiest. It's the American melting pot at its finest.
How about you, dear readers? What are the things you like about our own Independence Day? And for our Canadian friends, what do you usually like to do when you celebrate Canada Day on July 1st? (I know some celebrations have been cancelled this year due to the fires.)
Images by Rudy and Peter Skitterians, Jill Wellington on Pixabay, Samantha Jean, Thomas Park at Unsplash, manseok Kimon Pixabay
Hhmm . . . there's definitely a lot to like about our Independence Day. I'm good with barbeques, parades, red-white-and-blue desserts [it's cookies here] and flag-flying [something we do every day]. Fireworks are always something to look forward to as well. Happy Fourth!
ReplyDeleteI always thought it was very fore-sighted of the Founders to have our national birthday in early July. It must have been uncomfortable foe them, with no a/c, fans or ice (not to mention wearing wool!) but it's turned out great for us!
DeleteWe are going to the movies this afternoon and my husband will grill something for himself as I don't eat meat very often. I'll fix a salad. Later I will be hiding along with the 2 cats from the crazy neighbors fireworks. They give me migraines. Happy Fourth to all of you!!
ReplyDeleteI hope the movie is good and the fireworks fizzle, Queen. Happy Fourth!
DeleteAll of that, except I forgot to get appropriate fruit for a red-white-and-blue dessert (which I have done in the past to much acclaim). We'll be having a quiet one today, with one couple over for grilled salmon, garden salad, and Roberta's profiteroles with coffee ice cream. Possibly sitting indoors if the rain forecast holds.
ReplyDeleteWhat could be better than a July 4 naturalization ceremony? Thanks for that clip.
Glad you like it, Edith. There are several cities where this is a tradition - there were quite a few videos to choose from!
DeleteYes, yes, yes to the naturalization ceremony. Thank you for sharing it. I have always wanted to go to one, and never have. IMHO it is the great American story. But I live in NY with immigration all around, and two great museums that tell it - National Immigration Museum Ellis Island and the Tenement Museum. Particularly poignant the last year? I know some Ukrainians.
DeleteHappy Fourth of July to the US Reds and readers!
ReplyDeleteYes, living in Canada's capital city meant there were lots of celebrations & thousands of visitors in town. I love seeing all the Canadian flags and people wearing red and white. I bought local fruit at the Byward Market produce stall & baked my regular (Smitten Kitchen recipe) strawberry-rhubarb crumble.
The main festivities have moved from Parliament Hill (10 minute walk from home) to Lebreton Flats (a few miles away) until 2032 for construction. So I skipped the main stage and went to the Canadian Museum of History in Quebec (all museums are free on July 1) to see the indigeneous exhibits. I rushed home after my phone beeped a tornado watch & I saw the wicked line of t-storms on the radar. There were Canada Day fireworks but I couldn't see/hear them which was kinda good. My apartment building used to shake from the Parliament Hill fireworks in past years.
I read a lot of areas had toned down or forbidden fireworks completely, Grace, so I was wondering about that.
DeleteI love the idea of all museums being free on Canada Day. Why don't we do that in the US?
Montreal cancelled the July 1 fireworks due to poor AQ.
DeleteHub and I went to see the indigenous exhibits last November. Wow! So much history, so much culture! Almost too much to take in in one visit. Later we went to the women's suffrage museum in Seneca Falls. A display explained how Susan B. Anthony was inspired by the sovereignty of Native American women.
DeleteJulia, most of the Smithsonian museums are free every day. As if our wonderful Cincinnati Art Museum.
DeleteKaren, to be fair, most of the museums I love either have a free day - the Portland Museum of Art is open to all every first Friday of the month - or have pay as you can. I was bummed when the Metropolitan Art museum went to $20 - now $30! - for out-of-towners.
DeleteJulia, check and see if a museum you belong to has reciprocity with the Met. My son lives in Manhattan and we use our membership from the VA Museum of Fine Arts to enter for free.
DeleteHappy Fourth! When we moved to Atlanta, my husband started running the 10K Peachtree Road Race on the Fourth. Now that we're in Cincinnati, he runs the local Evendale 10K Conquer the Hill...no small feat. I'll stand with the dogs, wearing their patriotic red, white, and blue bandannas, and cheer the runners. Tonight, we'll hike down the same hill for fireworks and hike back up again. I agree, the 1812 Overture, which has nothing to do with American independence, makes the best fireworks music.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, my husband used to say, "Well, we did have a war in 1812..." :-D
DeleteI have the good luck to live near Concord, MA and will go to the re-enactment where costumed Minutemen will fire their flintlocks after a speaker reads the Declaration of Independence. In the background, a statue with Longfellow's words, "Where once the battled farmers stood, And fired the shots heard 'round the world." Cue the spine-chills.
ReplyDeleteOh, Anon, that is good fortune. There are parts of Concord - like the North Bridge - that give me chills just as a visitor. It's as if you can feel the echos of history in the air.
DeleteHappy 4th! Barbeque is good, I'll bring a side of potato salad or baked beans. Our little town has flag-lined main streets and little flags honoring all the veterans in the cemetery--courtesy of the local (little) scouts. Plenty of bunting on older houses, too, especially the ones with porches (I long for a big porch). Raspberries are ripening faster than we can pick, so my fingers are nice and red. Add those to vanilla ice cream from a local maker, plus blueberries and there's a red-white-and-blue dessert. I like fireworks, but hate crowds, noise, and smoke, so I watch from afar, or in the case of my neighbors, from my patio. The dog sleeps through the noise, but two of the cats get very nervous. One more night and we'll be done with fireworks for a while.
ReplyDeleteFlora, your Fourth and your town sound delightful. I have the opposite in pets - my cat and one dog are utterly unconcerned, but poor Rocky nearly shakes himself apart.
DeleteI'm about to start making potato salad for BBQ at my sister's house later. The expected high is 96 today, which is a bit hot for sitting outside, so we may be mostly inside. I usually go to bed pretty early and am a party pooper for fireworks. It's just 5 am now, so I know I will be tired at dark. However, Mike, my son's father was talking about going flying at sunset to watch fireworks from the air (he has his own Cessna 170). That would be tempting.
ReplyDeleteOooooo! Fireworks from the air would be amazing, Gillian!
DeleteHappy 4th! We are patriotic in Maine. Veteran's headstones are being decorated today with red, white, and blue flowers. There's a parade, a cookout, and a generally fun time. I'm not sure about fireworks. Although we're across the river from Canada, it's been very wet this spring and early summer so fireworks are safe.
ReplyDeleteThe big fireworks in my area are in Portland, Kait, but I'm not sure if they've been scheduled this year - there were disruptions during the pandemic and I don't know if they've got things back to normal yet. Loads of folks will be setting off their own in my small town, scaring my dog half to death, sigh.
DeleteCanada Day in our area is a small town with a big premise. The Fortress of Louisbourg is open free for everyone, and makes a good way to spend the morning as a walk-about with friends. Then at 2pm there is a ceremony (short) with speeches (short), and then free hot dogs (usually burnt but sooo good) and cake. Up until this year Betty, whose birthday was on July 1 and is a favourite forever-child of the town would cut the cake. Oh, to see the delight on her face! Unfortunately, that will never happen again, but memories remain with so many of us forever. Then it was usually home to a siesta, and then a take-out lobster supper – lobster, coleslaw and potato salad – oh yes and a bun usually reserved for the chickens. Strawberry shortcake for dessert.
ReplyDeleteSo, we too celebrate any holiday with food!
Today, the fellow who harrumphs and I will raise a hot dog with you – lots of onions. Happy July 4th.
Margo, the family and I went on a camping trip to Nova Scotia specifically to visit the Fortress of Louisbourg! Ross was very big on 18th century battles. What a wonderful site, and free hot dogs and cake could only make it better.
DeleteShould you or any others on this list come our way, you are always welcome. Bed, breakfast, probably seafood, dog, cats, chickens - how is that for a promo!
DeleteThe chickens definitely sell it! :-)
DeleteI usually watch Independence Day on the 4th of July. Mainly because it is all over the TV. But Julia, if you like that "boot in yer ass" line from the Toby Keith song, how could you forget to include the "Welcome to Earth" line when talking about Independence Day?
ReplyDeleteI don't usually do much myself otherwise. Though I have been invited to a cookout today. If it happens because we are supposed to have rain I've been told.
Fingers crossed, Jay, we were supposed to have rain all day and now it's been downgraded to maybe a storm at noon, then clearing.
DeleteI also like, "Just anxious to get up there and kick E.T.'s ass, sir!" Will Smith has a LOT of good lines in that movie.
Annual dessert. Flag cake.
ReplyDeleteAnon, my mother, who was good at cake decorating, used to make a flag cake! I love them, but I know my own limits, and so have never made one myself.
DeleteI’ll put the flag out and then read a book (out on the deck if I can stand the heat and humidity) until it gets dark enough to light my box of sparklers. We went to a baseball game and watched their fireworks afterwards last night; so won’t battle the crowds for the city display tonight. The lightening display after that and finally some rain was an even more beautiful sight. Kind of surprised the fireworks displays are happening in this drought. Might get some more rain today!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could send some of the never-ending rain we've been having in New England your way, Brenda! I'm sure the professional fireworks will be very safe for the environment - it's the yahoos with the bottle rockets you have to worry about...
DeleteOh, yes! To some of this anyway. My 4th of July movie is 1776- a lovely reassurance that the holiday is actually about something. Not that I don't love parades and fireworks! I do. I grew up in a small city where those traditions were still active then. Marched in parades as a Girl Scout and later, the high school band. Very fond memories,in spite of that hot wool band uniform... And now my brain is playing a Sousa march. Probably for the rest of the day. 😅 Washington Post March, I think. Happy 4th of July to everyone.
ReplyDeleteTriss, I've always wondered how kids manage in those heavy uniforms, which I assume are very practical for football games in the fall. I've seen quite a few local school bands march in matching T-shirts on the holiday - much more sensible. Happy Fourth to you!
DeleteI just read that Italy has developed a silent firework that is kinder to pets and veterans.
ReplyDeleteThere is also the option of the impressive drones displays that don't add noise or fire possibilities to the fun.
Those are wonderful ideas, Libby!
DeleteBackyard fireworks and food with my cousins when we were young. As we grew and our individual families developed different interests, the gatherings slowly ended only to come back when my sister had kids and our mom wanted to celebrate the day with her grandchildren. Now those children and grown, living in other state, mom is gone so the gatherings have died a natural death, again. I still make my version of mom's version of Grandma Jeannette's potato salad pan, though now for one. (I need to put my potato on to boil very soon.) I fry a couple of hot dogs for myself and hunt for 1776 on TV. I hope there are not too many illegal fireworks set off in the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteThe above is from Deana.
DeleteDeana, my potato salad recipe is straight from my mom, and I suspect her mother made it the same way as well. Nothing like the taste of good memories.
DeleteGreat post. Love the photos.
ReplyDeleteOne year I tried to bake a Fourth of July Cake and it was a two layer cake. I learned later that I was supposed to let BOTH layers cool first before putting on the frosting and decorating with blueberries and strawberries. It became a trifle? a bread pudding? Funny memories.
Diana
Diana, my utter ineptness with cakes is the reason I get Friendly's ice cream cakes for all my kids' birthdays. I can empathize with you!
DeleteI am fortunate enough to have gone to see Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops perform the
ReplyDeleteJuly 4 concert. He was the first to have the idea of the 1812 Overture and the fireworks. He also originated the patriotic singalong and the flag dropping down during the crescendo of the Stars and Stripes Forever.
The concert is still held at the esplanade which is right next to the Charles River. The fireworks are set off from a barge in the river and there are cannons and bells ringing from a nearby church
that go off during the overture.
When I went, it was a relatively small local event. Now it is nationally televised, has guest performers and is a destination for thousands of people to attend.
I've always wanted to go, Anon, but the crowds - the the daunting prospect of finding parking! - have always kept me away. Maybe I'll make it a holiday in Boston with friends - it's much less of a chore to take the T back to a hotel than to try to drive out of the Hub on the night of July 4th...
DeleteGOOD
ReplyDeleteTHANKS
DeleteHave a glorious Fourth, everyone!
ReplyDeleteWe have a flag, but no holder, again this year. I keep forgetting to get one. Maybe tomorrow, on sale, for the future. We'll see.
When I was a kid the Fourth was parades in the morning, picnic at Grandma's in the afternoon with all my cousins, and then fireworks that night. Now that the kids have dispersed we have scaled way back. I think we're going to invite the neighbors over for grilled stuff tonight. It's been raining here, and today we had also expected rain, so we didn't make firm plans.
However, Steve's brother lives in rural Nebraska, in a community arranged around a mile-long ski lake. We used to visit them this time of year, and their Fourth was always the very best. There's a pancake breakfast in the morning, the kitschiest parade ever (golf carts, bikes, pickups--all decorated, with participants in costume and every possible red/white/blue combo, and candy thrown to the residents watching), then fireworks on the beach at night, sometimes with dance music. I'm sorry we aren't there now, really.
Karen, your brother-in-law's community sounds like a great place. Is a ski lake man-made for water skiing? Cross country skiing in winter? I've never heard the phrase before.
DeleteI would guess water skiing. Not cold enough long enough for cross country skiiing. The lakes done freeze there usually.
DeleteWater skiing. It's right along the banks of the Platte River, and originally the lake was a sand pit. It was filled and used as a place where people could pay to watch trick water skiing performances and competitions, and later, as a vacation cabin park. Now it's gotten fancy, with a lot of the original, relatively impermanent cabins being replaced with nice, modern homes with air conditioning and central heating.
DeleteThe Platte does freeze routinely in the winter, but the lake is pretty deep. There's a ton of cross-country skiing around there, just not on the lake.
They've had a place there for more than 30 years, and they finally moved permanently from their home in Lincoln several years ago.
When I was a kid, we went to the parade in our town (which was the biggest in Northern California at the time) and then hung out with friends. Nowadays, my husband and I watch 1776 (in even years) or Music Man (in odd years) and barbecue ribs with the usual sides. This morning we’re going to the movies so we can be home with our dog in the evening, in case our yahoo neighbors still have some firecrackers left from the other night…. Happy Independence Day, everyone! — Pat S.
ReplyDeleteYou know, Pat, I've never thought of the Music Man for the Fourth of July, but it's a perfect film for the day, isn't it? Happy Independence Day to you as well!
DeleteIt has been great sharing this holiday with you. I have enjoyed your parades, your music and especially your food. Enjoy your fireworks!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Margo! The same to you.
DeleteThank you for a share a more data
ReplyDelete