Fourth of July Favorites

 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

Memorial Day Parades

JENN McKINLAY: First, let's take a moment to think of those who lost their lives in service to our country. I do not believe there is any greater sacrifice a person, or their loved ones, can make than
to die defending the freedoms that we Americans hold dear in our hearts. Bless them, each and every one.

Now as a kid the greater meaning of Memorial Day was lost on me. Primarily because whenever Memorial Day came around, there was a parade to be marched in. I started as a baton twirler. That
didn't last very long. A few clonks on the head with the metal baton and not even the sparkly unitard could lure me back into the fold. 

Then, it was marching with the girl scouts, the bicentennial bicycle brigade, and riding on the library float. In high school, I was in marching band so every Memorial Day was parade day. I have so many fond memories of being in the parades that to this day I still love them! Weirdo, I know.

Parada del Sol - AZ

In Scottsdale, it's a tad hot for Memorial Day parades, so in February we have the Parada del Sol, the largest horse centric parade in the country, and we attend every year and cheer on all of the war veterans who ride in antique cars or on the back of flatbed trucks. Our boys have marched with the middle school band and the high school band every year for the past six years. It's always a special moment. I love it. Hub not so much (because people) but he's a good sport (mostly) about it.

What about you, Reds? Do you love a parade?

HALLIE EPHRON: I love parades but I hate crowds. You see the problem.

Our town has a Memorial Day parade which my older daughter dreaded because, as flute player in her high school band, she was expected to march to the cemetery and play at the service. I'm afraid the meaning of the event was lost on her as well, especially when it rained. But our beautiful local cemetery (established in 1672) blooms with Veteran's flags on Memorial Day, and on the Boston Common thousands of flags are planted on a hillside.  It makes me stop and reflect and, yes, give thanks.

Remember the movie Easter Parade? I remember being so disappointed when I moved to NYC and could actually go to Fifth Avenue on Easter, come to find out that the parade was just a lot of people swanning about in funny hats. Not sure what I was expecting. Maybe Judy Garland swinging down from the top of Rockefeller Center.


RHYS BOWEN: I'm a sucker for parades, for pomp and circumstance in general. My heart quickens at the sound of an approaching marching band. Tears trickle down my cheeks when the graduates march in to the Elgar piece that we know in England as Land of Hope and Glory. But small town parades are my favorite. When we lived in Corte Madera, in Marin County they had a 4th of July parade, decorated bicycles, the mayor in an open topped car, very low key, but everyone knew everyoneI  and waved as they went past. My daughter has the same sort of thing in Sonoma.. I think that deep in the American pysche there is a longing for pagentry and lost royalty.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: You'll think I'm silly, but parades make me cry. The veterans, all proud and in their uniforms. The marching bands, with the teenagers playing earnestly, and the cacophonous brass, the weird arrangements of popular music morphed into being unidentifiable. I used to be in a band, and I know how hard iti s to march and play at the same time. (I was a majorette, too, briefly, an utter and absolute failure, who the band director assigned to be in the middle of the back row so no one could tell how terrible I was. But I loved the boots.)  I grew up in Zionsville, Indiana, and EVERYONE got to march in the Fourth of July parade, seemed like there were more people on the street than in on the sidewalk--brigades of goofy dogs, and the quilting ladies, and the kids with sheep, and there was a group  who marched with shopping carts. And endless ponies, and the 4-h exhibitors. And kids pulling little red  wagons with whatever in them, usually littler kids.  Beauty queens in convertibles, either too hot in the broiling heat or too cold but determined not to cover up their dresses and sashes. And flags, millions of flags.
I still makes me cry. The participation, and the community, and the proud timelessness of it.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Jenn, still giggling over you getting conked in the head with the metal baton... Those things hurt! I had one as a kid, although I was never coordinated enough to march in anything. Didn't play in band, either, which I now really regret. But I LOVE parades, especially when there are horses! And I love high school bands. Those make me teary. However, I don't like standing out in the heat and the sun. But, luckily, our Memorial Day parade should start at my daughter's house and end up passing ours, so hopefully I'll get to stand in the shade--or even take out a folding chair--and watch it coming and going!

LUCY BURDETTE: I'm lucky to live in two towns that love parades--Madison and Key West. Along with other vets, John will be marching in the parade on Monday, which is a smaller, more somber affair with stops to memorialize local heroes. On the fourth of July, all stops are pulled out--small town fun at its best! In Key West, everything is an excuse for a parade and we love them all...

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Small town parades are, without a doubt, the best. For years we've been going to the local Saco/Biddeford Memorial Day Parade (the two towns are "sister cities" divided by the Saco River, whose mills used to provide a living for everyone in the area.) The Saco Middle School Band will march, as will the Biddeford Tigers. The American Legion is out in full force, and local organizations and often a politician or two - marching in a parade seems the very definition of retail politics to me! Antique cars, an antique fire truck, and an antique police car, followed by a real squad car to close out the parade.

Like the rest of you, I'm a watering can when I see Old Glory and the proud old (and not-so-old, these days) veterans marching by. Ross, a vet himself, would always brace and uncover, with his hand over his heart. Thinking about this years' parade without him and with the Sailor on duty in the Persian Gulf - ugh, I get weepy just thinking about it. I'll have to find a red, white and blue handkerchief to bring with me.

All right, Readers, how about you? Are you a parade person or no?