A Year of Blogging: July 4, 2011

Today is the 4th of July. In the US, it is Independence Day. On this date in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted. This is the day we celebrate our Independence from Britain. There is perhaps no more patriotic day in the USA. You'll see more red, white, and blue today than any other day of the year. July 4th is one of the days that I get most homesick. I possibly am more homesick today than I am on traditional family holidays like Christmas or Thanksgiving. My hometown of Berlin has a Fourth of July parade every year. I don't know what year the parade started, but I know they've had one every year I've been alive- so that's 35 years at least. The little town truly shines on the 4th of July. Everyone comes out for the parade. Even people who don't live in town any longer, like my sister and some high school friends, go back to see it. It is currently the only 4th of July parade in the entire county, so it gets a lot of attention. The parade winds all through town. Fire departments from all over the county come- some with their antique fire trucks, others bring their brand new trucks to show them off. All kinds of groups march- Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, church organizations, the American Legion. There are several bands including Berlin's school band, and usually the bagpipers come from Albany. I love the sound of the bagpipes bouncing off the rolling hills. You hear them coming long before you see them. The 4th of July parade has floats. Each float is that organization or family's take on the theme of the parade. The theme changes each year. There are old cars, bikes, tractors, and of course, the end of the parade brings the horses. The whole town seems to be a big party. When the parade is over, people mill about visiting with neighbors, commenting on how wonderful the parade was. The parade is great, but the party at Mom's is even better. Mom loves the 4th of July. Her parties are legendary. She tells people 'we're just having a cookout after the parade, you're welcome to come'. But there is no such thing as just a cookout at Mom's. The food runs all day long. She makes something for breakfast- it might be a coffee cake or muffins, and has coffee on because we never know when people are going to start arriving. People coming from out of town park in our driveway and walk with us to the parade (the roads into town get shut down a few minutes before the parade). My Grandparents used to come around 9, the parade started at 11. So Mom always had food in the morning. After the parade, Dad fires up the grill. There are hamburgers and hot dogs. Some years Mom tells everyone to bring a dish, other years she tells them there's no need to bring anything. It depends on her schedule. There is, as one friend put it, always enough food to feed the town. There's no set time for the party. You come and go as you want. If you get there after most everyone else has eaten, Mom will still get you a plate. She makes sure everyone feels welcome. Knowing there are diabetics present, she makes sure to have a nice fruit salad with dessert. One of the guys she works with can't have gluten, so she makes a gluten free cake for him. We've never had any vegetarians come, but if we did, no doubt she'd have veggie burgers for them. The tables are set up in the backyard, over by the brook which is the flattest part of the yard. It's also nice to sit by the brook, where there is a lot of shade and it is peaceful. Mom decorates the tables in red, white, and blue. Sometimes, she even finds neat paper plates and silverware. She and Dad always wear shirts with flags or red, white, and blue on them. She hangs small flags all over the yard. Everyone is encouraged to sit and visit. When we were kids, she made sure to have things for the kids to do. Usually this included a water balloon fight- which was held in another part of the yard away from the food. There were bubbles and games for us to play. Nobody got bored at Mom's. If you stay into the evening, Mom brings out the food again around 5 or 6. And if you stay long enough, there are smores out by the fire pit as it gets dark. If you leave my mother's house hungry, it's your own fault. This year, she and Dad were gone for part of the weekend at a wedding. So Mom asked everyone to bring something. I talked to her last night, and she had 36 hot dogs and 40 hamburgers. I asked how many people she had coming, and she wasn't sure. She thought around 24, but there could be more. She had made baked beans and a special cake for her coworker. She made cupcakes which she frosted in red, white, and blue. I forget what else she said she made, but there were at least two more things. Dad got on the phone and was frustrated. He told me 'she said she wasn't making a lot of food!' I told him 'for her, this isn't a lot'. Mom loves to entertain. Martha Stewart could take lessons from my mother! I'm not much of a party person, but I enjoy being able to talk to people I don't get to see often. I like to be there to help Mom, and to marvel at the great job she did. Compared to the 4th of Julys of my youth, they are pretty dull now. We don't have people over. I've suggested it in the past, and Erich, who is a bit hermit-like just asks 'why?' . We don't go the parade in Middletown. Erich said he doesn't think he's ever been to it. I like to make a flag cake each year, but it makes so much. I didn't make it this year. I had a recipe for a red, white, & blue bundt cake but talked myself out of making even that because we don't need the sweets. And I get a little tired of taking things into the office. We grilled hot dogs a couple of days ago, and hamburgers the day after that. I am going to make a macaroni salad, and I think we may just order a pizza for dinner. Then again, takeout is a pretty American thing to do! Next year, you'll find me in Berlin on the 4th of July!