Happy Birthday, America!!

I wanted a proper image for Independence Day. Something that meant something to ME....and this is it. This is the medal of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). It was a sort of fraternal organization for the Veterans of the Union forces following the Civil War. One of the main purposes of it was to advocate for the wounded veterans - and as such, the local branch, headed by our own Lucius Fairchild, became very active here in Madison, and in Wisconsin.

Now - as a (former?) Hippie and Peacenik and all that good stuff (sure, I DO hug trees, ya wanna make some'n of it?) there are those who think I don't care a rat's....a pound of....don't care very much for Independence Day. "My kind" has not been known as Flag Wavers, &c. And Those of Us who experienced Viet Nam (and came away believing that we'd learned, and THAT nightmare was laid to rest) are not the ones you might expect to see at the parades.

Well - WRONG ANSWER, CLIVE! (with apologies to anyone who is named...or related to anyone named..."Clive"). This time of year I always get downright verklempt. I think memories have something to do with it -- that and Realizations.

Memories? Guests at my mother's beautiful dinner parties with numbers tattooed on their arms. Seeing President Eisenhower (sitting on the back of an open convertible) in Minneapolis. Reading books about the Holocaust. Sitting in the ballet studio and listening to our Hungarian refugees talk about seeing the Russian tanks -- and one fellow described seeing his sister shot down as he fled with his family toward the Austrian border. And then -- seeing Willie, that handsome man whose face I see now in his son and his grandsons, in the uniform of the United States Army, with such a look of pride on his face.

Realizations? I can say that I think George Bush was an idiot and was responsible for some pretty bad horseapples....and no one will drag me out of my bed, pull me into the street and shoot me. I am SAFE in my little home. Because of my birth, and my lot in life (about which I had considerable choice) I am now 67 years old and have virtually everything my heart desires. Furthermore, I have Aspirations. I write silly kiddy stuff - and I might could just get it published! I can dance (don't worry, I won't SING) and I can go stand in front of my beautiful State Capitol and break the law by drinking raw milk....and complain because I don't like the way the whole thing fell out. (See "drag out of bed", above.)

So - forgive an old woman for getting all over sentimental. It's not lost on me that I have a life unimagined by women all over the world, and although we share sadnesses, we Americans (I can no longer watch much footage of oil-soaked wildlife) our blessings and privileges are endless.
The forecast is for thunderstorms tonight - so I expect that we'll vary our usual routine: instead of taking cream-cheese-and-olive finger sandwiches and lemonade to Black Hawk for fireworks - we'll stay home and watch televised fireworks while eating leftovers (barbecued ribs slathered in Lovely Daughter's singular sauce, cole slaw with Rudolph's singular dressing -- and probably Kitty Mommy's homemade strawberry jam, which really DOES taste like fresh strawberries....maybe ON something other than a spoon. Which is the way I've eaten some of it. NEVERMIND.)

So Happy 4th of July, fellow Americans! A salute to our young men and women in uniform - especially my own fine Marine grandson, he of his grandfather's handsome face. May the day come when all the parades in all the towns and cities have rank after rank of our soldiers and sailors marching behind the flag.......here at home. Safe.

A Bear, Two Dears & Fireworks

More traditions - what can I say? As mentioned, we go to a local country club for the fireworks. We take cream-cheese-and-olive finger sandwiches (this year we had black olive AND green olive sandwiches); we had Trader Joe's potato chips, Mr Dearling's faves; we had two ... no, THREE kinds of cookies, because Donna brought some delicious little shortbread cookies; and we had the requisite lemonade. I forgot our usual picnic basket with, you know, PLATES. Napkins. But that was OK, we managed. Some people think I wear those long dresses, often with aprons, because it's "my look" -- truth is, you can use the inside of the hem of a long skirt really well as a napkin, but you didn't hear that from me.

This year Miss Iris didn't care to go along, so my family of bears was represented by my dear old friend, Travellin' Pete (seen above with his flag, resting in the knitting basket). He often travels (hence his moniker) and often in the knitting basket. He looks like an old bear and is made of lovely "distressed mohair", but he is in fact newish, (as well as Jewish), and was made by a highly-skilled needlewoman of our acquaintance. NOTE: "Distressed mohair" means that it's been rubbed up or some such, so that it looks old. Believe me when I say, Pete is NOT distressed. He may be the most laid-back teddy bear you've ever seen.

The advantage of going early is that you get prime real estate, and folks come out early to put down their blankets. (Folks do that for the Concert on the Square too, and it's FINE. There's always plenty of space, even for latecomers, but half the fun is getting there while there are still choices.) Because it was sunny, we put down our blankets, baskets, backpack &c and then retired to a shady spot under some trees for our nosh. We were in view of our stuff - but I still enjoy the fact that one needn't be TOO uptight about such things. (I once left my purse on the Union Terrace under my chair, realized it about five blocks away and trotted back - to find it exactly where it was!)

When we'd tidied up our nosh, we repaired back to our blanket and Donna and I pulled out our needles. She's making a Remarkable, Luxurious Afghan (using only one puny little hook, can you imagine??) and I was working on my Dr Who scarf.

As you can see, the crowd thickens early on, while there's still plenty of sunlight, and there's a powerful lot of socializing in general. Note that I was wearing my Fibertarian button, it being a Patriotic Event and all. Something that I noticed a little more this year than I had in the past: when it gets crowded like that, it's sometimes hard for parties to find their parties, if you know what I mean....and in this, our 21st century, there's a lot of standing-up people shouting into their cell phones OVER HERE OVER HERE I SEE YOU LOOK TOWARD THE TREES!! For MY part, we have a teddybear head-onna-stick (I'll have to show you that some time) which stands out in crowds when necessary. OK - the truth is, we bought it so Mr Dearling can find me at Barnes & Noble on account of I'm considerably shorter than the bookshelves; when I hold my bearhead-onna-stick way up in the air he can find me pretty easily. I think it sort of embarrasses him -- em-BEAR-asses him (couldn't resist, but no, I don't apologize) but it's highly effective.

Travellin' Pete had a question about Benjamin Franklin - he's been reading our "Farmers' Almanac" in the biffy, and Mr Dearling is very knowledgeable about Franklin, so they had a very earnest discussion. The truth is, Travellin' Pete is an unabashed flag-waving, tree-hugging, eco-liberal hippie; I've heard him shout "BITE HIM!" at the television set during Presidential Announcements. That's my bear!


Eventually, darkness fell and the fireworks began, to the impatient rhythmic clapping of the crowd. There was an announcement over the PA system at the beginning, stating that there would be a few new offerings -- because much of their order had been delayed and they were notified they would be "delivered promptly - on Monday!" We could only assume they'll be saved up for next year. The display WAS a bit thinner than in previous years, but the three traditional ones were in evidence: there's always a ground display of two firemen facing one another with their hoses spraying sparkling white stars (the display is put on my the Shorewood Hills Fire Department). There's always a ground display everyone calls "the waterfall" - it's sort of a clothesline, with white sparks thickly spewing from the whole length of it and appearing to splash on the ground, and at the end, an American flag. Each of these is met with wild applause and cheers (I'm not the only one into tradition). I experimented with my new camera, which has a "fireworks" setting, and I will leave you with these images, which - while hardly *professional* quality, I find quite artsy-fartsy. I won't be entering into any competition, but I'm just a little old knitter-lady enjoying the display with family (Mr Dearling and Travellin' Pete) and friends (Donna - and a few thousand fellow Madisonians)