Happy? Fourth

Hello,

The days just fly by and I find myself falling further behind in posting. I hope you all had a good Fourth of July holiday. 

I'm going to vent a little about ours. It was good, but we plan to try something different next year. Chuck and I got our chairs down to our usual intersection at 7am after they blocked off the streets. Got a good spot in the shade. At 9:30 all three of us came back down and settled in to people-watch while we waited for the parade to start. We're just two blocks from the beginning so we get to leave while it's still winding it's way through the streets. It's the perfect spot.

Not long after, a police officer came up and told us all that we would need to move our chairs because that part of the intersection was being used as an emergency exit. It never had been before but okay, we definitely understand. We moved our chairs over closer to the sidewalk, but still got to be 'in the street.' With the intersection now empty, we had a big, clear view toward the start, and of all the participants as they would come down the street!

What we didn't know was that he was going to allow people to stand in the intersection. No chairs allowed. Oh. As it got closer to start time, there were so many people that crowded into that space we could only see directly in front of us.

And there were so many kids! We've been at that spot for many years and have never seen so many. Then we hear a dad ask his kids, "Why are we here?" 

"Candy!!"

"And why are we at the front of the parade?"

"Because they haven't run out of candy!"

"That's right!"

So many of the kids had bags that they would fill, like Halloween. One girl even went out to the street to a parade participant and took the candy right out of her hand! 

It was different.

We had the usual participants:

  Some fun ones:

And a few that made you grateful:

And the horses. They're always a favorite!

But this year I would say 85% of the entries were promotions for local political candidates, or shops, or businesses. It was just one big commercial. 

Plus, in 2020 our town decided to stop doing the big fireworks show so you leave the parade and that's that. We've always loved celebrating July 4th in our town but this year was just meh. 

I did make our usual jello dessert. Diana even made it for Adelaide this year. She called it her 'wibbly wobbly.' 😄

I do want to acknowledge the victims of the Texas floods. My heart goes out to everyone impacted by them. I can only imagine what those families are going through.