My first national holiday since moving back to Clarksville turned into a winner in more ways than one!
It didn't start out that way. Neighborhood fireworks demos commenced several nights before the Fourth and went wild the evening of Sunday the Third. As I sat outdoors and observed, memories of a certain very tragic Independence Day or two or three in my life crowded in. I remembered 1968 (or so), searching for two little boys who lived across the street and were missing, while the traditional Boise fireworks display painted the sky overhead; they were found drowned in the major irrigation canal nearby. I remembered 1984, trying to give my son a happy holiday while sorrowing over the stillbirth of his first sister. Tears came to my eyes while 2011 fireworks erupted.
But the actual holiday itself, 4 July A.D. 2011, was an easy, relaxed and happy celebration. My daughter and her hubby took me with them to his family's reunion on the family farm in eastern Houston County, southwest of Clarksville. We enjoyed grilled burgers and dogs, fries, slaw, chips, brownies and so forth. There was a light rain, but it was brief, and then the sky cleared, and a refreshing breeze sprang up. It was pleasant to be outdoors, whether swinging on the front porch during the rain or listening to reminiscences and family gossip out in the back yard under tall old trees.
I attempted to make some phone calls on my Verizon phone, to no avail. Apparently the farm sits in a non-covered area. But upon returning to C'ville I discovered that I'd had two messages left in my voicemail. One was my mother, the other an offer to lend me a car (to get to my new job in Nashville). I answered both, while the holiday fireworks started up in earnest. The latter led to arrangements to obtain the borrowed car, which solves the transportation/commuting dilemma I had faced. Hooray!
Plus I got a phone call from my sister Debbie in Idaho. So all around the Fourth of July Independence Day holiday this year was enjoyable and memorable!
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