Yes, the Fourth of July WAS. (Posted 7/5/08)
Friday, May 30, 2008
Fireworks, hot dogs, watermelon . . . all came and went. Yes, the Fourth of July WAS.
We started our day in the usual manner, walking with our dog Tippy in the early morning. As we walked along our normal route, we were greeted by an American flag at the curb of each home that we passed. These twelve-inch banners are placed annually by a local realtor in a tradition that was started many years ago.
I wanted to see Hancock the movie of the superhero who had super powers but no heart. Leave it to me to see the lesson in the movie, ignoring the critic's remarks. I found it to be an entertaining movie. And the lesson is an old, old one, but fairly well disguised, it seems.
When we returned home, I checked on the cowboy beans I had cooked up earlier. Our neighbor was to join us in the traditional fare of hot dogs, beans and watermelon. I wanted to make sure the beans came out right. Alas, having misplaced our original recipe, husband Steve found a substitute online. Not the same, which means an ongoing search for that original one which we enjoyed in the past.
Steve's hungry belly announced the time for dinner. I phoned our neighbor and he came over to share our meal. Corn off the cob (smile), hot dogs (with all the possible condiments, including cheese and onions), and of course the beans with a sprinkling of feta cheese to give it a boost (or maybe to achieve the SoCal life style?????, after all the recipe came off the internet from some local minor celeb).
We decided to take a break and meet up for the fireworks, which we were planning to see from our front yards. At 8:45PM, Steve had the chairs set up in our driveway and I was slicing up watermelon. At 9PM we were positioned in our chairs, sending off greetings to all who walked by that evening.
Well, we were ready to call it a night around 9:20PM. The high school stadium was shooting off fireworks, but they were low and the stadium lights were still on. This was unusual. Starting to second guess the event, we figured that with the fires throughout California, the "powers" decided to eliminate any "major" fireworks.
Just as our neighbor was starting to say "Good Night," the stadium lights went off and the "real" fireworks began. We all laughed and congratulated ourselves for sticking in. At 9:30PM (about 30 minutes later than previous years) the show came alive and we watched many new rockets exploding in the sky above the stadium.
A perfect ending to a perfect Fourth.
On Saturday, Steve went for an early hike in the local mountains, coming home by 8AM. We went out to breakfast and savored the day off. On Sunday, the thirteenth annual Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival was held for the first time in Los Angeles at the USC Galen Center. There were over 1,000 dancers with a handful of groups that came from Lithuania to participate. I kept nudging Steve, telling him "I danced that one" over and over again. What a nice skip down memory lane. Being among thousands of my countrymen and women was great!
I hope your weekend was a memorable one.
Submitted by Rima (Lapinskas) Curry
