A Norman Rockwell Independence Day

I have only been away from home, to my best recollection, twice on the Fourth of July. I'm sure there have been other times, but I can only remember two. The first time was in 2003 when I spent Independence Day in the bush, in East Africa. I wouldn't trade that for anything. The second time is this year, as I spend my holiday with my dear friend Lizard at her parents' home in Philadelphia, PA. This might not be significant if it weren't for the fact that July 4 is the only time my sleepy little Ohio hometown wakes up and actually develops some personality. There is a week-long carnival, class reunions galore, the parade (in which my sister, my brother and I all marched), and the best fireworks for three counties around. (For a list of the festivities, so you can see what you are missing, click here.) It's the only time, in my humble opinion, that Orrville is ANY fun at all, and I hate to miss it. However, my experience this weekend is truly a Red, White and Blue one, and I'm not missing home at all. (At least not because of the holiday.)

We began our day by doing the most American thing to do on a holiday-sleeping in. We then lingered over coffee and Krispy Kreme doughnuts (I ate grapefruit), and then meandered one block down the street to enjoy the Aldan Parade. Though it was a much shorter parade than ours back home (I later found out that Aldan has just half the population of Orrville, with around 4300 residents), it was highly entertaining, and people here obviously work hard to contribute to the festivities. I'll try to post some photos later (Liz's dad had the camera), but some of the highlights were a troupe of very tiny cheerleaders, a string band of flamboyantly decked-out "mummers", and a range of the most patriotically costumed folks I've ever personally experienced. The whole thing was very fun and quaint, as people found "their corner" and adults and children all ran into the street to retrieve the candies thrown from the "floats".

After the parade, the whole town walked across the baseball field to the American Legion Hall where there was a festival set up in the parking lot, complete with sodas and grilled hot dogs (just $1 each), homemade pretzels, real Philly water ice (in a variety of fruity flavors), the local Dem and Republican parties, a soaked sponge toss, a local church booth, an Avon exhibit, and of course the ubiquitous Moon Bounce. Less typical than usual was a booth for a local Parrot Rescue endeavor, complete with several large birds. At 2:oo the ice cream truck came and gave away free ice cream sandwiches to all the residents (and their guests). We then walked back to the house, admiring gardens and (with me) listening to stories of local color. Lizard's parents grew up in this neighborhood, and they either know or are related to half of everyone.

We made potato salad for dinner (it was a group effort, with me, Lizard and Little Katie chopping away), then Lizard and Little Katie Skyped their Little Sarey, who is in London for school this summer. Their dad made us his famous iced mochas, and we played with the kitten. Later, we sat out on the porch enjoying the day with crayons and coloring books (as an aside, I also spent Thanksgiving with this family, and we colored then, too. ), then Lizard decided to find her Jem Doll. She pulled out her Barbie clothes trunk, and we spent a good hour laughing over the Barbies and their accessories. By the time we finished being little girls, Lizard's dad was grilling burgers, and we had the best burgers, potato salad and beans I've had in a long time. Lizard's nana entertained us all during dinner with stories about things like how she passed out cookies at the senior center at Christmas wrapped in Victoria's Secret bags, and told the recipients that she got the bags when she bought her thongs. (She entirely cracked herself up, and the thought of MY grandma-either of them, actually-even saying "thong" cracked me up. I don't think mom would even say it. Which is kind of funny, in itself, actually. )

After a hilarious dinner on the front porch with firecrackers starting to pop all around the neighborhood, we came in and watched the parade downtown on tv, with more "mummers", which apparently is a Philadelphia phenomenon. Then we saw National Treasure, which I hadn't ever seen (due to the abiding trauma of the weirdness of Nicholas Cage in Peggy Sue Got Married). It was fun, and very patriotic. The evening ended with views and sounds of the fireworks over the treetops. A perfect day.

Such a fun holiday! Today I think we get to go be tourists in Philadelphia, which should be a really super day. I think if you have to be away from home on the Fourth, the town where the Declaration of Independence was signed is the place to be. Off I go to eat a Philly Cheesesteak and admire the Liberty Bell!