Bursting Fourth

Although everyone has a favorite holiday, I think every holiday is the best at something. (Except for Valentine's Day. It doesn't win at anything.)

One of my favorite things about the Fourth of July is flag-print everything. I think it's great that something as abstract as stars and stripes has such meaning--not just patriotism and America, but summer celebrations. I was delighted to wear all my flag-print stuff this week. I have flag-print baseball cap, stocking cap, shirt, ties, hoodie, shorts, suit, swimsuit, socks, shoes, and mittens. (The stocking cap and mittens don't get much use around the Fourth of July.)

This is the most outlandish thing I've ever worn to church (flag not included). And the compliments just kept coming.

Eating in my swimsuit. I'm delighted that Dairy Queen has two patriotic Blizzards this month, when they usually don't even have one. The taste of this Star-Spangled Blizzard wasn't great, but it's so over the top (literally) to put a popsicle in a Blizzard that I love it.

Zoom in on my face to see some creepy eyes. Gah!

Last Sunday, my nephews came into town. I haven't seen them since I visited in January. They have been here for Independence Day every year since 2014. I like that tradition. We always take them up to see North Salt Lake's fireworks display, and I took them up early to get shaved ice.

On the Fourth itself, I had to work. I was disappointed at first, because I haven't worked on Independence Day since I worked the swing shift in the Walmart deli back in 2007. That was the worst Fourth of July of my life.

But I was working in the print shop at This Is the Place, where we've been printing the Declaration of Independence, the exact reason we celebrate July 4. As I looked over my handiwork, while the costumed Sons of the American Revolution played "Yankee Doodle" on fife and drum outside, I realized that was the most appropriate thing I could possibly be doing on Independence Day in the state of Utah. I was literally making the Fourth of July.

See? "July 4, 1776."

My family came to visit me at the park. We expected it to be very busy that day, but it wasn't busy at all; it was just like an ordinary day.

I don't have my own posterity, so these guys are what I have instead. I want them to grow up to be like me.

 I came home and made cherry chocolate tarts. They're not much to look at, but they taste amazing.

Even our matching cars got in the patriotic spirit.

Then I took my nephews to get fireworks and light them at my sister's house, and we lit them again on the fifth. I'm not sure how I feel about fireworks. I loved them as a kid, but I don't get the same kind of excitement out of them as I once did. I mostly like them because they're what you do for the Fourth of July (and Pioneer Day and New Year's Eve). For one thing, I worry about the fire hazard. I can't believe that Utah legalized aerial fireworks in 2011, and that they still are legal, even as they've reduced the discharge days. (If you break firework laws, you are an entitled jerk, and I hope you get a hefty fine, so that you go broke and it ruins your Christmas. If you think that's harsh, would you rather have me wish their house burns down?) My second concern of fireworks is the environmental one. All that litter falls from the sky (and sits in the street), and smoke fills the air. I'm a semi-tree hugger, so I worry about that kind of stuff. Oh well.

Overall, it was a pleasant day. It wasn't a perfect holiday, but I've definitely had worse.

Fortunately, flag prints and red, white, and blue aren't over yet, now that I formally celebrate Pioneer Day. 

People often ask, "Why do we have American flags for Pioneer Day? It was Mexico when they got here." Well, it technically was Mexican territory when the first pioneers arrived in 1847, but in early 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo gave the land to the U.S. The first July 24 celebration in 1849 (and thereafter) was basically Independence Day, with American flags and readings of the Declaration of Independence. If the pioneers themselves used American flags for Pioneer Day, we should too. Also, there are American flags on our Utah state flag.

There have been times where I started thinking about Halloween on July 5. But thanks to Pioneer Day, not anymore!