An old-fashioned Fourth

I love where I live for a lot of reasons -- but especially on the Fourth of July. You might think that because I live outside an eastern metropolitan region, Fourth of July wouldn't be a big deal. But you'd be wrong. Each year, I get a huge kick out of the old-fashioned -- in the best sense of the word -- way we celebrate Independence Day 'round these parts.

We start off with the Fourth of July Parade. I love that most people come wearing red, white and blue, bearing little flags, and that they are enthusiastic about singing along to the national anthem. The parade isn't a huge, slick affair. It starts with something like this


includes steppers from a near-by school;



Uncle Sam on stilts;



bagpipers;


even a Mummer or two;



but the best part is that they allow kids of all ages to decorate their scooters and bikes


or even create floats


and march along with the parade. It's become a Speranza family tradition to decorate the wagon and scooters and march along. This year we were honored with the presence of Betsy Ross

(although I am not at all sure the real Betsy had an Independence Day manicure like this one:)


and you can see the kids, accompanied by Tom, marching along here:


(It's also become a Speranza family tradition for Tom to bring his Starbucks along.) I kept my mom company on the sidelines, where we saw many wondrous things, like a 3 year-old learning how to text


and a lady dressed like Martha Washington but inexplicably toting her rolling suitcase behind her (did she just fly in from Mount Vernon?).


After the parade, we attended a barbecue at Tom's parents' house, followed by the local township's fireworks. We live in the perfect place to see them -- we just walk a block or two to an adjoining street, put down our blankets and chairs and watch the fireworks unfold before us. It's a fun chance to catch up with our neighbors, too.




Best of all, we made Nana happy so what could be better than that?

Happy 4th of July!

"It is the flag just as much of the man who was naturalized yesterday as of the men whose people have been here many generations. "

~Henry Cabot Lodge

"There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America.

-- Barack Obama

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism."

~Erma Bombeck

"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America."

-- Bill Clinton