For my USA readers, I wonder how you would answer the title question.
I love to ask it for all kinds of special days. What has to be present for Christmas, Ramadan, Cinco de Mayo, birthdays, name days-------
More than the question, I love the answers.
I wish we were all in a room together to share responses to any and all of these questions.
My answers?
--Memories of childhood 4th of July have to be present
* Flags on every porch
*Sparklers that were big and fat and burned for a long time
* Snakes!! An odd pellet that burned and turned to a snake like ash and left a
scar on the sidewalks which drove my dad nuts
*Punks! Punks looked like a sparkler but burned slowly and smoked and kept
mosquitoes away--if any were left after big trucks spread DDT from a blower
(which we kids followed down the alley as it covered us in poison fumes,
happy and dumb).
*Blueberry pie made with a Crisco crust
*Electric Fans going in every room
*Dads at home for a holiday respected by blue collars employers
*Sweaty games of flashlight tag at dusk as we waited for fire works and could
stay up later than usual.
*Fire works that were up close and loud and scary with everyone laying on
their blankets giving out loud oohs and ash at the same time.
--Today's permutations?
*Strawberry shortcake for sure
*Sparklers that still delight me even if sort of puny
*A discussion about whether to go to see fireworks and then always going
even if the fireworks are muted and far away
*Chalk to show grandchildren to play hopscotch and to teach them what a
lagger was. (A lagger was your special rock or object to use to throw in the
right box to get the right for your turn. Mine was a piece of a tar roof shingle.
We did not mess with one another's lagger)
* Ladder golf
* And, probably, at least one kale salad!!!
We are a country based on a shocking experiment of self-government that many questioned. May we become better selves so that we may have better government and realize what a privilege it is to self-govern.
No comments:
Post a Comment