Another holiday has been affected by the weather. No matter how much we try, the weather is completely out of our control.
This was a very soggy July 4th holiday, with rain falling sometime during the day or night all across the county. The newspaper tries to cover as many of the holiday events as possible, with each of us receiving our schedule of events. I was to attend the Morrison festivities, after going downtown to catch the cute Yankee Doodle Parade and to watch granddaughter, Lauren, dance.
While on my way, I received a message from by boss telling me Morrison had cancelled all of its plans, and most of the downtown activities were scrapped. I now had time to go back home and do some cooking for a cookout we were invited to that night. Surely we would be able to get that in … good food, friends and fireworks.
I really enjoy the big firework shows like the one presented by Dr Pepper at the Civic Center, and thankfully, they were able to blast off on the night before the fourth. Not sure who had the idea to have it on the third, but it sure worked out for the best. We need to thank Doug Milner for his generosity and making this show possible.
My husband was brought up enjoying shooting fireworks with his three brothers. I cringe at the tales they tell about shooting each other with bottle rockets and Roman candles.
Well even though he is an adult, he stills likes to be involved with fireworks at every opportunity. It has become his grandfather tradition to take the grandchildren to buy fireworks for them to shoot together as a family.
They all started calling Pa early in the week to see what the schedule was to go shopping, and they did all get together for their annual trip to Darrell Austin’s fireworks stand. I understand they are all sworn to secrecy about telling me about any of the monetary details. 
We did get to have our cookout, complete with burgers, hot dogs, lots of sides, whoopee pies and homemade peach ice cream. Yum, thanks David and Joyce for inviting us to your home.
The annual fireworks show did take place in a somewhat abbreviated version, as it started to sprinkle and then downpour, definitely putting a damper on the display. The children had a blast, as did the older “children,” setting off fireworks and dodging rain drops. They didn’t get to shoot them all, so we have a large box of fireworks just waiting for the next get-together.
Independence Day is a patriotic holiday many of us appreciate, but it’s truly an opportunity to celebrate our country and our nation’s founding fathers.