Fourth of July Wednesday Medley

 

 From Westby, Wisconsin

Delicious cherry jam from Door County
I wish I still had some of that.




Join Terri and the Gang
for

She writes the questions;

we write the answers.

Plug them into your own blog

and join in at Terri's blog,

Your Friend From Florida.

Of course, we will be honoring the USA's Independence Day

for the Wednesday Medley!!

Thank you for the Medley, Terri!

Everything below this line is from the line is from the National Calendar website.

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INDEPENDENCE DAY – July 4

INDEPENDENCE DAY

Each year on July 4th, the United States celebrates Independence Day. This federal holiday commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. 

Did we really think that was a good idea???

For nearly 250 years, the country has been celebrating a day in history that inspires us still today. On July 4th, speeches and ceremonies are held across the nation. Across the country, people crowd cities for parades and festivals. Streets are decked out in red, white and blue bunting and flags.

While families and friends gather for some of the most mouthwatering food – large picnics and barbecues, local fairs provide a taste of culture and mom’s home cooking, too. With so many converging on their hometowns, family and school reunions take place.

Fire Works

Before the day is over, many communities hold spectacular fireworks displays re-enact moments of victory. Patriotic music accompanies the performance while spectators view the show from blankets strewn along capital lawns or from boats floating in bays. Whether out National Anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner” or “God Bless America,” many will sing along.  In some locations, music will be played by a live orchestra or band, while in other areas it’s pre-recorded. Some of the most popular on the playlist are “America the Beautiful,” “My Country, Tis of Thee,” “This Land Is Your Land,”  “Stars and Stripes Forever,”  “God Bless the U.S.A.,” “Yankee Doodle” and “Dixie.”

In some parts of the country, people will shoot their own fireworks. Children delight in the bright colors and sparklers. They roast marshmallows and make s’mores.

 ***

Questions are from Terri. My responses are in blue.

1.  Please share a favorite July 4th memory with us.

Nothing especially stands out, but thinking of childhood, sometimes we were at Silver Lake or Shell Lake here in Wisconsin, a couple of Wisconsin's 15,000 lakes! And as I was trying to dredge up some memory of a big Fourth of July celebration, it occurred to me that the reason I couldn't remember anything too specific was that we were farmers. It was haying season, and I'm sure that my dad and brothers were in the field baling hay and putting it up for the winter. It would have been after that, late evening, that we would head to the lake. And I remember my brothers shooting off firecrackers now and then.

When our kids were young, we would go to the fireworks display at Barron next to the high school, or to Rice Lake. We would put chairs in the back of the pickup and meet friends up there for a fun time of fireworks, Twizzlers, and popcorn.

 Grandkids playing in the pond garden stream

 This was July 7th, the closest I could find. The kids are pulling algae out of the stream. They know that to move the rocks would be to cause the water to overflow at places and then the pond level would lower. And they know that it would not make Grandma happy to have all the water gone from the pond.

2.  How do you plan to spend tomorrow?  If you are working, will you celebrate later?

We'll be in Wausau visiting our daughter and grandkids. Our other daughter is going to drive up from Madison to join us!  and later we'll be watching fireworks along the Wisconsin River. 

3.  Is there a favorite food always reserved for your 4th of July celebration?

 Strawberry shortcake, if made with GF flour, sounds good to me. My problem with anything like this is that nowadays (Is that a word?) I will end up eating it alone. Mr. C. will have a tiny piece and then go for the chips or popcorn. So if anything, I would make a tiny one-or-two serving shortcake. Most likely, this year it will be Air Head Bites for a treat.

Monday evening, 8:30 PM, from the porch

4.  In Florida, you can buy all kinds of fireworks, including some that fly high and burst into pretty cascades.  Are fireworks legal in your state/community and does anyone you know put on a display for your neighborhood?

In Wisconsin, every Walmart parking lot and other fireworks sales tents go up the end of June, so there are always fireworks being shot off in the neighborhood, usually starting July 3 or even earlier. The photos below are from 2015. The 'boys' would often shoot fireworks from the top of our hill. They have to stop by 10 PM, but that's because their mother makes them stop because it seems rude to the neighbors to be shooting off fireworks after that. The neighbors, on the other hand, seem to go on for all hours. That's because their mother isn't a killjoy. LOL

Doesn't this look like it's from a TV show?

the kind I don't watch? LOL

 From a few years ago. Evidently something more exciting than fireworks caught Lucy's eye.

5.  Do you have a favorite movie that you always watch sometime during the 4th of July?

No, but one of my favorites of all time is Enemy of the State with Gene Hackman and Will Smith, so if I were to watch any movie on the Fourth, that might be it. Again. It's just a great movie!

And when Mr. C. puts on his readers, he looks just like Gene Hackman. I tease him about it. LOL

6.  Share something from your week, please.

I shared this photo, taken Tuesday, on Instagram. It was a beautiful July day, typically warm and muggy, but bright blue skies (after the rain that seemed to go on forever). I hung the polyester double knit quilt my mom made from scraps leftover from outfits she made for me and for herself when I was in Junior High. That stuff was beastly hot, didn't breathe, but it also didn't have to be ironed, so Mom used it a lot in her sewing projects. It's nearly indestructible, so it makes a great picnic blanket (or blanket from which to watch the fireworks). I hated that quilt when Mom made it and pretty much right up until the time she died. After that, it kinda worked its way into my tiny heart of appreciation. And now, I love that I have that quilt that she made. It will live forever - and not just in my heart. I mean, that stuff lives FOREVER.

 ***

After 40 years in the contracting business, Mr. C. is actually going to officially retire the end of this month.  It's been coming slowly. It was going to be January, then it was going to be April, then it was going to be June.....

But retirement does not mean mornings at the coffee shop for this man. It means the start of work on the Wausau house and after that, work on the farmhouse to get it ready to sell. So he doesn't dare hang up his work clothes just yet.

 More of this kind of thing

with one of our sons

Maybe I'll let him have coffee and a donut now and then. ;-)

Have a wonderful Fourth, everyone!

Join me on Instagram @cranberrymorning

Judy

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