A Hometown 4th of July Parade

I am not sure if I will cook or if we will pick up barbecue. Either way, we'll have a celebratory summer-time meal for the 4th of July. However, that is the only normal thing we will be doing this year.

Of course, in the midst of the pandemic, there will be no parade. There will be no congenial gathering of people on the lawns around the Dallas Country Club to enjoy their fireworks. 

I love these things - the parade, the fireworks, the gathering of all sorts of Americans to enjoy them together - and so I am sad. However, I am also hopeful that next year all will be back to normal life, which we will appreciate with all our hearts!

In the meantime, enjoy this reminder of how much fun the Lakewood Parade has been in the past! This was originally published in 2008.

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Yes, from the heart of Dallas ...

I pause in making Potato Salad, Barbecued Shrimp marinade (some olive oil, some Worcestershire, some Heinz chili sauce, garlic, salt, pepper, basil, etc) for shrimp which we will put on the barbie tonight ...

... to share some shots of the annual parade which had the theme of "Cartoons."

Cookie Monster ... this might have been our favorite float.

Mickie Mouse ... possibly the most creative use ever of a Volkswagon.

The Archies ... they were mugging their hearts out!

A heck of a clown car ... it had a driver in the front and the "back" so the wheels could go in different directions and it could go backward and forward in a most "organic" manner ... hilarious!

Superheroes ... of course!

Betsy Ross ... not a cartoon but very patriotic!

God Bless America, Land That I Love

Happy birthday, USA!

To those who are not Americans, I like the way that podcaster B.J. Harrison says it (as with so many other things he says):

I know that many of my listeners are not American, and to them I wish joy and freedom of the glorious land which they call home. How wonderful to have a day to celebrate independence. To me, independence proclaims our ability to choose right from wrong, and denotes a celebration for the right choices we make. These are the things that give us freedom. May we all rejoice in the freedoms we enjoy, and in the freedoms we create.

Here are 10 good ways to celebrate American freedom.

3) Walk around your house enjoying the lack of soldiers