July 4

It's kind of tough to be excited about July 4 given some of the things that are happening politically right now. I was really glad to talk to you about these things when you were here. It's really exciting to me to see you growing up, and to know your brain is becoming so big!

It took me a long time to gain political awareness, world awareness. M has this already because of her background. My white-bread upbringing was great in most ways, but it stunted me a little from the realities of the world. In some ways it's good that children don't have to think about those/these things, but...it's not bad to be aware, either. We'll strike a balance somehow.

Today you are on the beach; I am going to work. I will recall some previous July 4s for you as best I can. Part of this blog is meant to serve as a living history of our family....

The earliest July 4 I remember would have been around 1973 or 1974. Maybe 1973. My marker is my brother's age. Curtis had to be at least 11, which would have made it 1973. And I don't think I was driving yet, which would preclude it being 1975 or later. We were in Arkansas. My grandfather (G-Ma's dad) had a small farm just over the Arkansas border in Oklahoma. All I remember is that it was near a place called Uniontown, which I thought would have been more amusing had it been called Oniontown.

All of my mother's family was there. On the farm, which could only be reached by a dirt road, he had a pond to the east, a large garden in front of his small, one-bedroom house to the south, and a big open field with some cattle to the north.

The "house" was nothing special, but he kept a refrigerator full of soft drinks that always seemed as cold as cold could be. We used to raid it for Orange and Grape Nehis (pronounced Knee-Highs). Curtis had a minibike, kind of like a moped/scooter/small motorcycle. You may have seen pictures of him or your great-grandfather J-Bob on it. The picture of J-Bob (yes, that was what everyone called him) was taken during this visit, probably on July 4.

On the afternoon of July 4, a bunch of us went into the cow pasture to play softball. We used whatever we could as bases; I think a tree stump served as second base. It was a great day.

Somewhere in these years, I remember a big get-together in our back yard. I used to love to build model airplanes when I was a kid. I took some model airplanes, put some firecrackers in them, let them then threw them into the air and watched them explode. Kinda stupid; now I don't have the models, and I could easily have blown off a finger or had exploding shrapnel blind me. I am not a big fan of fireworks except from a distance.

Another cautionary tale follows: In 1975, I had just gotten my driver's license. Me, my brother, my best friend and some other guy (I think it was Meiseneggs) went to Lake Ray Hubbard to buy some fireworks. We were driving down a somewhat deserted road just after having been there, and my friend Steve decided to light a firecracker and throw it out the window. One problem: he hadn't bothered to roll down his window. Power windows used to be rarer; I had a car where you had to hand-crank the window to get it down or up. Steve, lit firecracker in hand, realizes his dilemma. He looks in my direction and notices my window is about half-way down. So he throws the firecracker in front of my face to try and get it out the window. Of course all of this is happening in milliseconds of time but very hard to forget. His firecracker, fortunately, does not blow up in my face, but hits the window glass and drops into my lap. I quickly swat it into the floorboard before it explodes.

Then I screamed at him for about five minutes.

Scary, but a lot funnier 32 years later...

In 1976 the U.S. was marking the Bicentennial, 200 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It was a big deal. Curtis and I were in Arkansas then. I was about to be a senior in high school. I don't remember much about it; but I remember some. I remember watching the Boston Pops under Arthur Fielder, a very famous conductor, on TV. There was a big concert in Boston Harbor and I vividly remember hearing them play "Stars And Stripes Forever" while fireworks exploded over the harbor. It was pretty neat. Me, your uncle and my cousin Chip were going to the movies with some girls or something. Typical teenage stuff.

In 1980 Curtis had just begin taking college courses and we were living together. We went to a big July 4 party at a judge's home in Bentonville. He was the father of a friend. I got very very sick that night; I couldn't even ride in Curtis' truck because I felt so bad. I rode in the back of his truck. I would pound on the side of the truck when I got so sick I had to stop moving. I remember a huge full moon and a vow never to get sick again.

I remember the July 4 when you were very small and Millo was born, 1997. We had a bunch of people over to the house and your uncle couldn't make it because he and his wife were having a baby! I'm pretty sure that your little pool was set up that day. You always loved to swim.

Anyway...I have to go to work soon. I hope you're having a great day. I love you...

Dad