Two hundred fifty years young!
Happy belated birthday, America!
You look good for your age, from the purple mountain majesties to the amber waves of grain. Technically, the Rocky Mountains, the alleged purple mountains from the song “America the Beautiful,” formed around 80 million years ago during the Laramide Orogeny in the Late Cretaceous. Still, they’re looking good for their age, too.
I celebrated the semiquincentennial, though I’ve been calling it the Sasquatch-centennial because “semiquincentennial” is hard to say out loud and even harder to remember.
I’m a fan of fireworks. Mostly because I don’t have any pets or little children who are terrified of them. I like the chrysanthemums, the comets, the crossette, the pearls, the flying fish, the palm tree, the strobe, the willow, and the ones that make that sizzle noise as they fall to the ground.
Side note: It was so hot last week that I, too, sizzled when I hit the ground, falling onto my blanket to watch the fireworks in the grass. Even with a blanket splayed out on the lawn, I managed to get grass stains all over me.
But I digress, like I do. I attended two fireworks displays.Earlier in June, I went to Norfolk’s Sail 250 event, where tall ships crowded the harbor. They set off a glorious fireworks display on Saturday, June 20.
I “oohed” and “awed” at both events.
I am noisy at fireworks. I show my appreciation vocally, with a bit of a running commentary. “Oh, look, a green one!” “That’s my favorite!” “How do they do those heart-shaped ones?”
I’m noisy, but not as noisy as the fireworks themselves. It’s all relative. Fireworks can reach up to 120 decibels. I only get that loud when someone cuts me off in traffic.
I also applaud after the grand finale. I know I’m too far away for the guys setting off the fireworks to hear me, but I clap regardless.
I like to embrace my inner child. I don’t know how you embrace a figment of your own imagination, but I’m hugging this fictional kid anyway.
It’s good to have childlike wonder … it’s easy when you don’t understand how things work. I ooh and awe at a lot of stuff: fireworks, technology, science, and math. Yeah, some people call it stupidity, but childlike wonder sounds more positive.
The Fourth of July is my second favorite holiday after Halloween, which follows in reverse chronological order. Christmas is my third-favorite holiday because there’s too much to do: buying gifts, wrapping them, decorating, cooking … it’s exhausting. On the Fourth of July, all you have to do is sit down and watch the sky. Sure, you can have a cookout, a picnic, or another outdoor activity, but it’s not a requirement.
The least you can do is applaud the fireworks display when you’re done, which I do.
Fireworks are such a great way to celebrate America’s big day. Frankly, I don’t like cake. For my birthday, I would enjoy fireworks instead.
Happy birthday, America; here’s to many more!