As a child, the Fourth of July was one of those exciting holidays. The family would typically make the trip over the river and through the woods to grandma's place for a few days. We'd swim (grandma had, and still has, a pool), barbeque (complete with gram's divine potato salad), and then head off to the Central City fairgrounds for the fireworks display. My sister and I screamed for Dad to honk the horn when a particularly exciting starburst lit the sky.
My teens and early twenties saw a different focus emerge on the 4th of July: beer! Gone were the idyllic days of barbeques, fireworks, and lightning bugs; the 4th of July became yet another excuse to get stupidly drunk. This wasn't a day for a slight buzz, but a swill fest of falling-down-slurred- speech-profanity-laced-tirades-pissing-on-myself drunkenness. Good times, good times.
Today, I see the 4th of July for what it is: Amateur Day/Night, Version 2. Other than New Year's Eve, you'll never find a better day to observe the idiocy that comes from occasional drinkers trying to act like lushes. Leave the serious drinking to the professionals, folks. While all the wannabe alcoholics make me chuckle, the presence of so much booze also makes me a little uncomfortable. As such, I usually go out of my way to avoid any kind of public activity on the 4th; as one of my old AA friends used to say, "Your best course of action is to treat the 4th of July as just another day." For those of us in the recovery gig, that's good advice.
In celebration of Just-Another-Day-That-Happens-to-fall-on-the-4th-of-July, STK, TLO, and I had a pretty subdued day. The highlight of the day was taking TLO out for his first ride in the stroller. We needed to pick up some photo paper at the local CompUSA, a store within a stone's throw of our condo, and thought the trip would make the perfect 1st outing. We made the trip, returned home for a light dinner, and completed the night with several episodes from the 1st season of Alias. I'm not sure how we missed the show during it's original run, but we did. We really like it. Of course, STK and I both have a thing for shows featuring a kickass female lead.
3 comments:
Alias is heading into Season Five this fall and it's promising to be one heck of a ride. Then again, most seasons are.
Michael and I caught the first episode of Alias when it premiered, and we've been hooked ever since.
Welcome to the insanity.
Yeah, the Fourth of July just isn't the same without bottle rocket wars at The Pit. Wacky fun, that.
"bottle rocket wars at The Pit."
Best. 4th. Ever.
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