Summer is Officially Underway!

Warning: Post contains some political views.

I hope you had a wonderful July 4th holiday. Our country is 248 years old now; just an infant in the history of mankind, yet older than some countries we think of as being ancient - like Italy, which as we know it today was founded in 1861 as we were fighting our Civil War.

On July 3, 1776, John Adams wrote from Philadelphia to his wife Abigail:

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival…with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore. You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration and support and defend these States. Yet, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory.

Two things come to mind. First of all, we could do without the guns and bells; illuminations will do nicely, thank you very much. The fireworks on July 4 got rained out in my area, but they were back full force on the 5th, with booms and bangs until after 11:00 p.m. 

Second, why did John think July 2 (instead of July 4) would be so important? Perhaps Friend David, high school teacher extrodinaire, will read this and let me know.

And if you haven't had enough fireworks, you can watch the Macy's fireworks in New York on the Hudson River HERE.

Yes, that little red, white, and blue thing directly across the Hudson right in the middle is The Empire State Building. The lights change all the time - right now it's signature white. You can read about it HERE. Scroll down and see some of the different lights, and if you're ever in NY, make time to take the tour up to the top at night. The lights of the city are an incredible sight.

I had a fun day. Mim and I went to the parade in the historical district of North Springfield.

We were sitting on a throw, and by the time I got up and got my phone ready, I missed a shot from the front of the honor guard(?).

Boy Scouts

The Mustang Club

I should have taken my camera. By the time I got my phone off video mode, the Victorian Ladies had passed already.

We never did figure out which slaves he wants released.

Is this Woody from the old days, or is this custom?

There goes the Dance School, still not dancing.

My high school. In cooler days, the Kilties actually wear red plaid kilts. They also play those trumpets and bagpipes, but this time we had only a very loud drum.

Some of our loot.

We met Fannie Mae at Sam's for our usual 4th of July picnic, aka Sam's hot dogs. We split a bag of potato chips three ways, but Fannie Mae did not share in the ice cream cup because it wasn't high enough on her enjoyment:calories scale. Good girl!

My cute card from Jean.

Mim knew all about the weird vehicle from the last post. Here's what she had to say:

"That 'thing' you saw in the parking lot is the new Tesla electric truck. Isn’t it the ugliest thing you've ever seen for an auto?  It’s called a Cybertruck and costs between about $120,000 and $160,000. Don’t know if it’s true, but I also heard they have been recalled because they collapse when in an accident, so they are not safe to drive and very expensive to repair."

I Googled it, and the price quoted is $82,000-$102,000. Maybe they're dropping in price.

I was telling Friend Linda about a couple of ladies in my life, and thought I'd share it.

When I was in grade school, the Baby Boom after the war caused our little school to have too many kids in the lower grades and not enough in the upper grades, so half the first grade moved up to the second grade, and on up the line. So I had Betty Murphy for fifth and sixth grades. What a teacher. We didn't recite our multiplication tables, she made a game of it. She had our mothers dress up on Halloween and come storming into our classroom, walking all around and leaving us wide-eyed and wondering who was invading our school. Might not work today, with all the violence in our lives. She started a school newspaper for our little six-room school. She started a school play. She made school exciting and joyful.

My aunt lived in California, so when she came back to Missouri each year to visit her parents (my grandparents), I thought she must live an exotic life. She subscribed to a comic book for us and brought me two beautiful books - a dark green covered Anderson's Fairy Tales and a burgundy covered Grimm's Fairy Tales - which I read over and over. Inside she wrote, "Don't ever let anyone kill the fairies for you." She once brought my grandmother her program from Ice Capades, which I studied cover to cover when I visited her in the summer. I think I might have worn it out. One year she brought some of those candles which drip all colors. My grandmother didn't have any candleholders, so my aunt said, "Let's go out and see what we can find." She found a rather large rock which was gray with some sparkles and picked some little succulents. She placed the rock on a platter, dripped wax on the rock and stood the candles in the wax, then arranged the little plants around the base of the rock. Then when I cut up the boiled eggs for the potato salad, she told me to save one and she made a design on the top of the salad. I was in awe of this creative aunt from the land of sunshine and beaches. My grandmother lived by a rather large creek. One day she told my grandmother to just leave the leftover stew in the pot unheated. The pot had a handle, and she took a stick and put it through the pot handle and told two of my brothers to take the ends and carry the stew because we were going to the creek. She built a fire in the rocks beside the water to heat the stew and we dined al fresco; in my mind, as grand as lunch on a Paris balcony with a white tablecloth and beautiful flowers. I idolized her.

Life is the cake, but these women taught me that it's better if you add icing. I've made a committment to add more frosting to my life.

You need to watch this. The caption is misleading, however. Victor Davis Hanson is probably the smartest man I know. He's like the old 49'ers during the gold rush days. They scooped up a pan of dirt and rocks and washed out all but the gold. Dr. Hanson scoops up all the information, and washes out all but the important parts. He's very down-to-earth, even living in his grandfather's home in a less-than-prestigious area of California. He lost me near the end with the generals and Caesars and philosophers (I need to study), but then he gave a very concise description of the effect of illegal immigrants. It's worth an hour of your time. Click HERE.

Just for fun: An analysis of Trump's handwriting. Click HERE.

I was mildly optimistic that Wisconsin was coming around and would have a fair election in November, but now they're up to their old tricks and just voted to have drop boxes again. We know how that worked, don't we? 

This week's restaurant report: Thai Palace on east Battlefield in the Price Cutter center. I'm guessing that it's a chain, because they have a beautiful website HERE.  They also have a location in Ozark. It's on Facebook, which I cannot access, because when Facebook cancelled Trump, I cancelled Facebook.

Clean and pleasant, except for the current trend of neutral colors and browns mixed with grays. 

Elly loved her Volcano Shrimp, and my Pork Fried Rice was good (and very plentiful), but a surprise because I thought I ordered Sweet and Sour Chicken (my error).

If we ever work our way back here again, I'm trying the deep fried sushi (California roll - no fish bait). I've never even heard of this. Inquiring minds want to know.

Great finds this week: Corn, tomatoes, and peaches at Bootheel Produce Stand on Campbell (near Jimmy's Egg), and also a stand on Glenstone across from the mall.

 White nectarines and cherry plums at Sam's. Cherry plums. Who knew? Such cute little things.

Rainier cherries, great bread, and lemon shortbread at Aldi. I love toast made from this bread, and my daughter told me they also have one called Seedtastic. The loaf isn't that short - I've been working on it.

The cookies are shaped like lemon slices, and there's a thin coating of lemon frosting on the backside. And yes, Brother Jim, I have some in the freezer for you.

And a great coffee mug from Dollar Tree. A sweet motivator, and it fits perfectly with my little one-cup Black and Decker coffee maker. I thought it might be too tall, but nope! just the right height!

If you live where I live, it's a wild life show all year. I forgot to put my garage door down when I ran to Walmart, and this was my visitor when I returned. I'm always using my shovel to boost them over the back fence, but this guy took a wrong turn, and he was looking very puzzled; like, where am I? Then he had the audacity to tinkle all over my shovel, dribbling all the way out of the garage. I guess he was really scared. I put him out on the lawn, and he was soon on his way again. I would have cleaned the pond scum off his back, but I've heard they can be dangerous. 

 

That's it, Dear Ones, until next week. All work this coming week. I'm going to be joyful when cleaning house, and remember how lucky I am to have a nice house with lots of storage space for "stuff." And when pulling weeds, I need to remember how much I wanted a yard when I lived in condos all those years. And, most importantly, I'm so grateful that at 86, I can still do these things.

PUT SOME FROSTING ON YOUR LIFE  HERE. and HERE. and HERE.

DON'T FORGET TO BUY A WATERMELON

TRY A NEW RESTAURANT

BUY A NEW BATHING SUIT

EAT YOUR GREENS

THANK YOU FOR SHARING MY LIFE