I wanted to write a bit on nostalgia 4th's as well. As a little girl who grew up in East Lake, my memories of July 4th were probably like yours, the reader.(IF you're older than 25! LOL)! Shorts/ little midriff tops/bare feet with bandages b/c of stumped toes/putting "lightening bugs" (or FIREFLIES to be politically correct)in jars with holes punched in the top/riding wagons down the hill/eating watermelon (altho I never liked it, nor did my mother!)/and, the horrid memories of SPARKLERS!!!!!! Oh my gosh! I HATED sparklers! SANTA would always put about 4 boxes of them in our stockings. 2 boxes for the New Year and 2 to save for July4. Well, I remember groaning inwardly when I would pull those boxes out. I hated them. YES, I HATE SPARKLERS. They scared the HECK out of me. How many times did I burn my little fingers when the stupid fire got to close? And lighting them would put me in agony. Daddy LOVED them and would get SOOO excited and say, "Janice, make circles! Look! Isn't that the best thing?" And I was just worried about: 1. my ponytail catching fire 2. dropping it , lit, on my foot. Hated the things and when it would start getting towards the end? I would SCREAM BLOODY MURDER and my mother would run and grab it from me. So, getting sparklers was NO FUN for me. (still don't like them! HAHAHAHA!). And what was worse than stepping on a hot one on the sidewalk later that night? BUT, aside from THAT, how much fun was our neighborhood during the 4th? No board games/no computers/cell phones. Heck our phone was stuck on the wall in the kitchen!(*REGRESS: We had an "extra" phone that every time they would come to repair the line, Daddy would make us hide b/c it was an "extra" one! HAHA! And, yes, I can see my mother now. In all her cuteness, standing in the kitchen with that LOOOOOONG cord cooking and gossipping (I had to get it from somewhere!) and TALKING. Mostly to the neighbors. About the holidays, etc. So, as soon as it got late afternoon, we would congregate between our house and the Bodines house. Mrs. Bodine (or "Granny Bones" as she dubbed herself) would come walking out with her little Bermuda shorts on and her blonde curls with tobacco around her toes. Yes. That was b/c she was always getting bee stings and that helped. We would giggle and laugh and thought how cool that was. Bobra was there, sweet angelic Bobra, who was rubbing the necks of all those sitting in the plastic ribbed chairs in the yard. Mr. Bodine, Mrs. B nicknamed him "Papa Fats", would come out with some awesome cooked something from his backyard. My mother would come out, cute and pretty with her dessert in hand. Usually either a "pineapple upside down cake" or a chocolate pound cake. THe Phares' would walk down the hill with their chairs and us kids would take off. Bob and Jane. And Judy and Jean were there and some of the other neighborhood kids that I have , sadly, forgotten their names. But mostly it was the 3 families. Us kids played "devil in the ditch" or dodge ball and the teen aged girls giggled about boyfriends and whispered. Jean would come over showing Judy her new clothes and they would go inside to talk about school/boys. They would come out as the night got darker, unless they went out on a date. Us younger kids just loved the day---seeing our neighbors, who we also 1. went to school with 2. went to church with 3. practically lived at each others houses ! I would love to hear Mrs. Phares laugh! It was a hearty big ole laugh and she often did it when us kids did something funny! We sometimes put on PLAYS and dressed up or had "recitals". Mr. Bodine told funny "adult" stories and all the adults would giggle and laugh and cover our ears. We would roll down the grassy hill and get covered in chiggers and not even care. We ate drippy popsicles and didn't eat much of the food that was prepared because we were too busy playing and being kids. After a long afternoon, between swatting mosquitos and using the funeral parlor fans that we borrowed from Mama Powell, I loved to listen to the men talk and would often climb up in Daddy's lap and fall asleep when it got late and dark. Their voices would get softer and the lightening bugs brighter and I could barely keep my eyes open. I vaguely remember Daddy carrying me to bed and whispering, "good night, sweetheart". And, because my bedroom window was where I could see, I would wake up and look out and see the adults still sitting there, sometimes with a cigarette lit and soft laughter and talk. That was what life was about. Family/friends and fun times.Yes, times were different. IN SOME WAYS. My own kids have THEIR memories! Charles/Michael/Natalie:Of Pinebrook Lane, riding bikes with their cousins/neighbors. Of Munger Circle: The Browns and The Melvins and us women in each other's houses gossipping (!) at the fence or drinking coffee at each others houses. The kids (the little ones), riding bikes till dark and Michael and Scotty riding bikes and playing ATARI. Then on to Riverchase! Older kids were off with their friends but the younger ones played outside playing SPOTLIGHT till late at night or going to Riverchase Country Club for July 4th dinners and hanging with our awesome neighbors there! OR, going on our boat, The TELLY FLY that we docked in Destin and would take our kids out to watch the JULY 4th parade of boats. We spent many summers doing that in the '90's. WOW, awesome memories! Now, it's just me and Big T. And CHI. Time has surely passed by, but we are having a blast being TOGETHER AT LAST. ALONE! LOL! Yes, we started off after a year having a child and have had 5 wonderful kids we've raised. And now, we create our OWN memories with our grandchildren. It's awesome. Some are gone this 4th---Most in fact, the only one in town are the Hornes and I think they have plans--we have the BOSTON BUTT on the grill and whoever can come by and eat are welcome to. But life has changed, it's different but it's good. It's all GOOD. WHat a bevy of JULY 4th MEMORIES I have in my heart. I found this verse in Proverbs today that kind of says it all for me:
"Happy is the man who finds wisdom,
And the man who gains understanding;
For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver.
And her gain than fine gold.
She is more precious than rubies,
And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her.
Length of days is in her right hand.
In her left hand riches and honor.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
And all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who
take hold of her,
And happy ARE ALL who retain her".
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