Part 1
Kim set this up several years ago, a neighborhood parade for the kids.
It’s an unconventional parade. The kids (and adults) line up on their bikes and take a lap, riding down one side of the street, around a post and back. Because Kennedy absolutely has to win, (it’s not a race), he lines ready to roll on the front left under a powder blue helmet and a patriotic red shirt, determined to give his all.
And they’re off!!
Kennedy “wins” the race that isn’t a race.
Most had a good time.
I said “most.”
Isla on a one armed scooter, protecting her cast.
Another patriotic bike
Lilly on her bike.
Marie’s doughnuts donated twelve dozen doughnuts, and a box of doughnut holes. A neighbor brought a cooler filled with popsicles. Coffee was provided in two very large carafes, both caffeinated and decaffeinated. Someone volunteered to pay for the parade permit.
Parents pushed strollers, walked with kids on bikes with training wheels, Some walked. Some were on scooters. They all went round and round for more than an hour, pausing to pick up another doughnut hole, a popsicle, or head down to play Gaga ball, a version of dodge ball, suitable for all.
We returned to John and Kim’s, waited for the “parade” to end, dined on some leftover Chinese, then, as more and more people showed up, took our leave. It’ll go on until after the hundreds of fireworks have illuminated the night sky in Land Park, at a time when we’ll be sawing Z’s.
Part II
All this without sparklers and firecrackers. I remember the fourth of Julys of my childhood, the excitement, the huge fireworks displays, parades, traditional American summertime foods—hot dogs, hamburgers, the smell of the smoke curling from neighbors’ barbecues. It was a joyful time, one in which we could all participate. We Americans celebrated the promise of America, grateful for freedom, democracy, and the many rewards we all felt were ours because of where we lived, grateful to the people who had the foresight two hundred and fifty years ago to create a country where anything was possible, nothing was denied to the poor, the immigrants, the minorities. All people were created with equal opportunities and rights, and women held the same status as men.
Only, as things have worked out, that America was only a dream, and unfortunately, too many Americans don’t subscribe to those ideals. The dream has gone “poof.”
Celebrating the America that is today means addressing right wing groups that want America to dismiss immigrants, Jews, and minorities. “You Will Not Replace Us!, their battle cry. It means celebrating a Supreme Court that has taken rights away from American women, that is an enemy of the clear threat of global warming. It means shooting a fleeing black man in Akron, Ohio, hitting him with over sixty bullets. It means attending a 4th of July parade in Chicago and dodging bullets from a young white man intent on shooting and killing as many as he can. (Six, at least).
It gives a former President who tried to destroy the country, who tried to lead an army of pathetic, gullible, faux patriots in an attempt to overthrow the government, an opportunity to take comfort in his heartwarming words on the Fourth of July, inspiring us all to work for the good of the country.
“Warmongering and despicable human being Liz Cheney, who is hated by the great people of Wyoming (down 35!), keeps saying, over and over again, that HER Fake Unselect Committee may recommend CRIMINAL CHARGES against a President of the United States who got more votes than any sitting President in history. Even the Dems didn’t know what she was talking about! Why doesn’t she press charges instead against those that cheated on the Election, or those that didn’t properly protect the Capitol?…..
"I know it's not looking good for our Country right now, with a major War raging out of control in Europe, the Highest Inflation in memory, the worst 6 month Stock Market start in History, the highest Energy Prices EVER, and that is the Good News. Happy Fourth of July!!!" Trump said. "((Don't worry, We will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and remember, none of these terrible events would have happened if I were President!!!))."
So this American Fourth of July is soiled. The Supreme Court is a politically motivated arm of the Republican Party, taking rights away and bringing Christian Evangelism into the law. The Republican Party has set out to squelch minority voting, steal the next election, and swell its ranks with evil ignorant people like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Herschel Walker, and dozens more.
So, please forgive me if I don’t feel like celebrating tonight, lighting a sparkler. The America that I love clings to its existence only in the ideals and words that were written a long time ago, words I wholeheartedly accept and believe, words that have so little in common with what I see this July 4th, 2022. I am not a pessimist. I also believe that those words, those ideals, are stronger than the phonies who’ve broken their oaths to uphold them. I also believe that there are many more like me, who won’t give in to this collective lunacy.
P.S. Loved the parade. May you children grow up to be the Americans that America needs.