This year, I decided to have a pre-Independence Day dessert gathering at my house the Sunday before the holiday. I made a cheesecake and a bunch of sugar cookies, put out some lemonade, and decorated accordingly. There was a nice turnout and we all had a good time.
Wednesday (July 3rd), LRG went to the Nats game. The Nats are always in town on July 4th, but the game is always during the day since the fireworks on the National Mall go off around 9pm. So they always have fireworks after the night game on the 3rd. We had a nice time :) AND we stalked one of the security guys who was on the field because he was BEAUTIFUL. After the game G and his patriotic shorts stayed at my house since the game the next day was early.
The day was finally here! My mom came up to go to the game with G, Caity, and I and Becky/Nate met us there later. We had good seats in the shade and got there in enough time to see the USMC Silent Drill Corps perform on the outfield grass, and the giant America-shaped American flag unfurled during the National Anthem (in which the Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff instructed us to sing along).
And then...I decided that I was going to eat a hot dog. Three years ago I went to the Utah State Fair and ate a corn dog-the next day I woke up with violent food poisoning and I haven't eaten a hot dog/corn dog since then. But, it was Independence Day. And nothing else in the stadium sounded good. So I decided to give it a try. I told Caity to take a picture of it happening, and she took not only one, but about 40 all in a row. I have spared you all the entire collection, but here are a couple of my favorites...mostly because of the faces G is making in the background, lol. I did it everyone!!!
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| i think this is my favorite because G makes this face ALL THE TIME. |
i call this...baseball field in Ray Bans.
After the game, my mom went home to WB and G, Caity and I got some food stuffs before heading down to the Mall on the metro to hang out until the fireworks. I saw this little poster in our train and loved it. <3
Once we got to the Mall, we lounged and ate and drank Cheerwine (!!!!!! its true. i found this Southern soda treat at the Target on 234) and opened up the RW&B glow in the dark accessories I brought. It wasn't ALL that hot by this point and it was a nice evening with friends.
After it got dark, the fireworks were shot off behind the WW2 memorial/the reflecting pool. We were sitting on the west side of the Washington Monument so we had a clear, close view. They were gorgeous of course. The entire time I was feeling very happy and peaceful. Patriotic music was playing from the speakers, I was sitting on the grass in Washington DC with my close friends and thousands of fellow Americans...I felt very hopeful. Hopeful for the future of my personal life and that of our country as well. Its important to remember...good always wins in the end.
On a more serious note, this holiday is like heroin for someone who studied Early American history in college and already has a nice little book collection growing on the Revolution, and the military, and US Presidents, etc etc. It is often hard for me to put into words how much the Founders mean to me. When you stop and think what they all risked-indeed their very lives-so that we could be free and form our own government...just, remarkable. Courage is the one word that comes to mind. Especially after viewing this clip from the miniseries "John Adams". I watch it every year-it is one of the only scenes from any movie/show I have seen that literally leaves me breathless. Each colony is asked to vote on independence and after it passes 12-0 (NY abstained), silence fills the room and the camera pans around and focuses on the faces of these marvelous men who just committed treason against the King of England. It is stunning. We are a very imperfect nation, but we are still free. And it is because of men like this.
Happy (belated) Independence Day!
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