The 4th of July is a really weird holiday, in my opinion. It’s called Independence Day, but at the thing it celebrates – the signing of the Declaration of Independence – was not really the end of something. In fact, it was just the beginning of a war. There was no guarantee that the colonists would win, especially because they were so outnumbered and had far fewer monetary and weapon resources. In my culture/religion, most if not all holidays celebrate the end of something (the end of a war, the end of slavery, the end of the harvest) that it just seems so weird to celebrate the beginning of a conflict. It’s sort of like celebrating the day Archduke Ferdinand was shot, or the day the US invaded Iraq. It just doesn’t seem like something worth celebrating.
Anyway, celebrate we did, starting with a parade. The Push ‘Em Pull ‘Em Parade is mostly for people with kids, but there were also a few with dogs. People decorate wagons and strollers and walk down Main Street to a street fair. I knew some people who did it last year and had a good time, so we decided to do it this year. I don’t have a lot of photos because I forgot the camera, but I did get a few on my phone.
Fiona in the wagon with her free supermarket balloon:
This one made me cry:
Just the idea that this little boy is growing up without his dad because his dad is off somewhere far away.
Fiona quickly grew tired of the wagon and asked to be carried. Then, she decided she wanted to pull it:
She was the only child pulling her own wagon. We saw lots of people we knew, and none of their children were pulling a wagon. Not only did she pull it during the parade, she insisted on pulling it almost all the way back to the car. She finally stopped at a grassy hill where John got to pull her:
She fell asleep on the way home and slept well. Later we went to a block party not far from our house, where we enjoyed yummy food and good company. And I got to eat a roasted marshmallow!
All in all it was a fun day. A good excuse to be with friends and enjoy light displays, even if I think it’s a really weird reason.
Have a good weekend!
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