Monday, July 5, 2010

Red, White, and Hot

Whew...that actually felt like a long weekend. Technically for us it was because we had a couple of extra days attached. Hubs arrived home from Brazil Friday morning so he napped and took the rest of the day off. He wanted to play a round of golf and for some reason he wanted me to go along too...we live in a golf course community so I was kind of interested in checking out the course. I've heard it's pretty tough because much of it is uphill but it is beautiful.


So guess what? Apparently I talk too much to be an excellent golfing companion. Who knew? Oh, and I also drive the cart just a little too fast or as hubs says, "You are scaring me to death" which is no small thing because he doesn't scare easily. It was fun y'all...there are some very steep hills and a few times I commented that it felt sort of like the Hillbilly Golf we used to play on the mountainside in Gatlinburg, Tennessee which was miniature golf and really fun. Hubs commented that usually the caddie is not quite so chatty.

We woke up to another scorcher on Saturday so we did a few things around the house, watched some World Cup play and then that evening we headed to the nearby Baseball Stadium to see our local team in action. They are part of the Can-Am league and I love going to games in these smaller stadiums. We sat directly behind home plate and the tickets were just $12. I decided I better pay attention during the game just in case the catcher wasn't any good.


Our seats were in the shade which was glorious because the players seriously looked like they might melt before they took their first swing. Between innings all sorts of fun and games transpired and its kind of a wonder the players can concentrate what with all the fan events... there is tire racing, hamburger eating, hula hooping...at one point they even put a mattress on the sideline and the team mascot wrestled a 10 year old boy. I don't know who does their event planning but whoever it is certainly earns their money! We lost by one run but there were fireworks after the game which kind of made up for it. Oh, and this guy was one row in front of us...he's Judge Andrew Napolitano, a frequent guest on Fox news.


Sunday dawned hot and steamy. A-gain. Our local parade started at 1PM which, hello, it's HOT, but we managed to squeeze our chairs into some shade and watched what I'm sure most small town folks watched all across America...


...many many firetrucks, a few Classic cars carrying various folks, the Miss Small Town crown holder who definitely had that pageant wave perfected, the local water ski and swim teams and of course the veterans. Most entrants were throwing candy which in essence is a moving pinata. And just like at a birthday party you end up with some kids hogging all the candy and some kids crying because they didn't get any. We stayed out of the fray...not even the promise of a tootsie roll could make me budge from my shady corner.

When the parade ended we went home to the blessed air conditioning for a while. We grilled some steaks before we headed back to town for the evening festivities. Hubs insisted we take the supermodel with us which sounds crazy because most dogs have a thing about fireworks and loud noises but not our pup. She loves a crowd, loves to be admired, and will let anybody in the universe pet her. Our first stop was the local park where a blues festival was happening. Dixie managed to wipe her muddy face on my white capris before I'd even gotten myself into the chair but I got over it. It took a few minutes but I did. It was really just too hot to be annoyed about that. We love live music so we found some shade, plopped our lawn chairs down and listened to some really good blues while the pup stalked squirrels and all was forgiven.


When the music ended we carried our chairs into town to sit closer to the lake for the fireworks display. Dixie never so much as perked up an ear when the show started. There was an adorable little three year old girl sitting beside us with her mom and grandma. I felt sorta bad because all this little girl wanted to do was pet our dog and I know the mom wanted her to ooh and ahh over the fireworks. The mom was wonderful though and she didn't make a big deal about it...she just went with it which was sweet. I wanted to tell her that in a few years she will look back on this night and say, "Remember that year we watched the fireworks at the lake and all she wanted to do was pet that silly dog?" Because those are the kind of things you remember.

We decided to stop for ice cream after the show and Dixie always gets her own scoop of vanilla. She really is a beautiful dog and people always comment on her pretty coat and her gentle disposition and her excellent behavior. Of course these people have never seen her snatch a turkey sandwich off the counter when your back is turned and gobble it down before you can blink. Or drink the cup of freshly brewed coffee you just poured for yourself but left unattended for a split second. A few folks watched her 'thoroughly enjoy' the ice cream though and they may have changed their mind about her manners. Drool. Ick.

I love the 4th of July...it's one of my favorite days. I love to see flags flying. I love to see people dressed in red white and blue... to hear the patriotic music...to wave to the veterans in hometown parades. I love the heat and the hot dogs and the history. And most especially I love that for one brief moment we seem to put aside our differences and celebrate all that is good about America.

11 comments:

  1. Sounds like a great Americana weekend! Miss you guys and hope to see you soon. Have fun this weekend with your upcoming festivities!

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  2. Joyce,

    I wish we lived in towns where this is the norm for holidays like this one. We stayed inside and found a place to purchase some fireworks and shot them off, but most were duds. Not like they used to make them back in the old days.

    Love and Hugs ~ Kat

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  3. Sounds wonderful! We didn't do any big parades as we had an old fashioned picnic at my mom's pool. We roasted marshmallows and everything:)

    And isnt' today worse (heat wise) than the weekend? You will melt out in it today.

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  4. Minor league baseball is the best. We go several times a year and every time I walk away praising Jesus that we didn't get cracked in the skull by a line drive. Those boys don't mess around.

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  5. My favorite part was the ice cream. Oh how I love ice cream on a hot day!

    We did not have hot weather! Our hot weather starts tomorrow-80-90 for the next week or so! Yay! My toes are chilly today. :)

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  6. Your holiday weekend sounds like it was perfect! I'm so looking forward to when we move to CO where the smaller towns have festivities for the holidays. It all just sounds like alot of fun!

    Have we seen a picture of Dixie?

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  7. It sounds like the two of you had a wonderful 4th weekend together!! Dixie is a beautiful dog! I always love to see pictures of her. I know you are excited to have the girls home this next weekend and to celebrate your sweet Mom's birthday. Enjoy your week. Love & blessings from NC! PS I have been told that I am too "chatty" too, Joyce. Oh well, golf was never my thing anyway!

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  8. It sounds like you had a great long weekend.
    So happy for you.

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  9. What a great holiday weekend. Hubs didn't shoot off any fireworks?

    I love minor league baseball. They're just more fun from a fan perspective. But I wonder, there was no net behind the catcher? Of course, it's fun to see how many people flinch when the ball does hit the net...natural reflexes...I've done it several times.

    And, yes, the food does get old after a while.

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  10. Hillbilly Golf, baseball, music, and a parade? You have a great life.

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  11. Would you believe my dear son told me the same thing when I accompanied him on a couple of rounds of golf before he was old enough to drive the cart himself? AND it was at Windy Hills, a local course. I was actually frightened when going down one of the hills and opted to get out and walk down the hill and let Daniel drive the cart down. It was on the backside of the course so no one could see him. AND, I guess I, too, tended to be a bit too chatty for HIS liking. :-) I thought a caddy was supposed to talk and give suggestions? LOL
    Your weekend sounds wonderful, Joyce, simply wonderful and yes, the 4th does seem to bring us all together, hm? How I love this wonderful country we are so blessed to live in!

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