4th of July

It was a mellow 4th of July this year.

Mark and I had a porch visit with Mom, and I brought her a sparkly red, white, and blue wreath to hang on the front door of her apartment. That, and a box of cinnamon toast crunch cereal. This time we sat on the other side of the porch, and could see flowers in planters, and listen to blowing wind chimes. It was really nice.

I grilled No Name Steaks, and baked barbecued chicken in the oven. I made strawberry pie. We had a glass of wine on the porch, watched the visiting hummingbirds, and talked about how quiet the neighborhood was.

Since all the fireworks had been cancelled, there was no pressure to go. Even though fireworks can be fun, it can also be so hot and crowded. Sometimes it feels good to decide to stay home, but then you start thinking that maybe you're missing out on something! What to do, what to do.

Anyway, the neighborhood woke up as dusk arrived, and for the first time since we've lived in this house, I could see firecrackers going off from a block away. And they were pretty good! I'm hoping that this might become the new thing to do, even after the pandemic settles down.

The cats were a little spooked, especially Punk. I thought that people might be setting off firecrackers into the middle of the night, but they didn't, and so we could all go to sleep.

Mellow can be good.