It’s Friday! It’s Random! It’s the Fourth of July!
Here we go 🙂
1. When I was a little girl, my sisters and I loved to sing and rhyme and make up stories. There was something about the rhythm and the repetition that was soothing. One that came to mind recently is this one:
“I asked my mother for 50 cents, to see the elephant jump the fence, he jumped so high he touched the sky and didn’t come back till the fourth of July!”
google.images.com
I remembered that rhyme because today is my sister’s birthday. Growing up in Canada, I was fully aware of what the “Fourth of July” stood for and thought it was neat she had a rhyme about an important date that she could claim as her own. The only one even close to me or my name was “Mary, Mary quite contrary, how does your garden grow?” and I didn’t like gardening, much less pulling weeds. How’s that for contrary? 🙂
2. This is my 6th Independence Day as a Citizen. And it’s still just as awesome as the first one.
That’s me, holding the flag, during my swearing in ceremony; An Emjayandthem (C) photo
3. For the first time, we’re not hosting a get-together today. Hubbs is golfing, youngest is snoozing and me? I’m enjoying a quiet morning before heading to the pool with my cherries – yeah! I’ll take my books and my tunes and my cooler full of fruit and enjoy a beautiful day in – and out – of the pool. Later on, sun-kissed and relaxed, Hubbs and I will step out with friends for dinner and drinks and let someone else clean up and I’m not complaining!
4. After a ferocious thunderstorm Tuesday night, the temps cooled, the humidity fell and we’ve enjoyed 3 – count ’em 3 – days of windows open, a/c off, and cool breezy summer days. Ahh … this takes me back to the summers of my childhood. The sun was warm, the air was mild, and you could always count on an evening breeze to settle things down. That’s when the Northern Lights would appear and dance across our skies like faeries in flight. I remember leaving the tent and running across the lawn, laughing and twirling under the lights above. Ahh..
Northern Lights image from canada-maps.org
5. I hope that wherever my words find you today, whether you’re American or not, you join us in celebrating her birthday. I hope you take a moment to step outside and look up at the sky – our brilliant shared sky – and I hope that, just like me, you can do so without fear.
God Bless America!
I just read your linked post about becoming a citizen, and now I have tears in my eyes. It’s hard for those of us who take our citizenship for granted to understand what a gift it truly is. Happy Independence Day to my American sister!
Thank you so much! I’m very proud to be a citizen 🙂 MJ
Loved your randoms, especially the photo of you becoming a US citizen! I love how special it is to you, and it saddens me that so many of us (myself included) take it for granted.
Enjoy your day — the sun’s almost out here… YAY!
Thank you, Dianna. It’s a moment in time that always will be special to me! Had a beautiful day yesterday & headed to a friend’s cottage today – whee!
Hope all is well there,
MJ
As I stand on the sun-drenched diamond, national anthem being played…players lined up along the foul lines….caps sitting on the ground with right hands over their hearts…my partner standing beside me….I gaze out beyond, into the beautiful sky behind our flag and thank God for moments like this. We are blessed.
Amen.
MJ
Happy 4th of July and happy birthday to your sister! A day by the pool sounds like a perfect preface to dinner with friends. We have a birthday party to attend this evening. I just finished baking the cake. Yes, I have learned to bake at a high altitude.
Hugs from Ecuador,
Kathy
And it was 🙂 Headed to a friends’ cottage on the lake today – whee!
Good for you on the cake mastery at high altitude – I know that is not easy to do – whoop! MJ
Goosebumps with the photo of you becoming a citizen 🙂
Today is also my sister’s birthday! When she was little, she always thought the fireworks were in celebration of her! LOL
Happy 4th of July, MJ xoxo
thank you; I get goosebumps, too.
Stopped in at the American Legion last night to have a cocktail with friends before dinner. Very humbled to see the older gentlemen in there, many bent over with age. But what was unmistakable was the pride in their eyes and their absolute devotion to this country’s Independence Day.
I enjoy the fireworks more now than when I had a dog, it was torture for him. And, my sister always enjoyed the fireworks for that same reason 🙂
Happy 4th!
MJ
I’m sure Frankie hated them as much as mine do. We had to crate Kodie for her safety last night.
that was about the only time he liked the crate – 4th of July and T-storms = he’d burrow in there and was OK if we put a blanket over it so it became a cave not a cage 🙂
MJ
Pool? Cherries? Dinner with friends? Perfect! I’m entertaining. We have those rainy storms you had a few days ago. I’m hoping they clear and we get that wonderful cooler weather. Happy 4th!
It was a perfect day 🙂
Hope your party went well and you had a great time!
MJ
“…and do so without fear.” Amen. It sounds like you have a lovely day planned. We were up until the wee hours with a tornado warning, not easy to sleep after that alarm goes off! So we had a late morning and not doing a whole lot this afternoon.
That is a very unsettling feeling, a tornado warning at night .. eek! I’m glad you’re OK and hope you had a lovely fourth of July after all!
MJ
Sounds like a great way to spend the holiday. Hope you enjoyed it as much as you were expecting to. I tend to take the holiday a bit for granted, having been born into citizenship. Thanks for the reminder that it is a very important day!
It was wonderful! Hope you had a wonderful 4th also, Terri 🙂
MJ
Wonderful post. It helped make my Independence Day weekend even better. Thank you.
Thank you and a happy 4th of July to you 🙂
MJ