July 4, 2023

It may be surprising but yesterday was a pretty good 4th of July.

Is that callous?  Is that weird?  Is that unfeeling?  I'd say no to all of these and would say, it is good that it was good.  (How's that for a sentence?)

In many ways it felt "normal."  It was almost (but obviously not quite) the holiday that I wanted.  In many ways it was typical.  Again that is something that I think I needed.

My husband and I came down to the shore on Monday. Yes, we left the boy behind...he didn't want to come and I can't blame him.  Instead of dealing with sad (and in some ways disgusting) stuff, he was able to hang out with friends on Monday night and spend the 4th with his girlfriend (and her parents).  So I'm guessing that he had a pretty good July 4th too.

Though the 3rd was a little rough, I woke up on the 4th hoping for a good day and I sort of got that.  Hubby and I went to get coffee at Wawa, a very typical thing for us to do when we are here.  It was crazy, even at 7:30 in the morning.  (I don't think there is a NON Crazy time at MY Wawa during the summer.)  We were able to get coffee while dodging little kids running around and zombie-like adults who had not yet had their coffee.  There was no diet peach iced tea to be found.  (There was no diet of any kind of iced tea to be found and the pickings for ALL iced tea was pretty slim.)

At home (it's kind of strange to say that), we had our coffee, continued to watch CBS Mornings (again very typical) and I answered emails and texts.  We did some more cleaning and organizing.  I started to write a memorial for my dad's service on Saturday.  I used his chromebook, but instead of working at his desk in the den, I moved it to the front of the house so I could look out at the lagoon as I wrote.  I let myself get distracted.  I let myself get annoyed.  (Yes, I am highly sensitive right now and little things set me off...so be warned if we meet face to face.)  I wrote my dad's obit.  (I tried using the computer generated one, but while it was an okay obituary, AI is never going to capture the soul and spirit of a person, so I re-wrote most of it.) I sat on the deck.  I read a book.  (The Villa by Rachael Hawkins; it is a really good summer read, but not necessarily a beach read.)  I watched people across the lagoon do stupid things.  (As well as say stupid things.)  I listened to bagpipers and motorcycles, but did not have the wherewithal to walk up to see and/or take part in the great 6th Avenue celebration.  (Although I did walk by later in the day.)  I walked up to the beach.  (I wore my beach badge on my hat, but the two badge checkers were too busy on their phone to even notice.)  I put my feet in the ocean.  I walked back when the clouds started to roll in and was back in the house with a (cheap) glass of wine by the time the rains came.

The rains left and my husband and I were able to have dinner out on the deck.  (And watch the antics across the lagoon.)  We sat out as the sun set and when night fell, we watched the fireworks.   And there were fireworks!

As things wound down, we showered and went to bed.  (Watching the traditional 1776  before we fell asleep.)

All in all, it was a "nice" 4th of July.  It was not what I expected.  (To be honest it was nicer than I expected.)  It wasn't my ideal.  (But then holidays never are.)  But it was good.  And in my book, good is GOOD.

It may be surprising but yesterday was a pretty good 4th of July.

Is that callous?  Is that weird?  Is that unfeeling?  I'd say no to all of these and would say, it is good that it was good.  (How's that for a sentence?)

In many ways it felt "normal."  It was almost (but obviously not quite) the holiday that I wanted.  In many ways it was typical.  Again that is something that I think I needed.

My husband and I came down to the shore on Monday. Yes, we left the boy behind...he didn't want to come and I can't blame him.  Instead of dealing with sad (and in some ways disgusting) stuff, he was able to hang out with friends on Monday night and spend the 4th with his girlfriend (and her parents).  So I'm guessing that he had a pretty good July 4th too.

Though the 3rd was a little rough, I woke up on the 4th hoping for a good day and I sort of got that.  Hubby and I went to get coffee at Wawa, a very typical thing for us to do when we are here.  It was crazy, even at 7:30 in the morning.  (I don't think there is a NON Crazy time at MY Wawa during the summer.)  We were able to get coffee while dodging little kids running around and zombie-like adults who had not yet had their coffee.  There was no diet peach iced tea to be found.  (There was no diet of any kind of iced tea to be found and the pickings for ALL iced tea was pretty slim.)

At home (it's kind of strange to say that), we had our coffee, continued to watch CBS Mornings (again very typical) and I answered emails and texts.  We did some more cleaning and organizing.  I started to write a memorial for my dad's service on Saturday.  I used his chromebook, but instead of working at his desk in the den, I moved it to the front of the house so I could look out at the lagoon as I wrote.  I let myself get distracted.  I let myself get annoyed.  (Yes, I am highly sensitive right now and little things set me off...so be warned if we meet face to face.)  I wrote my dad's obit.  (I tried using the computer generated one, but while it was an okay obituary, AI is never going to capture the soul and spirit of a person, so I re-wrote most of it.) I sat on the deck.  I read a book.  (The Villa by Rachael Hawkins; it is a really good summer read, but not necessarily a beach read.)  I watched people across the lagoon do stupid things.  (As well as say stupid things.)  I listened to bagpipers and motorcycles, but did not have the wherewithal to walk up to see and/or take part in the great 6th Avenue celebration.  (Although I did walk by later in the day.)  I walked up to the beach.  (I wore my beach badge on my hat, but the two badge checkers were too busy on their phone to even notice.)  I put my feet in the ocean.  I walked back when the clouds started to roll in and was back in the house with a (cheap) glass of wine by the time the rains came.

The rains left and my husband and I were able to have dinner out on the deck.  (And watch the antics across the lagoon.)  We sat out as the sun set and when night fell, we watched the fireworks.   And there were fireworks!

As things wound down, we showered and went to bed.  (Watching the traditional 1776  before we fell asleep.)

All in all, it was a "nice" 4th of July.  It was not what I expected.  (To be honest it was nicer than I expected.)  It wasn't my ideal.  (But then holidays never are.)  But it was good.  And in my book, good is GOOD.