The 4th, no wait, 3rd, or 5th of July

I love the 4th of July, especially in Utah when it is celebrated over the course of three days. Saturday was fireworks at the stadium, viewed from the corner by my house so we don't get trapped in traffic. Sunday was singing patriotic songs in church which always brings a lump to my throat and a tear to my eye and today is the balloon launch and big parade. There are 20 balloons in the sky over Provo as I write and I am planning on skipping the parade. Every five years is enough.

As a child the 4th of July was always spent in Wyoming at our cabin on Fremont Lake. The day was filled with good food and water-skiing, playing on the sandy beach of Box Bay with my family and whatever friends were with us that day. I really don't remember fireworks being a part of the 4th except a few times pre-cabin days and after I was married. We even had a Wheeler cabin ballad that included words about the 4th spent on the lake.

As a young married mother we watched fireworks in Brigham City once or twice and in Provo several times. In Texas we created a new tradition. We, along with the Parkers, Krieses, Pearces, Joyces, Friskes, Algers and other families, staked out our place on the edge of Town Lake for the 4th of July celebration. We'd head down late afternoon with food, drinks and games and sit for hours playing and talking. At some point the Austin Symphony began to play and we listened to beautiful music. Then, after dark, the symphony played the 1812 Overture with fireworks bursting overhead. During that song there are cannons that are fired and they were matched to the fireworks. It was always insane trying to get out of there to get home but we always left happy and full of joy from the day's activities.

Here in Provo we started a new tradition. Our house is about three miles north of the Stadium of Fire. We eat, play nertz, hang out and then walk half a block to a grassy spot to watch the fireworks. We've learned that as soon as the show is over, visitors get in their cars and leave, missing the crazy log jam of traffic on our road. The past few years Andrea and Amy started their own tradition of going to Boulder for the 4th. Riley has been in Mongolia for the past five years during the 4th. So it's a good thing I have the Parker kids to keep the tradition going.

Whatever the tradition, whoever I'm with, whatever songs are played or sung, I love the 4th of July. I love our country's independence. I love the sight of the American flag. I love to put my hand over my heart and pledge my allegiance to my country. I guess I'm a patriotic nerd and that's just fine with me.