Dog days……..
July is summer all wrapped up in one hot, hot, hot month. Actually we had some rain a few days ago, reminded me of Hawaii. Oddly Death Valley got more rain fall this year than Seal Beach did!!! The weather has definitely changed.
4th of July was as quiet as it gets around here. Our traditional pool party & B.B.Q. topped off with hours of fireworks has dwindled over the years. The slow down started when Seal Beach outlawed fireworks years ago. We’d still have the party then go into the neighboring city and set off hundreds of dollars worth of legal fireworks late into the night. When our oldest son Trinon and his wife Kathleen bought a home in Huntington Beach the cities 4th of July parade got to be a tradition with most of the family and our son Matthew and his wife Kari began hosting the party at their home in the same city…. no more homemade ice cream just lots of beer! Once it got dark we’d still do the fireworks as fewer and fewer cities allowed them. More and more illegal fireworks were being shot off all around us…. spectacular but damn dangerous. Finally we’d skip the party’s and just do the fireworks… never knowing if it was going to be the last year or not we didn’t mind watching a couple hundred dollars go up in smoke. Unfortunetly, some of our favorite fireworks got banned. No more “ground bloom flowers” or silver showers that shot 10-15 feet in the air. Even the sparklers got weaker and weaker and weren’t worth the five bucks they wanted for 10. It just wasn’t like the good ‘ole days… I guess we are just getting old.
So this year we finished up tiling the dinning room and then went to Home Depot and looked at carpet… not your traditional 4th of July festivities. But then again we did grill some filet minion and toasted America with champagne for the first time, while watching a spectacular display of fireworks on T.V. Just the two of us… finding new ways to celebrate old traditions. I missed the smell of sulfer and the sting of smoke in my eyes and all the “OOOO’s and ahhhhhs” from the children, now adults with kids of their own.
July 29th is our daughter Leann and son-in-law Matt’s 1st wedding anniversary. One down and many many to go. Congratulations to the not so new newly weds =]
The 31st will mark our youngest 25th birthday. Those 25 years went so fast my head is still spinning. Happy, happy birthday Katy!!
And to Riley, our first granddaughter, enjoy being 4 sweetie pie. Before you know it you’ll be 60 and marveling at how not only the weather has changed but traditions you thought would go on and on change too.