4, pen and ink on graph paper, doodle © 2008 by ybonesy. All rights reserved.
Have a safe and colorful Fourth!
Here’s To Fireworks, Hot Dogs & Independence!
July 4, 2008 by ybonesy
36 Responses
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redravine.wordpress.com 
ybonesy, great graphic doodle! Happy 4th of July! Hope you and your family have a great day. Same to my family and the rest of our red Ravine readers.
We are heading over to the studio this afternoon to do some art, watch projected videos of artists and writers, hang out, and hopefully we’ll be able to see the fireworks over the trees of the 3rd floor studio.
We’re officially in the thick of a new season. It’s a beautiful day here. Not too humid, breezy and cool. Happy Summer!
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The 4th of July meant months of collecting glass pop bottles that people tossed into ditches and left of streets. My dad would cruise country roads while we looked out for those valuable bottles. We would wash them and put them in bushel baskets and then take them to the glass place. That money became our fireworks money.
We would take our fireworks to my grandmother’s house and spend the afternoon shooting off firecrackers until my ears would ring. Then I would wait impatiently for night to fall (this was long before daylight savings time came along) so we could have our fireworks show. Then we would sit on the screened in porch and watch the fireworks shows of other kids on other farms.
Happy 4th of July, everyone!
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Bob,
Your dad was surely a Depression-Era baby. There was an industrious, resourcefulness that got into every cell of their bodies. My parents are like that, too. The older I get, the more I appreciate it. Spend, spend, waste, waste isn’t their first reaction to life.
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YB, What a “fun”tastic doodle for the 4th!
This morning, Cody had it’s annual parade, and our float won 3rd place in the “Most Patriotic” category! We, the Daughters of the American Revolution, borrowed a flat-bed trailer and followed this year’s theme, “The West was won with boots, buckles and broncs,”in decorations. A very large, wooden profile of an old fashioned lady’s boot, painted black and laced with red ties was at the front. Our “Betsy Ross” flag, with its 13 stars, covered the grill of the white pick-up truck pulling us.
Members, garbed in colonial dress, sat in rocking chairs, smiling and waving at the crowd assembled curbside. Old western boots, securely weighted down and taped to the side rails of the trailer, were arranged in alternating colors of red, white and blue. A spinning wheel and large basket full of yarn completed the scene, with banners proclaiming our historic name and an over-abundance of flags, garlands and ribbons!
We shouted “thank you” to the cheers and applause of watchers, as we waved to them, and enjoyed the music of the Scottish Bagpipers just ahead of us. Hope all of my redravine friends had as much fun as we did, today!
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you too 🙂
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Silver City has always had a big Independence Day tradition with a parade, traditional Cowboy breakfast, the JayCee BBQ, the ice cream social, and fireworks at night.
July 4th was one of the four days of the year my dad closed his drug store/pharmacy. The others were Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day.
As a kid, it was one of those days of where I got to see my dad do something besides stand behind the pharmacy counter. When I was really young, he helped out with the “Cowboy Breakfast”.
As an adult, I still went downtown to watch the parade, but learned of a new post parade tradition…a 4th of July beer at the Buffalo Bar. There’s a lot of hob-nobbing in that bar. Sometimes it the only time a year when I see certain people…kind of fun drinking a Budweiser (I know its swill, but that’s not the point) at 10:30 in the morning.
I missed Independence Day today. I am still in Venezuela. It is a day like any other here. I thought Silver City some today, I thought about my dad some (he enjoyed the 4th of July) and I got a little homesick.
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nice yankee doodle
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Thanks for the comments, all.
*Excellent* one, Scot. 8) 8)
Beer at the Buffalo Bar sounds great, MM. Great story about your dad and his four holidays off. Until I had kids of my own, the 4th was my worst holiday. It was always SOOOO great in my childhood, and later on it just never measured up. But now that I have kids, it’s pretty cool again.
Bob, wow. Wonderful memories. See what I mean about the fourth? We just live so differently now, I can’t even imagine that we create memories like that any more.
oliverowl, Congrats on the award! Did anyone snap pics? If so, send one my way. I’d love to see it.
QM, hope your day and night out was good and that you could see the fireworks over the trees.
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Bob, I loved reading about your collecting bottles to buy fireworks with. I remember when I was young, paper drives and collecting glass were all ways of fundraising for things like Girl Scouts. Yes, paper drives. Funny to think about.
oliverowl, your DAR float sounds incredible! (See Comment #4) So much rich detail. Did you actually sew the Besty Ross flag yourself? Or where did you find that? Congrats on winning 3rd place for your float! Sounds like so much fun. Did you take any photos?
BTW, Liz has been looking into the DAR connection you sent. And we told Mom about it and she also sent Liz a little info to check out. I shouldn’t be, but I’m always surprised by how small the world is, how connected we all are.
Scot, I love that. Very clever. 8)
Happy 4th, lissa.
mimbresman, it would be hard to be away from all the rituals and holidays we are used to. All of that is so connected to Home. Glad you get to visit New Mexico and ybonesy soon.
Teri, glad you hung out with us for so long yesterday. We had a great time!
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ybonesy, we had a great creative day in the studio with music and art and conversation. More to come later on that. And we could barely see the fireworks over the trees in our 3rd floor studio. But then someone mentioned that we should head out to the lobby and then we had ringside seats! Fantastic fireworks! Hope your parade was fun, too!
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Oliverowl,
One of my cousins is heavily into genealogy, and sent an email yesterday about two of our family members who fought in the Revolutionary War. Who knew? Does this make me eligible for the Daughters of the American Revolution? What does DAR do? Besides ride on floats, that is!
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YB & QM; Several people were taking photos, and they usually share, so will forward at least one, if they do.
The reproduction of the Betsy Ross flag was a promotional gift upon joining the Williamsburg Society, which i joined. Tracy drove the truck, and everyone who was on the float complimented her on her smooth driving ;^)
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Way to go, Tracy! I can just picture you driving that float! Did you help build it as well?
What a great promo gift, oliverowl. I think the Betsy Ross flag is a pretty cool one. I like looking at all the different incarnations of flags. I think I’m drawn to the symbols, the way they get carried down through history. I bet you all had a LOT of fun!
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Teri, Yes, you’re eligible for membership. DAR is a service organization. We actively promote patriotism, better education, preserving our history. We contribute at the local, state and national levels, to veterans, to several schools for disadvantaged children in the Appalachian area and two schools for Indians. We give annual scholarships at the local and state levels. Plus lots more!
Go to http://www.dar.org and click on “Membership.” There you’ll find instructions and advice on finding your lineage and a Prospective Member Information Request Form. Or call (202)879-3224.
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QM, It was a lot of fun, and we all helped decorate the float. We were glad it was in the morning, as the temps. reached 92+! The evening’s weather was perfect, though, for our “oohs & ahs” watching the fireworks from my front porch, with just the faintest sliver of the silvery new moon!
From the “Wishing makes it so” Department: Just as we were wishing that someone at the Car Lot would have had the courtesy of turning off their obnoxiously bright lights, half of them went off!! We could hardly believe it!
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oliverowl,
Oh, this link looks great! Thanks for your patriotism and service.
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oliverowl, glad you all stayed cool. It’s been a nice weekend here. Humid, but temps cooler than normal. Great info on the DAR. I was telling Mom a little about your DAR work. She said that they always asked my Great Aunt Cassie to be a member but, for some reason, she never did. I’m not sure why. I’ll have to ask Mom more about it.
As Fate would have it, Liz and I are watching The Patriot today. It reminds of how hard our ancestors fought for freedom and independence from Britain. Many family members lost, many dead, yet they kept going. Right up to the Declaration of Independence. It reminds me of seeing 1776 at the Guthrie with you and Liz last year. Really great. Oh, I think I see the Betsy Ross flag flying now!
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oliverowl, well, the movie just ended. It’s a tearjerker. And Liz wants to know if the cats can join the DAR with us. She said we could call it, Felines of the American Revolution. FAR for short. Serena could join, too. 8) Did I spell it right? And isn’t she named after one of your ancestors?
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[…] On July 4th, we spent time in the Casket Arts studio with friends, talked about writing, art, politics, played albums, organized, tried to watch a projection movie but that didn’t work out. In the evening, fireworks from Nicollet Island exploded in the sky. Neighborhood kids were setting off bottle rockets in the street below us. A symphony. […]
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This picture would make a great postage stamp!
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That drawing would make a good postage stamp. Would be even cooler if they left the shape square. I wonder if they have ever had a square postage stamp?
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I would like to share my comment on this. We enjoyed the the fireworks of my home town from brother’s deck on the Fourth.
I found out from my Dad that I am eligible to join the the DAR & intend to do so ( love you oliverowl!) D
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diddy & oliverowl & Teri, I was talking to both Mom and Liz again about the DAR this week. I’m going to check into it more here and see what all it entails. Wouldn’t it be wild if we all ended up joining? oliverowl, you’re an inspiration!
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My niece, Ruth, just returned from a week in Boston. She had a thrilling time being in the heart of American history for the 4th of July, and has come back psyched to read about the American Revolution. When I told her we qualify to be Daughters of the American Revolution (thanks, oliverowl), she said she is in! At 27, I wonder if she’ll be the youngest member.
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Wow, I want to hear about Ruth’s trip to Boston during the Fourth of July holiday. I felt the same way after seeing The Patriot — that I wanted to read more about the American Revolution. I also feel that way when Mom tells me about our history in the settlement of Georgia.
If Ruth knows the title of a good book on the subject, come back and let us know! I’m personally looking for something not too dry with facts — maybe something based in fact mixed with the real life stories of the people who lived it.
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QM, I called & spoke with Mom last night. We are both excited about the DAR & joining together. I promised I would do the legwork to find the nearest group in our area. D
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diddy, that’s so exciting! And sounds like a great thing for the two of you to do together. You are both so into family history on each of your sides. I love that! I think Liz and I are going to look into it here, too. But it might not be until August. Too dang much going on in July.
In the meantime, we’ll be digging through more of each of our histories in the South. I look forward to talking to you and Mom about the DAR there in Central PA! (oliverowl has started an explosion!)
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After you mentioned The Patriot, QM, I put it on hold at the library. I’m really anxious to see it. There are lots of DAR meetings in the Twin Cities (I looked on the website). I’m so surprised! I mean, who is a Daughter of the American Revolution? However, I have a dim memory of them having a booth at the Minnesota State Fair once upon a time. It may be just the resource we need!
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Teri, it was fun last night for Liz and I to walk into the poetry group, see you and Ruth, and get all excited about joining the DAR in Minnesota. I have to confess, it’s not something I ever thought about until now. I’m just starting to get so into the family history and ancestry that it seems like a fun thing to do.
I also like the service work aspect of the DAR. We’ll have to research more and maybe join the same chapter. It also seems fun that it’s something Liz and I can do with our families. I’m excited about it.
The Patriot is a movie, of course, so there is lots of drama, but it follows one family’s journey through the American Revolution, the more human as well as inhumane aspects of war. In these heavy times, it seems good for us as a country to reflect back to our beginnings, how we were trying to gain our own independence from England, and from conditions that seemed oppressive to us.
Maybe there are ways that reflection can help us try harder not to do the same to others, as we have been known to do. As a country, we are not perfect. We have made a lot of mistakes. But I have a healthy respect for our roots, ideals, vision, the places where we came from.
It seems like we live in a world of the conquered and the conquerors. This is across all cultures, not just in our country. Power and money do strange things to people. People make up countries. It’s impossible to go back and know what it was like for those who lived in the past. I try not to judge too harshly. It is always possible to change.
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On the DAR website there is a woman wearing a sash that reminds me of Women Suffragists. Remember in “Mary Poppins” how the children’s mother would go to parades and shout, “Votes for Women!” I never thought I’d be wearing a sash, but never say never. Who knows, DAR membership may be fun; and it may be a way to add something of good to our country.
I agree with you, QM. It is much better to not judge too harshly. Better for everyone involved.
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Teri, cool. Sounds like the American Suffragettes. I wonder if the DAR was involved in women getting the vote (was it 1919 or 1920 that happened)? Would be interesting to research that history.
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Hey, BTW, I never got to hear about Ruth’s time in Boston over the July 4th holiday. We’ll have to get together after I get back and talk about next steps with the DAR and hear about her trip!
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I think Ruth had photos with her on Thursday night from her stay in Boston, but didn’t bring them out. We’ll have to have a DAR planning meeting and talk all about it.
Now we’re referring to your life “after your next trip to Georgia.” Far-out. Please, oh please, send a post from Flannery O’Connor’s house.
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Oh, my gosh, I just came back to this post to ask ybonesy if she might want to repost some version of her July 4th Doodle this weekend, and saw all the comments about joining the DAR.
Teri, it reminded me, did you and Ruth ever join the local DAR? I haven’t yet looked into it after all that enthusiasm last year. I wonder if my Mom did.
oliverowl, are you entering a DAR float again this year for the July 4th parade in Cody? What’s your theme? Or is there something else going on with your branch of the DAR this year? Now I’m curious as to what’s happening.
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Hey QM, happy almost the 4th. I can try to repost the doodle, but I’m steeped in party preparation. We’re hoping to have a big one, with some friends who we haven’t seen for ages.
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[…] But if it is, that’s OK. We love the rain! What about you? What will you be doing this Fourth of July? Whatever it is… Have a safe and colorful […]
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