4th of July

the 4th used to be my favorite. As a little kid I looked forward to it with great excitement. In my hometown, every year there was a community festival held in the park one block over from our house. They had games and rides and a band shell where teenage bands got to try their best Van Halen covers. It was awesome. Then the fireworks, I loved the fireworks. It was the perfect time for flirting with the girls. If you consider sitting on the bank of a moon lit river watching a colorful fireworks display with 10,000 other people eating cotton candy and drinking can beer, it was very romantic. It seemed that 4th of July stretched a whole week for me. As I got older that week shrunk. With baseball games and part time jobs I didn't get to participate in the "community fest" and was always rushing to get to the fireworks on time. It just wasn't the same. When I left home for college, the 4th got a new lease, because of my best friends mutual interest in the 4th. He hosted a part at his parents lake house just east of where we lived. It was amazing and so much fun. I was the boat captain cause I was the only one who could start it besides my friends Dad, it was a bit tricky. This annual party that started out with maybe a dozen close friends grew and grew in numbers, so much that I really didn't know half the people there. Driving the boat now became a job, and I didn't want it. So the 4th went back down on the list of the greatest days. Pretty much stayed that way for a few years with all the touring, the 4th just became a day you didn't get mail and most of the stores were closed. Well now I think the 4th is having it's 2nd comeback with me. We live in this little village outside of Chicago, I would not call it a suburb because that gives it the wrong connotation, nevertheless they love their 4th of July. Parades, games, rides, and teenage bands get to try out their Fall Out Boy covers ( Give me Van Halen anyday ). and of course they have Fireworks on the edge of the water. I am looking forward to it, especially the cotton candy and can beer.