Kicked off the morning with short stories from Colliers Harvest of Holidays. Among the material are a chapter from Little Town on the Prairie that has Laura and Carrie joining their pa for an outing in town. They watch their friend Alfonso win at the local horse races and enjoy lemonade from a barrel, while Laura hears the reading of the Declaration of Independence and thinks of the meaning of liberty. Other material in Colliers included The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere and several patriotic poems.
Also did a more straightforward prose story about Paul Revere in Disney's vintage Storybookland anthology, along with Ben and Me. The "me" is Amos, a mouse who moves in with Ben Franklin and helps him invent most of his famous creations, including bifocals and the Franklin stove. He parts after Ben uses him in his electricity experiment, but Ben claims he's the only one who can help him and Thomas Jefferson with the Declaration of Independence.
Watched Yankee Doodle Cricket during breakfast. Amos isn't the only mouse who claims to have shaped significant events in American history. Tucker the mouse insisted that an ancestor of his wrote the Declaration of Independence as a treaty between cats and mice and created the colony's original "Don't Tread On Me" flag, and that Chester's ancestor wrote "Yankee Doodle."
Did a quick short while getting ready to go to work. "Patriotic Popeye" is ready to celebrate the fourth, but not for his nephews to be setting off fireworks. Their uncle shows them safer ways to enjoy the holiday.
Today was my one early work day this week. It wasn't bad when I got in, but it picked up when people started getting ready for the parades around 9:30-10, to the point where I kept getting called in from the carts to do registers. I also kept getting six orders at once when I'd be trying to get back outside. Thankfully, I got more help later, giving me a chance to bag and sweep later.
Went straight home after work. Watched cartoons while relaxing and getting organized. Donald tries to get a night picnic together for him and Daisy in "Donald's Failed Fourth," but the blanket and chairs won't cooperate. "The Yankee Doodle Mouse" has Tom and Jerry take their usual cat-and-mouse antics to a fireworks factory. The Pink Panther is "Pinky Doodle," who has to tell Philadelphia that the British are coming, if the redcoat horse he's riding will let him! The Walter Lanz Studio's "Hysterical Highspots in American History" spoofs US history up to that point, from Columbus' first landing to the 1940 peacetime draft. "Yankee Doodle Bugs" claims he knows everything about American Revolutionary history to his nephew Clyde, but the little rabbit discovers the hard way that his uncle doesn't know as much as he thinks.
Started Yankee Doodle Dandy while reading Summer In America. I've had this coffee table book for so long, I forget where I found it. I think I got it from a thrift shop over a decade ago. It discusses how summer in the US went from being just another time of year to a time for play, rest, and travel, thanks to the Industrial Revolution pushing working people out of the cities and the rise of trains, and later cars. Among the many wonderful photos are several of Cape May, including one of the Hotel Cape May, which later became the Christian Admiral that was torn down in the 90's.
Headed out around 4:30 to Dad and Jodie's. Craig, Finley, and Craig's parents were in the pool when I arrived. Rose and Dana had just gotten out. I managed to squeeze into my new suit and join them briefly. Ooh, it was like bathwater! Much warmer than it was when I stuck my legs in last week. I wasn't in there for long, though. Jodie announced that dinner was ready at 5.
While Jodie's spread wasn't as big as previous 4th of Julys, there was still plenty of food. Rose and Craig donated steak, hot dogs, big juicy burgers, and bowls of watermelon chunks, super-sweet pineapple, grapes, and blueberries. Jodie made pasta salad, potato salad, broiled asparagus, and a strange bacon-celery concoction that still tasted really good. Craig found Finley's beach-themed birthday cake at the Acme. Khai added Teddy Grahams and gummy sharks and turtles to make it look more festive. There was my strawberry-lemonade icebox cake, too.
Finley opened her presents after we ate. I'm glad I bought her the sparkly purple boa. It goes well with all the play jewelry and accessories her grandparents bought her, including tiaras, necklaces, a Moana necklace (at the moment, that's her favorite movie), a pretty play dress from her grandmother in Cape May County, and a lovely ballerina jewelry box and her own little cat-shaped purse and wallet from Craig's parents. She also got two plush-and-satin blankets that looks so comfy, I'm tempted to see if they make adult sizes. Her favorite presents were the play eggs that open and have to be aligned with the right colors and number of pegs. She played with those eggs the whole rest of the time she was there.
After Finley finished, Khai insisted on setting off some fireworks. His friend Chloe came around to see what the noise was all about. Most of them were tiny little pink or purple or green flames, but there were larger ones in red, green, and gold that crackled and popped like cereal. Khai told his dad and Dana that he wanted to save at least a few for later that night, so he and Chloe switched to waving around sparklers, pretending they were casting Harry Potter spells.
The party finally broke up around 7:30. I went home, changed, and listened to the second disc of America the Beautiful before heading back out. Though it was still humid, it was also cloudy, cool, and windy by this point. Along with a towel and a bottle of water, I brought an umbrella, just in case.
The umbrella was unnecessary. We never got anything worse than a nice, cool breeze and continuing clouds. I settled down at Newton Lake Park and was just listening to the families and kids around me when the first fireworks went off. They were gorgeous, as the Collingswood fireworks always are. I especially loved the interlocking rings of red, white, and blue. That just looked cool.
Considering what a mess the White Horse Pike always is after the fireworks, I took the first opening I could and crossed over with a couple of families near CVS. Strolled down the back roads to avoid the continuing traffic. Walking home from the fireworks is actually my favorite part of the holiday. It's peaceful, with just the crickets, the hum of air conditioners, and the occasional firework going off in the background. Though one family was dragging damaged furniture to the curb for trash tomorrow, most people were probably either still getting home from the fireworks, already at home and in bed, or on vacation.
Finished the night after a much-needed shower with the rest of Yankee Doodle Dandy. I go further into this biography of ultra-patriotic songwriter George M. Cohan (who also has a birthday the day before the 4th) at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
Yankee Doodle Dandy
And whether you're celebrating your birthday today or America's, I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July (and that our neighbors the north enjoyed their Canada Day on the 1st).
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