Musings on the Fourth of July
By Bill Guy
Neighbors invite us newbies to the annual cul-de-sac Independence Day party. Pot luck in the park. Bring your lawn chairs, celebrate the holiday. Get to know your neighbors better. Quite a mix. Mostly retired folk or those countin’ it down. One younger couple with two grade school boys and a gorgeous little girl with mocha skin, topaz eyes and Shirley Temple curls. Two couples obviously long-time SoCal denizens. Others sporting tans, but still betraying back-east accents. Expatriate Brits, Asians, Okies via Massachusetts and Tennessee, and an Illini married to an Islander. Maybe a Hispanic hombre, but then again, he might be an Italian uomo.
Food was great. Traditional favorites like hot dogs, potato salad, deviled eggs. But also tasty dishes from newcomers’ kitchens cooking other cultures. Scotch Eggs, Asian noodles, salsa. Cheesecake with blueberries and strawberries, peach cobbler, chocolate covered strawberries soaked all night in vodka. Later, we could watch the city’s fireworks from our back yards. [Read more…]