My love of America's holiday came to me honestly; it's my mom's favorite holiday too. As kids, we couldn't wait for the 4th to finally come around! We would wake up that morning, just as excited as my mom, who would be arm-dancing around the house and clapping her hands over and over!! We would spend the morning swimming and playing outside, sometimes sneaking off with my dad to the fireworks store to stock up on Black Cats and Bottle Rockets.
My mom would buy chips and potato salad and my dad would fire up the grill. We would eat the classic 4th of July menu: burgers and dogs, corn on the cob, watermelon till we'd burst. We would then get hosed off, as watermelon is messy stuff, and get ready to go to the river.
In Tulsa, the place to be on the 4th is the river. They put on an AWESOME fireworks show, folks. But it's not just the fireworks that make it great.
We would show up hours before it got dark, just to beat some traffic and get a good spot on the lawn. We'd set out a blanket and some lawn chairs, equipped with a cooler full of Shasta, card games, roughly 48 bottles of sunscreen, and a portable radio. Let the people-watching commence.
Those of you who have spent time with my family know that we love a good roast. We will make fun of anyone, especially each other, and especially people we don't know. The 4th of July celebration at the river is a goldmine, chalk full of people just dying to be secretly teased.
There was a stage set up, with live bands and local celebrities (like newscasters, and one year the girl who sang in the May's Drug and Drug Warehouse commercials showed up. You know, "get the best of us, every daaaaaaaay, May's Drug and Drug Warehouse!") The music was Lawrence Welk material, at best, but there was always this woman we dubbed "the Flag Lady." She wore a flag dress. Not a dress she bought that had flags on it, but a dress made out of old flags. Really loose and baggy, like a very festive tent. Imagine this, only flags:
She also wore flag earrings, a flag headband, everything flag. No shoes. The same outfit every year. And she'd dance. I don't mean bob her head to the music, I mean arms above her head, eyes closed, full-body swaying to John Phillips Sousa. She was a gem. Then there were, of course, people who'd show up already drunk at 3 pm, those without teeth, and a lot of really classy mullets. Flag Lady was our favorite though.
When it got dark, the fireworks would start. Everyone tuned their radios in to a station that was synced with the display, and for a good 20 minutes, we would enjoy the best fireworks I've ever seen. There were the multi-colored poppers, the streaking screamers, and my favorites, the big-boomers that would shake the ground and take your breath away. All the while, Carrie and I sang "Proud To Be an American" and "Be Kind to Your Webbed-Footed Friend" along with the show. Then came the finale. Babies were crying, dogs were howling, my dad was laughing, it was glorious.
After the show ended, all 5 billion people would try to get up and leave at the same time, so rather than fight the crowds, we sat on our blanket and waited. While we waited, we talked and laughed and teased, and after enough people trickled out, we gathered up our stuff and headed for the car. The traffic was usually still pretty bad, so we drove around all the old neighborhoods in downtown Tulsa. There are some amazing houses down there, most built in the 20s, during the oil boom. I always loved that part.
We would finally venture home, and then have our own fireworks show. When we were really young, it consisted of sparklers and popsicles in the backyard, but as we got older, Dad would break out the illegal stuff. Don't get too excited, all fireworks are illegal inside the Broken Arrow city limits. I'm just talking about bottle rockets and cherry bombs. We would got out in the front yard or the school parking lot across the street and go to town! We rarely had bottles, so we got creative with our bottle rockets, sticking them in the ground, or holding them in our hands. (one time I lit my sweater on fire at the worst birthday party ever doing that, but that's another story). I remember one year somebody tied one to our mail box and it almost hit a neighbor's car! Hilarious! Almost every year, a police car would roll through the neighborhood, and a policeman would stick his head out the window and ask if we had been setting off fireworks. We would say "No, we are just standing outside in the middle of the street with sooty hands for another reason," and they would move on. After every last Black Cat and party popper had been laid to rest, we went inside, ate a few more slices of watermelon, and went to bed.
I haven't been able to go to Boom River for a few years, but I still love the 4th of July. Not only because I really am proud to be an American, but because it reminds me of my childhood and my crazy family, and how blessed I really am.
For your viewing pleasure:
oh, the flag lady. we should have made friends with her, since we spent so much time staring at her. Also, that was the worst birthday party ever. (here, come with me into the dark kitchen to get a drink.)
ReplyDeleteew. also, lame.
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