Let the White Dove Sing

The fourth of July is my very favorite holiday. My friend Diana told me she thinks that's weird and then chalked it up to the fact that I grew up in Utah. Apparently we Utahns celebrate it better than the rest of the country--Although I've spent a few independence days in California and I was always just as impressed as I ever was in Utah.

Maybe my love for the holiday stems from my childhood. We would almost always go up to my grandpas cabin in Big Cottonwood with all the cousins and just hang out. Then, in the late afternoon we would drive down to Sugarhouse Park where the real fun would begin. My grandpa used to own a gas station right across the street from the park and when he decided to retire my father bought the property off him. It sat there abandoned for years next to useless but on the Fourth of July it was a very valuable piece of property. My siblings and I would go down there and sell parking spots for the fireworks at five bucks a pop. Then, when all the parking places were sold and the fireworks were about to start we would climb onto the roof of the old gas station to watch the show. I remember standing there with my hand over my heart as the national anthem was blasted over the parks loud speakers, then, as the last notes faded into the night the first bursts of light appeared above us in the darkened sky, and then another and another. My favorite ones were the ones that exploded and then left trails of sparkling light falling to the ground like stardust falling from the heavens. Yes, the fourth of July is definitly my favorite holiday.

Sadly I've only actually been in the country for one out of the past five Fourth of Julys and thus every year on this day I get a little bit homesick. This year was no different. For the past month I've been searching the internet hoping there would be some sort of celebration for the Americans to attend. Last year when we were in Uganda they had a huge party at the consulate and all Americans were invited. We asked one of the embassy workers here and she said yea there would be a party but only embassy workers and their families were invited. I was crushed. I felt doomed to spend the Fourth of July like any other day, surrounded by people who didn't even know the inherit fabulousness of the day. I wallowed in self pity for a few minutes but then I realized if I could be content to forego the fireworks I could have just as fabulous a Fourth of July as any I have heretofore experienced. I spoke with Lynette and Adele and it was decided; we would spend the day cooking all sorts of American food like hamburgers and apple pies, then we would paint our faces with American flags--what's the fourth of July without some face painting?-- And we would go to the park and have an all American picnic. That coupled with all the adventures I had with Duane and her family over the weekend and it truly will be a holiday weekend to remember!