I can tell that I’ve finally assimilated into the British way of life when July 4 rolls around and my English husband has to remind me that maybe it might be fun to celebrate America’s adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Oh yeah. Should we have a burger or something?
As a kid, I always loved the Fourth of July. We would drive to the edge of town where skeezy guys wearing dirty gimme caps manned the wooden shacks selling fireworks. You couldn’t buy fireworks any other time of year, so it was a real occasion to go out to these shacks and agonise over our purchases – Bottle Rockets and Black Cats and Snakes and whatever Dangerous Fireworks that looked like they would blow your hand off.
Then we’d wait until dark (which took ages with the long summer days), drive out to one of the cotton fields and stand among the deeply plowed ruts watching our and other groups’ fireworks pop and crackle against the dark sky.
Somehow, hitting an “American-style” restaurant in London just doesn’t capture the mood. So here are 5 things I won’t be doing this Fourth of July:
1. Eating red, white and blue ice cream. This was a once-a-year artificially flavoured treat when I was a kid, and I loved picking out the little white candy stars in the blue ice cream. It’s long discontinued – on grounds of good taste at the very least, but I could always make these alarmingly patriotic ice cream sandwiches, if I could work up the nerve.
2. Watching fireworks from a rooftop in Brooklyn. My friend R. once threw a rooftop barbecue and firework-watching party and someone showed up with a disposable barbecue. It turns out that when you use one of those directly on a tar paper roof, the roof will eventually get into the spirit and catch fire too. Don’t worry though – beer will put out the flames as long as you haven’t drunk it all.
3. Having a hot dog. Because all those preservatives ironically make you look older, not more youthful.
4. Associating fireworks with “the Fourth” rather than Guy Fawkes Day. Now that I’ve spent eight years saying Remember Remember the 5th of November, with bonfires, neighbourhood-wide parties and school firework displays, I tend to think we might just do this kind thing better over here. Don’t tell the Tea Party I said so…
5. Trying to replace all those great memories and experiences I’ve had of picnics and barbecues with family and friends with some half-baked facsimile here in the UK. I’m wishing all my fellow Americans a Happy Fourth and raising my pint in the local pub in celebration for my home country. Cheers, old chaps.
Picture: nixxphotography / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Homepage image: royal65 via Flickr
Ha ha yeah it’s taken me 10 years living in USA to remember that 4th of July is a holiday. Since my husband is not American either the celebrations pass us by but I guess our kids feel american and wanted to go the firework display and wave flags etc. so we try to get into it!
Emma – That must be a funny: getting into “the spirit” with the watermelon seed spitting contests and tonnes of food!