We had a band concert at 10 in the morning. Right by the river, our bandshell is large enough to house the city band, which includes several friends and my granddaughter who plays the clarinet as well as other instruments. The music and speeches were focused on military and related services such as firefighting and police. It was stirring, in part because of the few mistakes and the atmosphere of sincerity.
If you were there, you saw the brilliant blue sky, the bright green grass, the many colors of the clothes and chairs and the many American flags. It was very typical of small American cities celebrating this day of remembrance.
Afterwards, our daughter held a family gathering at her house. Again, classically typical: brats (bratwurst, pronounced "brots", not like the word for a wayward child, rhymes with "hots"), hot dogs and watermelon. Plenty of chips and cheesecake and cookies and other health-conscious foods.
There is a new invention that helps in family get-togethers on bright warm days, days just asking for a watergun fight. In my day, a watergun was a water pistol, not a machine gun with auxiliary tanks and a 50 foot range. Lynn made sure we had four such monsters, one for each of the greatgrandchild. But one didn't work well so it is a good thing that our daughter had one, too. "Don't squirt the grown-ups, even by accident, or it's your head!"
This new invention is biodegradable, an important feature since waterballoons explode and leave bits all over the lawn. It looks a bit like a bunch of plastic grapes and they have a collective nozzle, enabling the whole bunch to be inflated with water at once. When the water balloons are full, they detach themselves and seal off, preparing many water balloons for hurling and wetting others.
Hope you are ready for a busy, fun summer!
