The Fourth

Yesterday was the 4th of July, a national holiday celebrating Americas independence from Britain in 1776. I expected my eyes and ears to be bombarded with flags, music, parades, marching bands and general cheerful behaviour. I witnessed none of the above and was told that this kind of thing would be taking place in smaller close knit communities.

It turns out Stacy wasn't 'for real' when she said we have to wear red, white and blue outfits for the party but I got dressed up for a photo anyway (not displayed here). Stacy complimented me by saying I looked like something out of the Wizard of Oz.

So off we drove - 2 hours north to Tacoma where Stacy used to live to celebrate the fourth with a group of friends. Again I was expecting much talk about how wonderful the American nation is and let's all stand to sing the anthem etc but alas this was the kind of gathering you'd find on a sunny British bank holiday BBQ (which was kinda nice).

The house backs on to American Lake, it was beautiful, here's a picture of me sitting on the dock with Mount Rainier in the background:

In the evening we lit a bonfire and set off some fireworks then sat back to watch everyone elses fireworks going off around the lake. I had to try the American delicacy of toasted marshmallows and chocolate sandwiched between some crackers, it was ok but I couldn't eat much due to the chocolate tasting like cheesy feet (Stacy repeated approximately 5 times in a very loud voice the fact that I was saying 'American chocolate tasted of cheesy feet' just to ensure maximum alienation). Nobody commented luckily.


I had feared yesterday that I was turning into an American, I said the words TRASH and DIAPER without even thinking!! I feel better today so hopefully it's passed.

I've been spending a lot of time wondering 'what if' England had the same weather, scenery, holidays & extra curricular activities - would we still be so uptight? No offence to Mom and Dad but...I just think back to our wet family holidays in Wales every time Stacy recounts another 'holiday of a lifetime' story which were the norm for her all year round.

Not that I'm envious of someone elses childhood of course, I wouldn't swap mine and Michelle's game of 'hunt the white rhino' (where the sheep were rhino's) for anything...oh and remember that time I fell into a bog up to my middle but we didn't have any hot water for a bath...