Fireworks Booth Elk Grove
A rose can say “I love you”,
orchids can enthrall,
but a weed bouquet in a chubby fist,
yes, that says it all.
~Author Unknown
It’s the 4th of July holiday weekend here in the States. Our Independence Day celebration around the country. Fireworks, American Flags, barbecues, family gatherings, children in awe and animals hiding under the beds. We love our 4th of July here and hopefully are reminded of the generations of men and women who have served in our Armed Forces to maintain and secure the freedoms that we enjoy.
Our “Baby Girl”, Montana called over a week ago and announced she had 5 days off from work and wanted to come see us! WOW! How wonderful! She just graduated and is working at her wonderful new job and already she is up for a visit! We were thrilled. But 3,000 miles makes a quick, unplanned, trip a bit stressful in the planning and acquiring a reasonable airfare. Dave and I both whipped open our laptops, hell bent on making it happen with the less than 14 day advanced purchase to an airport that is not considered a “destination” spot! We included San Francisco and Reno in the mix, willing to drive the two hours to grab her if we could get a better airfare to make it happen. When we started we were at around $1,000. YIKES! Love you honey, but I don’t know about that! Anyway, after an hour or more of the two of us finagling the system, and with Dave’s United $300 voucher, we managed to get her a ticket out on one airline into Sacto and out on another, for a reasonable out of pocket fee. WOOHOO! She was excited when we called and said, “Ok! We got you tickets!”
I was already scheduled to do a volunteer day at the Elk Grove Teen Center Fireworks Booth on the day she arrived. So Dave took off the afternoon from work and went to get her at the airport, while I joined my fellow volunteers to sell fireworks as a fundraiser for the Center. Thank goodness there was a bit of a breeze blowing and it wasn’t terribly hot. I know ZIP about fireworks! I probably wasn’t a great person to be doing this, but I was a body in the booth and I could smile, have a conversation, calculate the charges, thank them for supporting the Teen Center, run the credit card and bag it up. Thank goodness the other guys there knew what a “Funky Monkey” did or a “Phantom Night Owl” was! Back East in Maryland, fireworks, even little “sparklers” are FORBIDDEN and a HUGE FINE! Every year we would hear of folks getting snagged at the state line coming over from Pennsylvania, West Virginia or Virginia with fireworks. NABBED! It’s so weird because Maryland doesn’t have a fire hazard the way that California does. I learned that all of the fireworks here are “ground” versions. They don’t shoot up into the air. We were telling stories (showing our ages) about what was cool when we were kids. M-80s were the cool rocket fireworks that were illegal and we all got our hands on them. Sparklers of course. And then one of the volunteers, a bit of a comedian and actually a real working actor on a national television show, talked about his all time favorite which was a close-line cord with a scrubbing steel wool pad tied to the end, dipped in kerosene, lit on fire, and twirling it around in the night sky. When it hit the ground it sparked. We were rolling. God Help Us! The stuff we used to do when we were kids.
Relaxing at the end of the day. Montana & Dave having a laptop party.
Dave and Montana headed from the airport to the Mall, to the Apple Store. We are trying to lure Dave to the LIGHT with a Mac and Montana needed to have hers looked at. She and I are both trying to keep our 4 year old Macs going instead of replacing them. I finished up at the booth early and went over to the Mall to catch a bite with the two of them (so much for our dinner plans!). I loved listening to her talk about her job and her company meeting and some of their future growth plans. It’s really fun to see her excited and talking about what she is doing and liking the people she is working with. Then I headed over to the movie theatre on my way home to buy Transformer tickets a day early in the hopes we could get in. It will be Dave’s first movie theatre experience since he was diagnosed. We aren’t big movie goers anyway, but it’s funny how when you can’t go, you suddenly feel like you are missing out! When I paid $40 for three tickets I remembered why Dave and I don’t go! Anyway, he and Montana both love the Transformer movies and so we will do that this afternoon after she gets her hair done with my guy James (James Mark Salon for those of you in the area), a bit of a new tradition we started when we first moved here.
Our big day together to do something will be tomorrow. We still haven’t settled in on it yet. Napa, Tahoe, American River, Art Museum. So far, those are our choices. If we do the American River rafting, I’m not sure Dave has the strength and stability, so I’m a bit hesitant to make that choice at this particular time of the year (the water is running high and fast). So probably the other choices will be the right ones. I’m kind of thinking Napa. It’s closer and will be a new experience for all of us. Now that I have friends here I have had a lot of help in directing us to some cool things and it feels great to have some choices.
While I was in the Fireworks Booth dealing with a customer, Hudbud called. I didn’t answer it and I’m so sorry I didn’t! He passed his Arborist’s license (Tree care stuff)!!!! I saw it on his FB page when I got home. I did try to call him back but he didn’t answer. I’m so proud of him. This allows him to be licensed to do tree care work in all 50 states. He studied very hard for this exam and it was really important to him. Often tree work can’t be done in different pockets around the country unless there is a licensed arborist involved. HE’S THE MAN! Kudos Hud! We are very proud of you!
“Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.” – Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince, 1943
Enjoy your 4th celebrations with friends and family, my fellow Yanks. Be safe, hug them close, tell them you love them and enjoy those little ones. They do indeed grow up fast and there is no turning back. But if they have grown up, like mine, enjoy the new and wondrous relationship as the child becomes the friend.
I know I say this a lot, but those of you who are in Myelomaville understand clearly that these moments, seemingly ordinary, small snippets of life, are no longer so ordinary to us, nor small. They are moments and experiences that just seem more vivid and meaningful on many levels.
