following your leads.

(sorry about the trees... they're kind of unavoidable in my neck of the woods.)

Seems that everyone is doing a post for Independence Day: well wishes toward fellow bloggers, and rehashed fun plans, etc. While my weekend was exceptionally wonderful, I'll leave my description at:

A 3 day weekend full of food, fun, friends, family, swimming, sun, fireworks, and partying. Needless to say, I am exhausted!

The pinnacle of this weekend for me was standing in my backyard around 9-10pm listening/seeing all the fireworks going off in the sky around us. This was my first Independence Day in many years that I have lived in the suburbs. It's a totally different experience from living in the city... Much of what we could see and hear was being set off by neighbors, and other people in and around our subdivision. For the first time on the 4th of July, I felt a sense of camaraderie. It was nice to look up in the sky and actually see the celebrations going on simultaneously all around us.

All of these people were celebrating our country, celebrating our freedom, and celebrating the brave people who serve in our country's armed forces so that we may maintain this freedom. That night was truly the physical manifestation of the people rising up to honor this tradition, and commemorate our fellow Americans. It was extremely moving.

As I stood there enjoying the ever-changing colors and shapes streaming across the sky, and waiting on my hubby to come out and start our own backyard show, I had a moment of clarity. I was overcome by feelings of reverence, and wondered if the Americans of decades past would be touched by our extravagant displays of commemorative pyrotechnics.

I think they would. Can you imagine what Independence Day looks like from above??