July 1st

Happy first day of July !

What kind of fun things happen at your house

to celebrate our country's Independence Day?

William and I usually go down to the Concho River

in downtown San Angelo with quilt, lawn chairs

and ice chest in tow.

The SA Symphony presents a wonderful

program of patriotic songs,

we spread out the quilt and lay out the food

we brought.

Lots of people (over 30,000) come to town

for this annual event

and we always see lots of folks

and get to catch up with friends.

Some years we do it the easy way and go by and pick up a pizza

or a bucket of chicken.

Haven't figured out the menu for this year --

something fun and different.

And COOL !

We sit on the riverbank and eat and visit

and listen to the music and

then the evening ends with a spectacular

fireworks display.

Oh -- and the flyover. There is almost always

a fantastic flyover. That's usually when I start to get emotional.

I am always moved to tears at some point

in the evening -- try as I might to remain in control.

It's just so moving --- I mean,

here we are -- living in the greatest country

in the world, in the greatest state in the country

(I do hope you love your state as much

as I love mine).

I'm blessed to be living in the kind of

community where life is slow and

friends are forever,

and where we still get choked up

over the presentation of the flag

and the playing of patriotic songs.

It's a powerful thing to reflect on our country,

the people who settled it and

founded this way of life and

then fought with all they had to

make this country great

and to keep this country free.

Happy July everyone!

May your celebrations be fun and safe --

Gwynie Pie