7.04.2006

My country, tis of thee . . .

It's that time again! This is the day when I listen to NPR's reading of the Declaration of Independence and get all misty-eyed. Then I go fight some English. Only I might skip that part this year, since I'm decidedly outnumbered and would probably not do well. But everyone should take a listen to this. It's only the middle that's all about how King George is mean. And that was just for the purpose of rhetoric--it was easier to pick King George as the target than, say, Parliament. Because then all the American hayseeds would have been all, "Parla-what? Where's mah gun?" The beginning and the end are fabulous.

I've been invited to a 4th of July BBQ! It's with the family of the American guy I mentioned in the Father's Day post. Also the American missionaries in the ward are invited. His sister shipped this year's Old Navy flag shirts to England and the little girls have been waiting for weeks to wear them. I'll have to get some pictures. If I had been smart I would have found a copy of National Treasure to watch as well--but I'm not always thinking ahead. I'm sure at home TNT is probably airing another 24-hour marathon of The Patriot, so that's probably what my family will be doing--that and eating amazing grilled foods.

Oh! And this is Coolboy's last 4th of July for the next little bit, since he's leaving in less that 24 hours for his mission to the Dominican Republic. This is funny to me, because in my mind he's just barely made the jump from being 8 to being 16, so this whole being-19-and-going-on-a-mission thing has taken me by surprise. I'm going to miss that kid.

One last thing: Michael Turback wrote a book called More Than a Month of Sundaes, and NPR has published the list he made of the some of the best sundaes in all 50 states. And yes, Coney's is in there! You can see the list here (it's a PDF file). If anyone's ever had any of these, you should comment and tell me what you thought!

[Editor's note: So it turns out that Coolboy is leaving right now for the airport so I had to call fast and say goodbye. I hate it when I get my times wrong. Now I'm predicting that Dad will spend the day watching The Patriot and grilling animal flesh and Mom will spend the day crying about her baby leaving.]

4 comments:

Snow Whiteley said... [reply]

Happy Independence Day! Good luck for your brother on his mission. It seems just like yesterday when he was calling you for advice about an English paper on The Jungle Book or some such other Kipling novel.

The list of sundae's was really cool. I'll have to go try the one that was near me. I was surprised that the most famous custard in MO wasn't in there, but I'm sure he couldn't visit every ice cream shack.

Well, I'm off to watch 1776. Happy 4th!

Anonymous said... [reply]

Happy July 4th! I watched the space shuttle launch today on tv. It is always an impressive sight. I have been to a couple of the places on the sundae list and they are very good. Good luck to your brother on his mission. Enjoy the rest of the holiday.

FOODIE said... [reply]

As a matter of fact, I can't find any (cable) television station that is airing any patriotic type films, such as "The Patriot", or "Independance Day." In fact, TNT is airing a marathon of the television series, "Law and Order."

I think the History Channel has some documentary about George Washington or something, but that is about it. Kristen and I actually both noticed that is was odd there wasn't anything on!

Nemesis said... [reply]

Divine Miss--I hope 1776 is good. "He plaaaays the vii-o-liiiin . . ."

I saw the shuttle flight too, anonymous--it was pretty cool. Which sundae places have you been to?

Well foodie, I think that's just downright un-American not to show The Patriot on Independence Day! What are they thinking?

I think you've hit on a good idea there, Mom!

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