Independence, Our Day

Before you read this post, go to the right-hand column and link to Becca China Doll's 7/4 post. I started to add a comment and knew I'd run out of character space to say what I wanted to say.

Becca had a great post, but what got me is that she ISN'T here on our Independence Day. How do we miss her? So much, but she is coming home soon, so let me remind Becca what she is missing on this Independence Day:

• The day-long radio playlist of Country/Western/Patriotic songs that handsome, tough, cowboys sing about how WE are going to kick ass throughout the world. Hmmmmmm, are we kicking ass yet? 
• Baseball games with all the teams' baseball hats embroidered with their logos in red, white and blue. The proceeds of all these hats are donated to Veterans.
• The Blue Angels flew over my house yesterday morning in perfect formation as they flew back to Hill Air Force Base from the Freedom Fesitval in Provo. The festival is celebrated in Gods Country so celebrating Independence Day can't happen on Sunday, the actual day, but it has to happen on a day when we are less focused on His blessings because Independence is a "lesser" blessing that needs to be celebrated on Saturday, and because celebrating it on Monday (the country's observance) would interfere with Family Night.
• Every womens' magazine at the grocery store has a recipe for blueberry,-raspberry-and-cream cheese-concoction-frosting on brownies that you HAVE to serve at your outdoor BBQ.
• People dressed like Uncle Sam in red, white and blue top hats for him and derby hats for her at baseball games.
• Army Black Hawk helicopters flying low overhead throughout the valley with a wooooop, woooop, woooop at dawn. It makes your heart pound at sunrise.
• Deals, deals, deals in the newspaper ads with language insinuating that you can't pass up a deck chair lounger for $200 even if it is only worth $50.
• Boy bands at the amphitheater.
• Sandy City's Healing Field, a Salute to Freedom and its 2,000+ flags in the promenade that you can't help but blubber cry your heart out as you inch your way through the half-mile long flags with the names of 911 victims.
• The lead story on KSL reporting of the evil, and illegal fireworks smuggling from Wyoming sting operation that the Utah Highway Patrol has set up in Wasatch County. Watch out because you'll probably get caught in the illegal beer smuggling sting too.
• Orange barricades signaling the parade route in Murray, Sandy, West Jordan, Sugarhouse... Lagoon!
• Burnt noses from water skiing.
• A day off work because in America, we celebrate the holiday on the first Monday following the special day. Love that day off with pay!
• Pancake breakfasts at the ward house. J.D. and I had pancakes at our own home this year.
• Flags on white PVC pipe stuck in your lawn. This year, the Boy Scouts charged $40 to stick flags in our lawn for every holiday, but I told them to keep the change when I gave them a Grant. But apparently, the Scouts weren't aware that the 4th of July should be celebrated on the 4th of July because they took down all the flags on the 3rd of July because, God forbid, we celebrate Independence Day on Sunday. Or Monday, Or the entire weekend.
• Sad, but true that the beach in Pensacola is closed due to oil so no one showed up for the festivities.
• Collosimo brats for dinner. Because what says Independence more than a Greek wiener with Swiss cheese.