Independence Day

The familiarity of the 4th of July in a small town is something to be treasured. While the tried and true traditions of a parade with some of the same floats every year graced the streets of Stayton, some new experiences were had as well. (The vehicle to the left is driven by a former teacher, former mayor of the town and a past Track and field coach and a past Assistant coach of mine when I was the Track coach at the local high school)

It's amazing to me that I'm already having problems remembering what all was done just a day ago. So much is running through my head that having this camera on hand to take pictures of my day is helping a lot! Much of the day was spent making sure that the trunk was really ready to go for the post office. Then was unpacked a little bit when Patch (my godson) brought home a fish for me to fillet so he could try his catch of the day.

After that, I headed out to the parade route so I could set up the canopy so we'd have some shade. As we waited for the parade to start, all of my family and much of my sister's in-law's showed up for the day and excitement grew for the throwing of the candy. Surprise for this year was is that we were throwing it at (I mean to) the floats in addition to the other way around! We waited and really threw it at....shoot...to....the people from town that we knew. It was fun and many of the kids on the floats really enjoyed getting candy rather than giving it away.

I enjoyed watching the debut of the Break the Chain Monster Truck! I'm very proud of Tami and everyone who has worked so hard to make it a reality. I also enjoyed seeing the students from the high school

FFA club being pulled by a tractor and for the first time in a very long time this 30 year old kid stood in front of the

Fire Dept. water truck and got soaked!

A nice break in the day away from the sun was had as I came home and took a snooze. Our poor husky, Ryan, was already getting riled up

by them and joined me on the bed. He is NOT allowed up there and I didn't think he could make it up there honestly. He proved me wrong though and I allowed it because he was so upset. He made it through the night ok with the help of some calming medicine, a loud radio and the comfort of his crate.

The evening concluded with a wonderful golf cart ride with Eric's younger brother, Colby. He took his girlfriend and Eric and I out to a spot on the course where we were the only ones there to view the fireworks. It was FANTASTIC and nice and quiet. No one else around and no lights to get in the way of viewing. We should have thought about one aspect though. The golf carts don't have lights and when the fireworks are done, we had to drive back in the dark. It wasn't that easy but I did have the iPad to help out a little bit thanks to a flashlight app.

Today was a productive day. We got even more ready for the garage sale that is happening on Friday and Saturday. I got the first two packages mailed off. Really, it's a trunk and a commercial grade tote. They are both headed off to Egegik, Alaska now. Everything got a little more real while loading them in the car and actually handing them over not to be seen again for a month. Oh ya, that leads me to this last part...

31 days...... Ya, that's one month from today.