July Fourth

Katie D.

July 10, 2009 - 4:45 PM

I started off my July 4th celebrations by walking 4.5 miles with 5,000 fellow Eugenians. The path of the run/walk starts near the base of Spencer's Butte (which is south of downtown) and continues through the South Eugene neighborhoods, into downtown, and then out to the base of Spencer's Butte at Alton Baker Park.

I walked this year with a group of American English Institute students. I was happy to be there with them because events like this are one of my favorite aspects of American culture: that we can all get together and walk, with no real purpose except to be together and in motion. When you talk about 5,000 participants in anything, you're talking about quite a crowd. I stopped to watch for a little while and witnessed wave after wave of people walking, with the runners alongside in a separate small track. People walked with dogs, in costume, with friends, alone, in their Butte to Butte official T Shirts, or with American flag capes. Non-participants came out to cheer us on, standing on the sidewalks or on their porches, telling us how far we had to go and that we were doing a great job.

We were doing a great job, even those of us who were far from the front of the pack. Although it is a race, there was little spirit of competition that I could find in evidence. People were happy. It was a beautiful Eugene summer day, and what is there to complain of if that it the case?

I continued my July 4th with a BBQ at a friend's house, then fireworks over Dexter Lake and a trip to the McCready hot springs. Overall it was a fabulous day: exactly what I love to celebrate on our Nation's birthday: community, friends, and the natural beauty of this amazing place.

I also realized that it had been two full years since I had a real 4th of July. Two years ago I was coming home from a volunteer project in Belize, and I had the strange and beautiful experience of flying over Texas at sundown, watching the whole landscape below me erupt in fireworks. Last year's 4th passed mostly unnoticed in Chile. I can't even remember what I did. While in Chile I was wrapped up in Chile: in the culture and music and language of that temporary home. While there might have been time for a July 4th celebration, there really wasn't any reason I could think of.

But this year I went back to some of the old American traditions I love. As I walked along with my AEI group from their various countries, I talked about July Fourths from my youth. The bicycle parades in my neighborhood, and how the neighborhood dads used to do a lawn mower parade to accompany us along behind the fire truck. Now, I have never been a confident biker. But I remember getting ready for the July 4th parade by decorating my bike with crepe paper and ribbon and being so happy to be present with all those other families waving flags.

And the fireworks. I'm sure they are exceptionally wasteful: the energy, chemicals, and money that goes into firework displays is slightly horrifying to me. But. But there is that experience of lying on your back beside a lake and watching the fireworks explode, hearing the loud booms in your stomach, and listening to all the little kids laughing, calling out color predictions and screaming when the explosions were too loud.

As I walked along and talked about all this, I remembered again that I am very happy to live in this country. I am grateful for all the opportunities I have had and all the freedoms and comforts I take for granted. I plan to spend a portion of the next few years of my life living outside of the country, working and traveling and experiencing a broader perspective than I have as yet. My last two July Fourths taught me many things. While working to build a preschool in Belize I learned what it is to work hard for people who really, truly need it. What it is to witness true national poverty. In Chile I learned about falling in love with a new nation, a new people. I learned what it means to begin to fit in to a home you were not born to, but could conceivably choose.

Who knows what life has in store for me in the long run. Who knows where I will end up, or what decisions will ultimately hold the greatest importance in my life. For now, I am glad I went to see the fireworks. I am so glad I did the Butte to Butte and saw all those people pouring positive energy out into the streets. I feel so blessed to be a part of the community here in Eugene: all the smiling faces and incredible natural beauty.

Wherever I end up for all those July Fourths to come in my life, I hope it is always spent amid the company of such wonderful people.