Happy Independence Day!

Trafton B.

July 4, 2010 - 1:30 PM

Happy Fourth of July! I hope you all celebrated the independence of our grand nation tonight in some way or another. My family and I held our annual festivities earlier with our family of friends. Our normal activities are fairly regular at first glance - afternoon barbeque, apple pie and fireworks - but we do have some quirks that might raise a few eyebrows.

Everyone arrived at the Wagstaffe house around 4 o'clock. The dads grab a brew from the cooler and huddle around the barbeque, while the moms hang around the kitchen finishing hors d'oeuvres - guacamole, cous cous and salad. And the kids, even though our average age is 23 years, were still shunned to the outside where we eat separately from the parents. The kids' table has recently become more fun as our conversations have turned to what new summer jobs we've started and where the new high school grads are headed off to college next fall.

A new tradition, apparently, began this summer. As my father and Mr. Wagstaffe were picking up bags of ice for the night, they decided to buy enough $1 lottery scratchers for all thirty of us in attendance. The chances of winning are one in four, so I guess they figured the odds were in our favor. Unfortunately there were no jackpots. I was one of three that won another ticket and Michael won $2 (100% return on investment). Plus, the odds of returning to the gas station to redeem our prizes are lower than one in four.

Next, as we munched on desert, we took turns reading the United States Declaration of Independence. No, that's not a typo. A regular tradition at our Fourth of July party is the reading of the Declaration. Kids and adults alike read a few lines, cheering on for the words of our founding fathers and jeering the tyranny of the King. The night turned into raucous laughter amidst boisterous yelling. It's very apparent that no one is really listening to what's being spoken.

As the sun set we migrated to the basketball hoop behind the garage to play a few games of "Knock Out," or "Bump" as I've heard it called in the Pacific Northwest. It's the same game under a different name, like the difference between pop and soda. Three games later, when it became too dark to safely heave basketballs through the air (as if it's ever safe considering our group's collective lack of athleticism), Michael, Will and I headed up the fireworks show.

I don't know why they trust us with fireworks, seeing as we're the biggest pyromaniacs of the group. Nonetheless it was a good show - short and sweet. We used to have more extravagant showings, but for some reason our ideals have changed. We used to light six firecrackers at once, all a foot tall and standing in a circle. This year three small fireworks on a ladder was our grand finale. The highlight may have been Mrs. Schlender's friend, Payine, attempting to get the best firecracker action shot without using the zoom feature on his camera.

Once again, it was a successful Independence Day. Even better, I don't have school tomorrow, which means one more day of waking up late and relaxation. My aunt flies in from Portland tomorrow, too, so I can look forward to a taste of Oregon next week.