Showing posts with label 4th of July. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 4th of July. Show all posts

Friday, July 2, 2010

THE BAND GIVES A PRIVATE PERFORMANCE AND MRS. BIRD MARCHES TOO

Every year the Timpview High School band marches around our neighborhood in preparation for the 4th of July parade. This is the woman who makes sure this happens. She emails the band teacher and tells him how we are looking forward to their pre-4th of July practice parade. Thank you, CindyThe shadows on the mountains were still long from the morning sun. The neighbor's geranium was probably happy to get those first rays. The only thing better than a private neighborhood band parade would be for them to be wearing their uniforms. We will have to brave the real parade heat/crowds/sometimes rain/noise/confusion for that.

The 4th of July, there isn't another holiday like it!

Here comes the band. The band marched around "the circle" twice. Here is the neighborhood gang, waiting for them to come around again. Every year our neighbors have a grandchild just this size. How do they manage it? Here he is following the band. He's patriotic that way.And I heard from Mrs. Bird. As she was getting dressed--she only had her pajama bottoms on--when the patriotic mood got to her too. She started marching down the hall. Now, Mrs. Bird was a drum majorette in her high school years so she has skills--she is also well endowed and gravity seems to have given her a reprieve. The feather duster was tossed in the air and caught just as her husband came in the house.

The 4th of July has many perks. The parade, celebrations, the Art festival downtown, vendors selling ethnic foods of all kinds, the hot air balloons that fill Fox Field and then the sky, family picnics and barbecues, the Stadium of Fire, Fireworks, and private marching expeditions for one.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

THE BALLOON COMPETITION AT PROVO'S FREEDOM FESTIVAL

The beginning of a balloon. Flat as roadkill. Then the fan is turned on and when the balloon is half full they turn on the burners. In about fifteen minutes it can be airborne.
This is in honor of my Canadian friends. The maple leaf is the wrong color, but still.
Sailing off into the sunrise. There were about nineteen balloons in the competition. They took off to the south, climbed in altitude and then the air currents took them north. They then went lower and the air currents brought them back over the field, They dropped a weighted marker to see who could come closest to the target.

This was my favorite part. Maybe because it was chilly this morning and if you stood close to the balloon you were warmed. The power of the burn and then the lift off were exciting.
This competition has been a Provo event for 25 years and this is the first time we have gone. Shame on us. It was well worth getting up at 5:30 for.

Next year I want the grandchildren to go.

And all my friends.

And the neighbors.

And you.

Happy 4th of July to the country I love.