Continued from Part 3….

This Fourth of July was quite different for me.

Between the cautions of the pandemic, my greater awareness of what the 4th of July means to Americans with a different experience, and a speech given, I had a quieter celebration with a wider perspective. I learned more and became more thoughtful as a citizen.

We still had a fun at-home holiday. Much of it felt normal. Some of it felt very different. Some of it was new this year. We made the best of it, enjoying it all.

Hamilton

On July 3rd, we had a good time watching the movie, Hamilton, while eating ham(ilton) sandwiches and custom cookies. What a great musical for a variety of reasons! We’d seen it performed live in downtown Los Angeles two years ago. The movie gave us a much better view.

Food and Social Distant Fireworks

Over the weekend, we ate outdoors. My husband cooked great food on the grill several times. We had red, white, and blue strawberry shortcake for dessert while we watched PBS’s A Capitol Fourth and fireworks over Washington, D.C.

Afternoon Virtual Jazz

Earlier that afternoon, we listened to a virtual outdoor concert while seated in the backyard by the pool (see photo below). We relaxed to a few hours of great music using a wireless speaker and my phone. The Front Yard Groove Social Distancing Concert was expertly performed by talented young musicians, via Facebook live, from the front yard of a friend in Inglewood.

Anyway, the 4th of July, though bright and sunny outside, was clouded for me. I continue to kindly sort it all out. It is a tension to be managed. I was happy to celebrate the 4th of July, but it was a most unusual set of circumstances this year. It will continue to be one of my favorite holidays, but now with the hope to do better for all people who call the USA home.

This concludes this Reinventing the 4th series.

Stay hopeful, my friends.