Firecracker

Hello kittens –

We all know that tomorrow is the 4th and while I’ve never been one to wrap myself in a flag and feel all patriotic, I can totally get behind a random day off mid-week, and I LOVE a good fireworks display.

But see, today and tomorrow, I am participating in classicly American activities. And again, while my heart doesn’t beat with pride for country (frankly, I’d rather go back to France and celebrate Bastille Day), I am still excited. See, due to my dad’s job, I grew up overseas. My sisters and I missed out on all things classically American. You can imagine there wasn’t a whole lot of Trick-or-Treating in Jakarta, for example. And sure, we did our best and still would get dressed up and have parades at our school, but it’s still just different.

And so, there are times when I love living in our very American neighborhood because it’s fun to see and do all the things that I wondered about as a kid. Which brings me to tonight and tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the annual July 4th parade in my ‘hood. Now, don’t get all excited, it will last about 10 minutes and consist of little kids walking down the street. But see – my little kid will be a part of it and my neighbor and I are getting together tonight for baby happy hour (yes!!) and we will decorate her daughter’s red wagon with things like pinwheels and little American flags. This is just another example of me feeling like a foreigner, all excited to participate in something these crazy Americans do.

Having baby happy hour – now that I know how to do. But decorating a red wagon with all things patriotic and then pulling my daughter and her friend through a July 4th parade – totally new and fun. Honestly. Can’t wait!

Of course, the bratty side of me wants to bring along anti-Bush signs or maybe a French flag, just to stir things up, but I won’t do that. I won’t go serving Freedom Fries later in the day but I’ll play along.

And so, I wish you all a Happy July 4th. More from me later in the week.