fourth of july

Traditions are important and comforting especially to a young ex-patriot living abroad. Janet's daughter now lives in England which lost the Colonial War to the U.S. and to which we as a nation celebrate the occasion of our national birth. This usually really means hot dogs and burgers and beers and the beach, etc. In England, this means nothing, but she wanted to coax as many of her new family to help us enjoy this American tradition.

We had it at the Rifleman, a proper British pub. We made our host family wear t-shirts emblazoned with American flags and we grilled hot dogs that came out of a jar and little burgers too small for the buns. We ate chips and chocolates and apple pies. We drank a lot of beer and hard cider and the party was well attended by family and friends alike. Janet's daughter has a great group of friends and family here in Nantwich and she is fortunate, but sometimes such traditions are hard to give up. We were happy to oblige.

Part of the day included British things though. Janet and I took a break from the drinking to watch the owner of the Rifleman, Fred, play Lawn Bowling in the park just across the street. We also played darts and later dominoes with Colin our host. He is the captain of his Red Cow Pub dominoes team, but he let me beat him in a game of threes and fives. Later that evening, when the night finally came we flew several hot air chinese laterns. The kids gathered around as we assembled and lighted the burners and cheered and gasped as they slowly ascended solemnly one by one into the dark sky. It was our last night in Nantwich and it was hard to say good-bye to all the friends and family and we lingered in embraces and uttered endearments of happy times and travels before we too slipped away into the night and quietly home.