A Texas 4th of July

The 4th of July (American Indepence Day for my Canadian friends!) has always been one of my favorite holidays and this year has been no exception. For starters, I got a week of vacation off from my job so I get to spend from Saturday to the following Sunday with my family in Texas which is really important to me because I haven't gotten to spend much time with them lately. Early Saturday morning I began the 9 hour trek from my home in Arkansas to see my sisters in Texas. We met up in the town where I graduated high school (Dad and S have since moved) and spent Saturday and Sunday engaging in all the typical July 4th activities. My favorite tradition for July 4th is the rodeo. Every year the  VFW puts on a big professional rodeo in our small town. I convinced H and S to go with me and we met one of S's guy friends there (probably more on that later). There's just nothing about the rodeo I don't love. The atmosphere of Texans is just amazing, it's like we've all known each other for life, even though we've never even met. Everyone is laughing, whooping and hollering, and just having an awesome time watching the cowboys ply their trade. My favorite is the bulldogging, which is where the cowboy has to chase down a calf and then jump off his horse and pin it to the ground. This year was even more amusing because it had rained the day before. The poor cowboys were so covered in mud, all you could see was the whites of their eyes by the time they got done. Another rodeo tradition of mine is cotton candy. I just love the sticky sugarness of it. There's just something special about sitting on a fence watching the rodeo and eating cotton candy; it makes me feel like I'm 10  years old again watching it with my great-granddad. On Sunday morning I got to play trumpet in an Independence Day celebration with my old community band. There's just something about hundreds of people gathering to celebrate our freedom that just gets me inside. We can set aside our differences for a day, and just celebrate our blessings as Americans. Got to do lunch Sunday with some good friends, who I hardly ever get to see, but am lucky enough to stay in touch with via the awesomeness of Facebook. It's great to get to hug on folks I haven't seen in six months, and share what's going on in my life and hear how things are going in theirs. Sunday afternoon was spent with H, lounging and catching up on all the talking we haven't been able to do. That evening the community band played again at the city 4th celebration, and then we got to watch a fireworks show. I am a bit of a head case when it comes to fireworks. I can only really enjoy them when their being set off by a professional, due to an incident with H when we were both younger.  As long as someone else is shooting them off, I just stand there with a goofy grin on my face wishing they would never end. The beauty of it all is fantastic. H got some great pictures of the fireworks, but I was too busy just reveling in them to get my camera out. Yesterday, which I consider part of the 4th of July holiday weekend since Dad had off work, we drove down to Dad and S's new house which I hadn't ever been to. Then we all jumped in the pool and the four of us had such a great time together. It's been a long time since all four of us were together, and not trying to kill each other as families often do. We swam in the pool, had a typical  Texan meal of chalupas and burritos, and then had the first family game night in my memory. And nobody cheated or yelled! It was absolutely fantastic. Long post to say that I had an awesome 4th of July weekend, and a good start to my vacation. Now for the obligatory note on America. I may not always agree with my country's decisions or politics, and in fact I frequently don't, but she's still my country and I am proud to live here and even prouder to be a Texan. My heart is fuller, my step is lighter, my soul is overflowing, and no matter where I reside, Texas will always have my heart.