Happy Fourth of July

This evening a traditional New England Fourth of July supper: cheeseburgers (for our son who doesn't like salmon), salmon with dill sauce (thanks, Henry!), peas and new potatoes (just dug at our Mennonite friends Anna and Melvin's farm). We kept it simple this year and more health-conscious but we are already planning a blow-out barbecue (including my special ribs, potato salad and brownies, among many other tasty things) on our knob for 2010 (bring your own lawn chair).

Henry's Dill Sauce

• A few dollops mayo
(of course we use Hellmann's)
• Fresh or dried dill to taste (lots of green bits)

Stir and refrigerate. Glob onto salmon, served warm or cold.



We just returned from fireworks on our knob, our first Fourth of July in Kentucky, a combined effort with our neighbors with local purchases and "bootleg" ammo from over the border in Tennessee. I was impressed, to be honest, with what was shot off as well as other fireworks we could see on adjacent hills on the ridge. Our neighbor's son set up a firing table and their gathering below was able to look up to the knob and watch the goings-on. We were right in the midst of it. The images taken here, apart from the horizon displays, were taken literally over my head on top of the knob.



The night sky was illuminated all around us by distant fireworks displays.



We had our show between rain storms. The best part, however, was watching the countless fireworks displays all around us (and we can see 365 degrees on the top of the knob). In the distance along the horizon, we lost track of counting the displays over Lake Cumberland to the south, towards Berea and London to the east, many to the north and to the west. I couldn't possibly count them all. Their distant rumbling sounded like cannon blasts and I said to my husband, "I feel like I'm hearing and seeing distant battles." I thought of the townspeople hearing the Battle of Bunker Hill being fought seventy miles away in Boston as they raised the first timbers for the frame of the Jaffrey Meetinghouse in June of 1775, just two years after forming a town in the New England wilderness that would become the state of New Hampshire thirteen years later. I thought of the embittered Civil War fought in the North and the South, some battles not far from us in Kentucky. I thought of what it might have felt like for the soldiers in World War I and II to be huddled in the trenches or invading foreign beaches. I thought of the conflicts overseas right now and wonder if they will ever end.



I have traveled near and far and am forever grateful to live in this glorious country: to have the hard-earned freedoms that we have and the rights and privileges to go along with them. I am grateful for those who defend our freedoms but also saddened by those who feel we must always be vigilant warriors, sometimes in places where we are not wanted and can not possibly be of service. I am glad to now be in a country that will hopefully better lead by example instead of imposing its might and will on others. And I am glad I can write this without fear of death.



And then, amidst the pageantry of light, sound and raindrops, I thought of one of my favorite bands, Talking Heads (how could I help myself?), and some of the lyrics from "Life During Wartime" (still great to dance to thirty! years later and even more liberating to celebrate the lyrics now that the past eight years are through, as many were hauntingly prophetic):



Life During Wartime

Heard of a van that is loaded with weapons
packed up and ready to go
Heard of some grave sites, out by the highway
a place where nobody knows
The sound of gunfire, off in the distance
I'm getting used to it now
Lived in a brownstone, I lived in the ghetto
I've lived all over this town

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
this ain't no fooling around
No time for dancing, or lovey dovey
I ain't got time for that now

Transmit the message, to the receiver
hope for an answer some day
I got three passports, couple of visas
don't even know my real name
High on a hillside, trucks are loading
everything's ready to roll
I sleep in the daytime, I work in the night time
I might not ever get home

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
this ain't no fooling around
This ain't no Mudd Club, or C. B. G. B.
I ain't got time for that now

Heard about Houston? Heard about Detroit?
Heard about Pittsburgh, PA?
You oughta know not to stand by the window
somebody see you up there
I got some groceries, some peanut butter
to last a couple of days
But I ain't got no speakers
ain't got no headphones
ain't got no records to play

Why stay in college? Why go to night school?
Gonna be different this time
Can't write a letter, I can't send a postcard
I can't write nothing at all
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
this ain't no fooling around
I'd love you hold you, I'd like to kiss you
but I ain't got no time for that now
Trouble in transit, got through the roadblock
we blended in with the crowd
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines
I know that ain't allowed
We dress like students, we dress like housewives
or in a suit and a tie
I changed my hairstyle so many times now
don't know what I look like!
You make me shiver, I feel so tender
we make a pretty good team
Don't get exhausted, I'll do some driving
you ought to get you some sleep
Burned all my notebooks, what good are notebooks?
They won't help me survive

Margaret and Helen

Once in awhile I come across a blog that just speaks to me. Today, Margaret and Helen came into my in-box via a friend who just knew I would love this blog. She was right. These two women have been friends for over 60 years and aren't afraid to speak their minds. Recently they have had daily blogs about politics and politicians. Whatever your politics, they have some words of wisdom for all of us and, one day, I hope I am as feisty and reflective as they are.

I am lucky to have a variety of great girlfriends--three since childhood (one since the crib, whom I hope to see next week for the first time in 7 years! -- one since kindergarten and one since middle school --so that's 46, 41 and 32 years respectively. Beth and Robin and Di, we're gaining fast on Margaret and Helen!), another for almost 20 years and the rest in the past decade or so, especially the past five years. I am very blessed. Now these are all women I count as really great sister-like girlfriends. I am also lucky to have some good college friends--and others--with whom I'm back in touch again or have remained in touch, thanks to the internet and wonders of cyberspace. Margaret and Helen, here we come!

Tonight, they posted about cinnamon rolls, a tribute to Grandmothers everywhere (with a request for readers' own grandmother memories). How very sad that Obama's grandmother passed at this time and was not able to live to see the day when her grandson would become the first African-American president of the United States of America! It is clear to see what an influence this woman was in Barack Obama's life, as so many of us are fortunate to have had in our own grandmothers.

I think Margaret and Helen would approve of this message below, from MoveOn, also just received in my in-box this afternoon. It too, mentions grandchildren and the legacy we will bring them on tomorrow's election day. Kentucky is likely not going to be a Blue state any time soon but this message gives us all pause and reason to VOTE, wherever we are. My daughter, now 20, is happy to be able to vote in her first presidential election tomorrow. I am happy to vote, period, and have never held this right so dearly as I am this year. [But oh how I am looking forward to the end of this campaign--to returning to "normal" and not being so anxious about everything. I pray that this nation can heal from the divisiveness and move forward, together, united again.]

Dear MoveOn member,

You don't live in Ohio. You don't live in Florida. The chance is pretty small that Kentucky will decide the presidential election. So: Why vote?

Here's why. This list is important—so please read it, and then pass it along:

The Top 5 Reasons To Vote In Kentucky
Or: Why It Still Means A Thing Even If It Ain't Got That Swing
Big margin = big mandate. The popular vote doesn't put anyone in the White House, but it affects what presidents can do when they get there. Want Obama to be able to actually do the stuff he's been talking about? Pass universal health care? End the war? Then we need a landslide.

The other things on the ballot matter! For example: Congress. Without more support in the House and Senate, Obama will have a hard time getting progressive laws passed. Plus, there are other important local races and ballot questions in some places.

If you don't vote, everyone can find out. Voting records are public. (Not who you voted for, just whether you voted.) Pretty soon, finding out whether you voted could be as easy as Googling you.

Help make history. You could cast one of the votes that elect the first African-American president. If we win, we'll tell our grandchildren about this election, and they'll tell their grandchildren. Do you really want to have to explain to your great-great-grandchildren that you were just too busy to vote in the most important election in your lifetime?

People died so you'd have the right to vote. Self-government—voting to choose our own leaders—is the original American dream. We are heir to a centuries-long struggle for freedom: the American revolution, and the battles to extend the franchise to those without property, to women, to people of color, and to young people. This year, many will still be denied their right to vote. For those of us who have that right, it's precious. If we waste it, we dishonor those who fought for it and those who fight still.

Live your values. Love your country. Vote.

Click here for information about where to vote, what to bring, and when polls close:

www.VoteforChange.com