JULY 4TH


When I was a kid, for some reason we always had ham and fresh green beans , new potatoes and pepper slaw for lunch on the fourth of July.  I guess that was the meal du jour because the beans were picked from the garden that morning and we probably had fresh sweet corn too that my daddy got from the field and threw right into the pot of boiling water that my mother had on the stove.  I remember that meal like it was yesterday.  No matter how many times I've tried to duplicate it, it never tasted the same as it did back then.

After lunch, my brother, sister and I used to get rolls of caps for cap guns and take them along with hammers up to the railroad arch at the end of our street and pound away at the caps.  They always made more noise if you hit them under the arch.  I can still remember the acrid smell the caps made as the hammer hit them.

In the evening we had what we called a "doggie roast".  There was a fireplace in our back yard with a metal grill on it and we cooked hamburgers on it and roasted the hot dogs on sticks.  And of course we had smores for dessert and probably had a freshly baked blueberry pie and ice cream too.  I'd say those were the good old days but you'd probably think that was cheesy.  But, what the heck, they were the good old days.  Life seemed so much simpler then.  

Kids went out to play from sun up to sun down.  And we really played.  Baseball, hide and go seek, jacks, roller skated on the side walks.  Sometimes for a special treat we would go to Hershey park where you didn't have to pay an arm and a leg just to get in.  You could walk around all day and go on a ride for a dime or a quarter.  Sometimes we would go to the swimming pool and the sunken gardens.

There were no cell phones, iphones, ipads or other gadgets.  People actually talked to each other - face to face.  No texting, no Face Booking.  Good old fashioned conversation.  What has happened?  Is this really progress?  I went to a family reunion a few weeks ago and the kids all had their own games - no one talked to each other.  Why bother going anywhere.  Might as well stay home in your room.  Further more, what in the world do people have to text about constantly?  Am I so out of touch that I have to even ask that question?

I think I grew up in the right time.  I've seen a lot of changes, not as many as my 97 year old aunt has, but I'm not too far behind her.  The fifties were great and as far as I'm concerned they really were "The Happy Days".  I'm glad I was a part of them and I'm glad I grew up in small town, PA.  They were the best of times.  I feel so lucky.

Happy Fourth of July!