Fourth of July Friday Five

Sally, a Revgal and one of the across the pond gals has come up with a good Fourth of July play. I too have been in another country on their independence day and have found it fun to celebrate their day. I thank Sally for stepping out of her “Brit” to offer us such a fun set of questions. I think she caught the spirit of the day quite well. At least she doesn’t have to eat hot dogs for the occasion!

Sally says: “I have to admit that I am chuckling to myself a little; how strange it seems for me a Brit to be posting the Friday Five on 4th July! I realise that most of our revgals will be celebrating in some way today, but I hope that you can make a little room for Friday Five! From my short stay in Texas my memories of the celebrations are of fireworks and picnics, one year we went in to central Houston to watch the fireworks and hear the Symphony Orchestra play, we were welcomed and included, and that meant a lot!

So lets have a bit of fun:”

1. Barbeque's or picnics ( or are they essentially the same thing?)
First of all, Barbeques are picnics; venues outside at which Barbeque, the food group, is served. Barbeque is not just a venue at which food is cooked on a grill. It has to be the smoked meat with appropriate rubs or sauces. The barbequed meat is what makes it a Barbeque. If the food is merely grilled and not smoked or sauced it just AIN’T a Barbeque, it’s a Grill.
Picnics are meals held out of doors usually not in one’s own backyard. They can be a sandwich or something more elegant. When we were in France and Spain we picnicked all over, stopping at the local market buying cheese, a bottle of wine, and some prepared foods and lunched magnificently seeing the sights of Europe. It was much better than stopping for a full meal somewhere.

2. The park/ the lake/ the beach or staying at home simply
being?
I have a bit of a rant today. I was wakened this morning—one of the few I really get to sleep in --by the yard men coming to mow the lawn. The sounds of mowers, blowers, and edgers are part of my usual Friday sounds, and I live with them. But do I have to listen to that on the Fourth of July??? I thought it was a National holiday! Jeeesh!

I am staying home and if it doesn’t rain, we are going to GRILL some steaks on the charcoal grill and enjoy reading and lazing around for the day.

3. Fireworks- love 'em or hate 'em?

I like fireworks. I do remember when I was still playing French horn professionally and had to play in our little symphony at the fireworks display every year. It is hard to play Sousa marches when there are explosions going on above you.

The fireworks in our little city are set off not far from where we live, so I guess we will go out on the lawn to watch them tonight.

4. Parades- have you ever taken part- share a memory...
Growing up, the parade I remember the most was not on the Fourth of July but for the Fat Stock Show in February. Because Fourth of July came in summer and school was out, the band never marched in the Fourth of July parade. But at my grandmother’s house in a small Mid-west town, the parade was of kids with bicycles decorated with crepe paper, ”floats” on the back of a farmer’s wagon and the VFW vets marching in their old uniforms that no longer fit. It had a lot of the Norman Rockwell aura about them.


5. Time for a musical interlude- if you could sum up holidays in a piece of music what would it be?
That’s easy! Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” and most particularly the piccolo solo in the last part of that march. But there are other pieces that make the red, white and blue of my blood to rise: “Lincoln Portrait”, Copeland’s “Rodeo”, Charles Ive’s “Variations on America.”

Just to show how much has changed musically, it is interesting how much Charles Ives has come into the realm of the ordinary just since my youth. He was considered very avant guard when I was in college. Now, no one bats an eyelash at his dissonance today.