4th of July

[Murfreesboro]

Glad to hear your expanded business is booming!

[Murfreesboro]

Another happy Fourth of July wish for my friends here at Halloween.biz. Hope all of you enjoy your evening!

[Andybev01]

It was AWESOME, the very definition of ' Cannons to the left of me, cannons to the right of me!', and I didn't have to leave home.

I could hear and somewhat see, an official firework display from over the hill in front of my apartment, at the local Speedway.

But the real show was from all of the neighborhoods around me and downtown, which were of course unauthorized..

Here Is about a minute and a half edit of some of the fireworks that I could capture with my phone.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/jz19egf2 ... 88jjd&dl=0

[Murfreesboro]

Oh, you did have a nice view! I discovered I was able to view the civic fireworks from the end of my street almost as well as if I'd driven to a nearby shopping center, so I watched on foot and met some neighbors who were doing the same thing.

My husband and I have decided that one day or even weekend isn't enough celebration for us, so we have declared July "Indeoendence Month" and are celebrating with all kinds of movies, tv shows, and books we have stacked up around here.

[Andybev01]

I leave flags out all summer beginning on memorial day.

It just makes it seem more 'summer-y'.

[Murfreesboro]

I agree, red white and blue from Memorial Day through Labor Day!

[Andybev01]

And out again for Thanksgiving weekend, of course.

I also have a couple of patriotic Christmas ornaments. Like the victorians had.

[Murfreesboro]

Oh, Interesting. I'd like to see them when it's convenient. I don't think I have any patriotic Christmas ornaments. I have one Confederate flag on my tree because I'm Southern, but most people wouldn't count that. I used to have a Revolutionary War drummer boy when I was a kid, but all those ornaments got stolen when my mother died.

Of course, I tend to collect ornaments when I'm on vacation, so I do have quite a few from various far-flung (to me) parts of the US. I guess that's an American celebration of sorts.

I have one small metallic one I really love that I bought when I lived in Texas. It's of an armadillo decorating a Saguaro (sp?) cactus like a Christmas tree. Alas, something about it broke, so I need to get it mended before I can hang it again.

[Andybev01]

Well who in the heck would steal christmas ornaments?!

[Murfreesboro]

Oh, that's a sad tale. When my mother died, I trusted a woman I'd known slightly in high school to house sit for me. The house was in Mississippi, and I was moving from Virginia to Tennessee. My mother actually died in Arkansas, her original home, and was buried there. Keep in mind I'm an only child, and my father had died when I was 7. So, it was an impossibly complicated time for me. I had two children then. One was 5 and the other was about 18 months.

Anyway, this woman turned out to be a con artist, well known to the police in Jackson. She stole everything in that house, furniture, appliances, Christmas ornaments, my old toys (including a very extensive collection of 1960s Barbie stuff, worth thousands of dollars now). She even stripped the crystals off the dining room chandelier.

When I discovered the theft it was too late to recover anything, but the woman herself ended up in federal prison. She had forged a check from some other woman with whom she was living as a companion, and the bank cameras showed the proof. The police officer told me, "Oh, I've been after her for years, and I've got her now." I asked him how much time she'd serve, and he told me she'd be sentenced to 15 years but realistically would serve five. I decided it was enough, and I let it go.

When I got back to Tennessee I cried for about five minutes by the clock, then decided that was enough, too. People lose more than possessions as they move through life. And, truthfully, I drown in things as it is.