Happy Independence Day! It's a pretty subdued environment in the newsroom today.  Many people have the day off, and for those of us who don't, we're counting the hours until our holiday weekend begins.  Today I was thinking back on other ways I've spent the 4th of July.  Growing up, my brother was always a big fan of fireworks, like most boys are.  We lived in the country, so we'd make the trip to the Yankton area, buy our fireworks and then shoot them off.  Craig loved bottle rockets, firecrackers, all of the things that really freaked me out.  I stuck with Black Snakes, the things that go "snap", and an occasional smoke bomb.  I'm not really sure when I became afraid of fireworks.  I just know that I was always thankful when ours were gone so I didn't have to worry about my brother blowing a finger off. 

We'd usually go to the little town of St. Helena, Nebraska to watch a real fireworks show.  I always liked it because there were lots of games for kids, along with pickle cards and bingo. People from all around the community would come for dinner, music and the fireworks.  Of course, the older kids who didn't like to play bingo anymore, would celebrate by shooting off bottle rockets in the parking lot.  I remember once the big show was over, we'd head for our cars, and I always felt like I was dodging bullets as the bottle rockets went off around me.  I'm sure it wasn't nearly as dramatic as I'm making it sound, but since I was already afraid, it was as if I could feel the rockets zinging past my head.

My very favorite memory of the 4th of July was how my dad would always "officially" usher in the 4th of July.  He would fire his shotgun into the air.  This might sound like a back-woods type of celebration, but my dad hardly ever shot that gun.  So when we'd hear it, it was always neat.  It was if the fun could officially begin.  I called my folks this morning to make sure dad fired the gun. He did.  It's good to know that tradition continues even though we aren't all there to celebrate Independence Day.  Have a safe and happy holiday.