Fourth Of July

The Fourth of July is a small town holiday. As we drove into Sebastopol to a barbecue the downtown streets were lined with flags. The parade had finished, the fireworks hadn't started yet and it was time for barbecues. You could almost see the cloud of aromatic smoke hovering over the town.
We sat outside, sipped wine and beer and got reacquainted with people we hadn't seen since the same gathering last year. Tables groaned with appetizers and salads, and the barbecue was warming up to receive whatever we brought with us to put on it…there was chicken, pork tenderloin, steak and hot dogs with all the fixin's. The exception seemed to be  hamburgers.

There were tables decorated with all kinds of red, white and blue memorabilia. Every year, there are more people sitting down at the tables and fewer people circulating. Back braces, a wrist brace, canes and one walker were in evidence. The more able bodied among us circulated with plates of food, removing the empty ones and replacing them with clean ones. Interesting bits and pieces of conversation drifted by as people caught up once again. I met a man who said his father had worked at the Tiburon Net Depot during World War II where my father commanded a net tender. He said he had never heard of anyone who worked there and seemed quite pleased to make the connection. It turns out he and his wife live not far from us in Santa Rosa.

When everyone was too full to move, the desserts came out. I've included a photo of the dessert table in the extra photos. We managed a chocolate/ peanut butter/Kahlua cupcake before staggering out to our car parked so close to the barn in the narrow lane that OilMan had to climb over the gear shift from the passenger side.

As we drove out of town, the Boy Scouts (in uniform) were taking down the flags lining the streets, and I managed a window shot of a house that I imagine has stood relatively unchanged since not long after the Declaration of Independence. It has a charming small town feel…sorry I waited a moment too long to snap the shot.

When it is dark there will be fireworks at the Santa Rosa fairgrounds which we will be able to see from our house.