Old Fashioned Fourth

There's no parade in my tiny community up here in the White Mountains but just a few miles down the road, the little township of Alpine celebrated in style. Yesterday, the third,  was parade day - not sure why.
On a crystal clear morning with temperatures around 72F, my house-guests and I threw folding chairs into the back of the car and headed into Alpine thirty minutes before start time. Our plan was to get a cup of coffee and muffins at Bush Valley Cafe and then stake out a place along the parade route.

Alpine was jumping! A veritable traffic jam at the T junction. We parked behind the cafe, set our chairs out under the shade of a leafed-out aspen tree and coffee in -hand joined in the banter around us as we waited for the parade to begin.

It was short and sweet! Locals, summer visitors, the Forest Service and Fire department - two services vital to this high mountain area where the fire season has already taken its toll - two guys on mountain bikes, a rag-tag group of little girls desperately trying to follow their leader in a stepping routine. The participants threw candy to the kids along side the road and we cheered. 

Couldn't help but get nostalgic for simpler times in life.

Today a few of us have invited neighbors in the valley to bring something for the BBQ and a covered dish to share - we're hosting a picnic. This is the pace of life I go for.

Happy Fourth to you all, native born Americans, immigrants of all colors - let's celebrate the diversity and generosity of this country and put aside those issues that divide.