Our summers consist of many traditional things- the campfire on the solstice, the berry picking, the weeks spent at camp, etc. A couple of my favorites are the hayride to our neighbor's fireworks on the 4th of July, and the annual cousin pictures. And it's always a rare treat when those cousins are involved with the hayride and fireworks.
One night before the 4th, my family went to watch fireworks in the school parking lot over the West Winfield park. This has kind of become a tradition now, too. Afterward, we flocked to the playground and claimed the swings. Daddy took our requests to play Light up the Sky and Life is Beautiful by The Afters through his phone. We listened in the dark and gazed at the stars, each swing seeming to take us higher and higher until we could shoot for the sky.
On the following Monday, our cousins came over.
Izzy and I walked up the road to the Birdseye Hill field. I took her to the stone wall and we schemed things like we usually do. ;)
At the end of the day, we got our annual cousin pictures. They came out so cute this year! It was tons of fun.
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And finally, on Friday- Independence Day- we had our hayride.
The cousins had not planned on attending this year, due to previous plans. But don't you love it when plans get changed?
One of my favorite memories is the year when Iz and I were 11, and the cousins lived in Arizona. We had gone without seeing them for 3 years. Finally, they were able to come that summer, and happened to be getting into New York on the very same day as the fireworks and hayride. We were told there was no way they would be able to come to them though, being so tired after the long trip.
I'll never forget playing out on the lawn as the dusk settled in, and just absently noticing as a car drove in. (There was tons of cars, this event is heavily attended by friends and neighbors.) Moments later, over the noise of the crowd and the music, I heard a voice yell, "Hannah?"
"...Isabel?!"
"HANNNAH!!"
And we were running across the grass and colliding.
Yup, that was one of the best nights ever.
Mia Walker always rides with me. ;)
Well, here we are six years later. And it's still so exciting for all of us when the cousins show up. There has always just been this energy, this complete absence of shyness, even when we go for years without seeing each other. We pick up where we left off, more excited and crazy than ever. I truly believe we were put on this earth already best friends, Izzy. XD
I sat on the playground bench in the dark that Friday evening, watching my six children take up all six of the swings, the sort of swings I played on in elementary days. You were all swinging and singing, and loving each other and life in that group of moments, and I was filling my sore heart with that sight and sound, tears dribbling down my cheeks, while I watched your daddy standing in front of you all, absorbed in his phone. That was before the real fireworks began. So I have been thinking about fireworks, off and on, metaphorically. Once, you were so afraid of all that booming and light, you hid your head in our shoulders and cried and shook uncontrollably. But they turn out to be just a big noise and some lights in the sky. A big show. Take them for what they are, be aware that something is being worked out, something is being released.
ReplyDeleteOh Hannah! I remember that 4th of July when I flew across the country by myself with three young kids, rode in a car from Albany, barely touched down at mom's long enough for a drink of water, and then summoning some glimmer of energy from somewhere managed to go to those fireworks, much against my personal preference. Lesson learned…when you have to push yourself beyond your limits of exhaustion and do something to please someone else, that's love. And it's worth it.
ReplyDeleteYou gave our wishes reality and made wonderful memories! Thank you. ^_^
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