4th Of July

This day usually means patriotism, celebrating our country, uniting in gratitude for the privileges we have as its citizens.  This year:  not so much.  Between the dang coronavirus, the protests, the upcoming elections and the fact that it's summer and hot, people are just plain different.  Not so united.  Not so cheerful.  Not so pleasant.  And in my opinion, generally feeling way more oppressed, ornery and selfish. 

The other morning in the rain.

Just fer instance:  on our walk the other morning we went past a driveway that had the remnants of the previous night's fireworks still left on the pavement.  Days before it was legal, in a place where it is never legal and where youngsters were given a front-row seat to their adult role-models being scofflaws.  Yes, I'm judging.  It's wrong for me to judge.  My judgement of them doesn't excuse or validate their behavior.  If I'm caught in a fire as a result of someone's blatant law-breaking, it affects me. 

And this has been a strange week in a strange season of a strange year.  I'm reminding myself nearly every hour what day it is.  They're all the same in one way or another.  I've received texts from people who have traveled 2,000+ miles to visit family - not just because they want to see family but also because they're weary of being in the same place with so many fears and constraints. I keep trying to figure out somewhere we could go that would be safe and not too risky.  The grocery store just isn't quite what I need.  At the same time, I'm not ready to go out among the crowds at all the parks, lakes and reservoirs with truly no distancing or carefulness.  The spike in virus cases after Memorial Day was alarming.  It hasn't decreased and based on what I'm seeing in the news, it will continue to be a problem with everyone out and about not caring who is perhaps asymptomatic but still partying. 

Different morning, pretty view.

Or maybe it's just me.  Maybe I'm overly cautious, overly obedient, overly careful about wanting to take care of others as much as I'd hope they'd want to take care of me. 

In any event, we're staying home today.  Again.  And staying home tomorrow.  Again. Trying to do our part to stay healthy and by extension not a burden anywhere.

We did, though, do a drivethru at Chick-Fil-A for one of their seasonal peach shakes.  Both of us had our own small one.  Both of us suffered some gastric distress.  The shake was the only thing we ate that was different from our usual.  So we figure that's the culprit.  Don't think we'll be having another one any time soon.

And we did go for haircuts yesterday morning early.  Al is very careful in his business / salon.  We're always early in the day.  Afterward we stopped at WalMart and Home Depot to pick up a couple things we need and I was so happy to be able to find wipes  - both for hands (I love the Wet Ones - I'm not a fan of hand sanitizer - so dislike the way it smells and feels.  And with a Wet One, I can also wipe down door handles and steering wheels, etc.)  and surfaces.  Not to mention that those stores didn't seem as busy early in the day as they often / usually are later on.

So I'll try to be grateful today for the usual things we're grateful for on the 4th of July.  And try to ignore those who seem to be doing their best to ruin things for everyone else. I'll work on enjoying the air conditioning, the meal that I won't have to cook (yay for hamburgers on the grill) and the root beer / soda floats we'll have on the patio when dinner is over.  I'll try to find forgiveness for others that will bring peace to my soul.  I want that peace.