Who ever heard of being cold in July?

Everyone talks about their Fourth of July traditions, so I thought I’d hop on the bandwagon. Each year, my family and I like to travel to the wonderful land of the north, to my grandparents’ cabin in Merrifield, Minnesota. Their lake association has a tradition of putting together a boat parade every Fourth of July. 

For the past I don’t know how many years, we've decorated our family’s pontoon to the best of our ability, tying pinwheels and plastic streamers to it to show our patriotic pride. Every boat “dresses up”: It’s fun to see how much people care. 

This year, it was cold and rainy. There were only seven other boats circling the lake instead of the usual fifteen or so. My favorite participant was the fishing boat with the giant flagpole and flag standing near the front, while the proud and happy owner sat next to it, clearly pleased with how his entry turned out.

Since their boat leads the parade, my grandparents chugged their pontoon along slowly, driving past empty docks where spectators usually wave and where we usually toss children our fun trinkets of rubber duckies and footballs. It’s so fun to see their faces light up. But of course, this year there were only a few children braving the cool temperatures.

The boat parade is in the afternoon, so we spent the morning at a nearby park playing pickleball, one of my favorite sports. My grandparents taught me to play, but now when I’m in school, I play intramural pickleball doubles with my best friend. Not to brag, but I was the best player in my family until my sister started tennis, and now we’re pretty matched in skill level. Don’t tell her that though.

We were playing some games of pickleball the night before and I won a game: Then she dominated me in the next one. I asked her what had changed and she said all she did was tell herself that she could actually do it. And she did. Wise words from Lizzie Roessler we should all take to heart - “you can do it.”

But of course, the most popular part of the Fourth of July is the fireworks, not pickleball (although I am all for changing that). While I enjoy fireworks, we as a family don't really enjoy them because they upset the dogs. Maybe someday we’ll have dogs that don’t shake so violently it seems they're about to quiver all of their fur off. We’ve tried the thundershirts and the blasting of the television volume, but nothing really seems to work. They just have to get through the night.  

But I feel like some of us have lost sight of the true meaning of the Fourth of July. I know I have. Instead of appreciating my freedom and liberties that I take for granted every day, I look forward to going swimming and spending time on the lake. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe everyone else is enjoying their freedoms and appreciating the good ol’ U.S. of A. I do hope so. 

My Determination: “Yeah, life is a carousel. A great big crazy ball of pure living, breathing joy and delight. You gotta get one.” - Ferris Bueller, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off