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Happy 4th of July!!! The holiday for family barbeques and thanking God for the country we live in.
Last week, we traveled to the Oklahoma City area to deliver my youngest son to the Air Traffic Control Training Center they have there. Peter will be training to be an in-route ATC for the next three months. It felt a bit like we were dropping him off at college, even though he’s already graduated with a degree. However, this is the first of our kiddos to live out of state. And when he finishes his training, he will likely be assigned somewhere even farther away. I’m excited for him, but I have to admit to being sad that he will no longer be within easy hugging distance.
One of the things that made me more comfortable about leaving Peter in Oklahoma was the fact that he would be staying in Mustang, OK which just so happens to be where one of my best writing buddies lives. Regina Jennings! Being a mom herself, Regina was quick to volunteer to be on-call should Peter need anything while he was there. Plus, she invited us over to her house for dinner the night we arrived. Regina is just the best! We laughed, and talked, and got caught up with each other. It was lovely!
As dinner was coming to a close, Regina informed us of the Mustang tradition centered on the 4th of July holiday. Apparently, it is NOT illegal for people to shoot off fireworks inside the city limits of Mustang. So hundreds of people from the Oklahoma City area swarm the small suburb to shoot off their own fireworks. They can be shot in parks, in neighborhoods, on the street. She told me that on the 4th, the smoke can be so thick from the fireworks, it can be hard to see. Crazy!
After taking a short vacation to Branson (which I’ll be sharing about in my next post), we came back through Mustang last Saturday. The fireworks had already started! People sat outside in lawn chairs watching for whatever show they might spy. I can only imagine what it must be like today. I’ll be praying nothing catches fire near Peter’s house!
How are you celebrating the 4th of July?
Do you enjoy setting off your own fireworks?
Do you attend professional firework shows?
Do you stay inside and watch them on TV?
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Summer Bookmark Giveaway!
As a bonus, I’d like to let you know about a fun giveaway going on this month. Erica Vetsch has organized a bookish swag giveaway for anyone who sends her a self-addressed stamped envelope. All of the authors whose books are pictured below have bookmarks included. (Mine is actually a recipe card.)
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To see all the details about how to participate, visit Erica’s Facebook post. Have fun!
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Happy 4th!
Thanks, Betty. 🙂 To you, too!
How fun to get to catch up with Regina! And the good thing about kids who live out of state is you have an excuse to travel. Sometimes we think we see our out-of-state kid more often because we must be intentional!
We can see the city fireworks from our backyard, so we are having people over to eat and watch with us.
Excellent point about the travel aspect, D’Ann. 🙂 Our city did a fireworks show last night in a new location this year, one that just happened to be visible from my front yard! I was so excited to enjoy the show from home. No headache trying to leave afterward. Just open the front door and ta-da! 🙂 Hope you have a lovely time watching your fireworks tonight.
Sounds like a fun 4th celebration!
Apparently, a lot of people enjoy it. Of course, there are always a handful of people who make poor choices too. Regina says the hospital stays full and the fire department is always busy. Praying for a disaster-free day for them!
Regina is WONDERFUL!! I’m so glad you two were able to spend time together and that your son is training in her town. 🙂
It was such a blessing to see her again! We had a lovely time catching up. Lots of laughter in her living room that night. 🙂
Karen, I’m ready for another novella collection from you and Regina. You could include some of the authors on this blog too. I’m sure D’Ann Mateer and Tamera Alexander would be happy to contribute to a new historical collection! I always enjoyed the ones from Bethany House that you two were a part of.
Yes! Regina and I partnered on a bunch of novella collections. I always loved working with her. She’s not actively writing at the moment, but I’ve told her that if she ever wants to ease back in, that I would jump at the chance to do another collection with her.
Our little town allows fireworks to be set off within the city limits, also. (Except bottle rockets) It’s very loud around here for several days! My hubby & the kiddos used to set off fireworks in the street of our neighborhood when they were younger, but I usually stayed inside to stay out of the smoke.
We usually go see one or two fireworks shows in the area each year. Neosho does them the weekend before, so we actually watched them from our car last weekend — we were just getting home from SDC after we went to the book-signing. 😀 Our favorite fireworks celebration is in SW City, Missouri, on July 3 every year. They have two gospel groups & have a free concert, they sell smoked chicken dinners done right there in the park, they have free watermelon & concession stands, & the fireworks are set to music & are the best in the area!! We go there most every year, but didn’t make it this year because it was chuch night. My dream is to someday see a huge fireworks show over New York Harbor or another body of water somewhere, or to see them in DC on the Washington Monument lawn! That would be awesome!!! 🙂 ps… When we lived in WV, we went to DC the day after the 4th one time. The Washington Monument lawn was SO COVERED with trash that you could not have put your hand down ANYwhere without touching trash! That was sad to see. 🙁
Those events in Missouri sound wonderful, Lori! Good, wholesome entertainment. The best kind! And I agree that seeing fireworks over water would be beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like that in person, either. I’ve seen some on TV, but that’s not the same as being there. So glad we got to meet up last weekend, Lori!