Independence Day has always been my second favorite holiday (behind Thanksgiving). I love it, being outdoors, grilling out, attending community festivities – always fun stuff. However, I’m not a big fan of fireworks. I enjoy setting my own off at home. But, I do not so much enjoy going to firework shows. For two reasons – 1. I tend to think you’ve seen one fireworks show, you’ve seen them all. I don’t know how many times I’ve been to see professional fireworks, and they’re cool, don’g get me wrong, but they pretty much seem the same as every other fireworks show I’ve attended and 2. It seems impossible to attend a fireworks show without sitting in traffic for two hours afterwards. Seriously. I would be much more likely to attend fireworks if it didn’t mean I was going to have to deal with giant crowds trying to exit the premise all at once. You guys have fun – but I’ll fly my American flag outside the house, drink my own beer, grill my own dinner, set off a few fireworks – and stay home. Which was pretty much the case this year. We attended a local parade earlier in the day, which was fun, but then headed home and grilled flank steak, made baked potatoes, had a few cold beers and set off a few fireworks I picked up. It was easy, relaxing, everyone seemed happy, and best of all, I didn’t have to go anywhere!

Happy Independence Day – thank you to all that have served, currently serve or will serve this great country we get to call home!