Just Another Fourth of July
As the Fourth of July grows closer, I just can’t get excited about it. To my way of thinking, it simply isn’t what it used to be. True, communities continue to observe the holiday with various festivities, politicians persist in giving speeches, and fireworks are still set off after dark. But something is missing.
After careful thought, I concluded that something is me. My heart just hasn’t been in it. For whatever reason, the Fourth of July has become just another day for me.
I decided this year would be different. I was going to celebrate the Fourth just like I did as a child. I would show my grandchildren a true old-fashioned Fourth of July celebration. I put together a shopping list and headed for the store.
The first thing on my list was red, white, and blue crepe paper - to weave through the spokes of my bicycle. Unfortunately, the store didn’t have a single roll with all three colors. It’d be a hassle to try to get the same effect using three different rolls of paper, but I was determined to have an old fashioned holiday. I put the crepe paper in my cart.
Next, I went looking for baseball cards. I only needed one - to stick between the bicycle’s frame and back wheel - to make it sound like a motorcycle. When I was young, a nickel would buy five cards and a stick of bubble gum. Was I in for a surprise! At the prices they now charge, I can’t imagine using baseball cards the way we did. We actually played with them. We’d use them to make noise on our bicycles, build houses, or flip (throw) them in various gambling games. We could win or lose hundreds of cards in one afternoon. Now they’re too valuable for anything other than collecting.
I thought about buying one package of cards regardless of the price. Then I remembered something very important: I don’t have a bicycle. I left the card section, put the crepe paper back, and scratched those items off my list.
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