July 4: A Look Back

Many of us, including me, have complained about the 4th of July falling on a Wednesday.  But this week, I realized one of the advantages:  because I had to work the day after July 4th, I kept our obligations realistic.

Most years when we're at home, I have bold plans:  we'll go somewhere to see a fireworks show, we'll have a feast, we'll do something with friends that will result in us getting home late.  When I know I have the next day off, I often waste huge chunks of the time off that I have (witness almost every Saturday).

This year, I knew that I had one day only.  I planned it so that we stayed home.  Late in the day, I made this Facebook post:

"On this day when we celebrate breaking free of tyranny, I can't help but notice how much time I've spent on the tyranny of chores: yardwork, washing dishes, laundry, changing sheets, vacuuming. Still, it's good to have time to do these chores, and I am aware that there are lots of people across the planet who would love to have a house and the freedom to live in it as they chose and they would gladly submit to this tyranny."

Yes, I got a lot of chores done.  But there was also time for reading by the pool while eating frozen coconut pops.  I did some writing throughout the day.  We watched a bit of T.V.  Overall, it was a relaxing day.

I am trying to maintain the weight loss that has come with my 10 day shred that I took on to bounce me off a plateau, so I kept my eating/drinking splurges very moderate:  a hamburger and a glass of wine for lunch, 2 oz. of brie and a glass of wine for dinner, frozen fruit pops for treats throughout the day.

We ended the day with a July 4th tradition:  my spouse took his violin to the porch to play patriotic and Americana music while our neighbors set of fireworks.  People with PTSD would not have been calm in our neighborhood.

When we heard the booms from the beach, we went to the backyard.  Usually we can't see much of the municipal display, but this year, because of Hurricane Irma, some of the trees that had blocked our view were gone.  We had a pretty good view.

Even though the peaceful night was still punctuated with small explosions, I was able to fall asleep fairly easily.  And I had what rarely comes these days:  a sleep without constant interruptions to move off of sore body parts or to get up to go to the bathroom.