Independence Week-End 2021

When I look back on this past Independence Day holiday week-end, what will I remember?

--It began, as holiday week-ends often do, with me checking the 5 p.m. update from the National Hurricane Center--of course, usually the holiday week-end is Labor Day, not Independence Day.  I began the week-end thinking we might have a storm in the neighborhood by Monday, but we didn't.

--Even without a storm in the neighborhood, we did have a band come through on Monday, when Tropical Storm Elsa was still in Cuba.

--On Monday, I was coming back from a delightful lunch with friends, part of my quarantine pod, now eating out as we have been since vaccination.  I had a martini that tasted more like a less-sweet Kahlua and coffee; it was so delightful, I had another.  The restaurant on Las Olas was so short-staffed that we were forced to have a leisurely lunch, but it was a holiday, and the martinis were half price, so I didn't mind.

--I spent Saturday with a different set of friends.  Part of my old quilting group went down to Miami to 

see the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit.  We haven't seen each other in person since March of 2020.  That event deserves its own blog post, so I'll write about it later this week.

--It was one of the first week-ends in several weeks with sunshine.  We often get good weather ahead of a tropical storm, and this week-end was no exception.  I was in the pool more than I have been on most week-ends.

--I led the worship service on Sunday, and I preached a non-traditional Independence Day sermon.  Detailed sermon notes are in this blog post.

--Did I do anything special for the 4th besides preach a sermon?  No--it was one of the more low-key Independence Days I've had in quite awhile.  In fact, I went to bed early.  Well, at my normal time, which for most adults would be early.  I wasn't sure of which municipalities would have fireworks, and I didn't feel like finding out.  I'm not ready for those kinds of crowds again, not yet, and climbing on the roof as we have done in some past years also didn't seem safe.

--It was good to be with friends, but strange to reflect how many friends have moved in the past several years. 

In short, it was a fairly good week-end, as so many of them are, holiday or not.