Happy 4th of July weekend!  I know a lot of people get today off work for that wonderful, and needed, three day weekend.  I hope you all have great plans.  Did you know there are more hot dogs consumed on the 4th of July – 150 million (thanks NBCnews.com) – than on any other day of the year?  I’ve been reading about the 4th of July all morning and could regale you with all kinds of weird and fun facts about the day.  There are several 4th of July quizzes out there on the internet.  I took one and only got half the answers right and then I made Tom take it and he only got three of the answers right.  That’s the fun of trivia – the questions and answers can be pretty obscure.  If you want to see how you did on this particular trivia quiz, you can find it here.

Tom and I will be spending the holiday as we usually do with family.  Our favorite thing to do is go to a Cleveland Indians game, because of the great fireworks they usually have at the end of the game, but the Indians are on the road tomorrow.  For many years we had a family reunion on the 4th of July – my mom’s side of the family.  But too many of the family founders passed away, the rest of the family is scattered all over the US, and the reunion was discontinued.  Three years ago we went to Rib, White, and Blue in Akron and enjoyed the delicious ribs.  Two years ago we went to Red, White, and Boom in Columbus with John and Jackie.

The fireworks were spectacular but the 500,000 person crowd was just too much for us.

This year Tom and I are at Alum Creek State Park and the campground is full for the weekend.  There are all kinds of “patriotic” activities planned, including a Biscuits and Sausage breakfast, a decorated bike parade, a putt-putt- golf tournament, and an ice cream social.  We may participate in some of the activities today and we will certainly take time to walk through and admire the many ways people decorate their campsites for the 4th of July.

But this year we have a quieter celebration planned.  Tomorrow the Hartleys, Clymers, and Sagers will be meeting in Lexington (a patriotic town name) for some good food, good conversation, and games.  We will celebrate our freedom and remember some of the people who formed our country and who have kept it great.  We will be thankful for the blessing of living in the United States and we will pray for our country as it weathers these stormy times.  We will be proud to be Americans but we will remember that our country still needs all of us to work together to continue to be a great nation.