It’s not an accident that Vasily has a particular affinity for the Fourth of July — he gets that from me, which I proudly admit to. (Sean has other feelings on the matter, but you’ll have to read Bewitched to find out more.) Some of my earliest memories as a kid revolve around that one night every year when my parents would take us to the center of town, stake out a place with blankets, then await the marvelous light show that would appear once the sun had finally set. Only later did I learn the special significance this date holds for me as an American; two hundred-plus years later, the events of the the late eighteenth century still fascinate me, as does the path my country took to the modern era. There have been some amazing advances — and, sadly, more than a few regressions — but the spirit the holiday embodies seems willing to continue the the struggle to form, as one of our founding documents says, “a more perfect union.”
My best friends — yes, plural — live in Southern California, and some years ago invited us to spend the first of many July 4ths with them. That first year, we were actually helping them pack for a new apartment they were moving to, and managed to get it completed just in time to head down to the Disneyland Esplanade for a holiday celebration done with all of the fanfare the House of Mouse is well known for. Stationed somewhere in the middle of the space halfway between Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure, we were blown away by the pageantry in the skies above Anaheim, perfectly timed to patriotic music with just the right hint of Disney. I came away thinking it would be impossible to see anyone else try and top what we’d seen, and so far, I’ve been right.
One other tradition we’ve long observed is watching the movie, Independence Day, together on (or around) the Fourth of July. I don’t entirely recall how we got started on that kick — it runs along the same lines as thinking that Die Hard is a Christmas Movie — but save for one year, we’ve never missed a viewing. The COVID-19 pandemic forced us to get a bit creative, and last year, we discovered the joys of “viewing parties” through Amazon Prime or Disney Plus. Now that there is a sequel, we have to block out even more time to ensure we can watch both — and still be done in time to tune in for A Capitol Fourth.
Between the traditional summer food, good friends and great content, it remains one of my favorite holidays on the calendar — second behind Christmas. Which, as it happens, is also a holiday Vasily enjoys… I wonder why…?