Neighborhood July 4th Party

Our neighborhood has a big get together every July 4th, with food and fireworks. Usually it’s held in the other cul de sac of the neighborhood, (based in the driveway and garage of one of the organizers), but this year everything was set up and happened in our cul de sac, right in front of our house. The organizers asked if they could use my grill, so they wouldn’t have to haul theirs up from their house. I said sure.

It was a brutally hot day right up until the organizers got the canvas gazebo/tents set up. Then a wind started up, lifting and blowing over the tents a couple of times. We got the legs spiked down fairly well, and then the rain came through. The temperature dropped over 10 degrees in just a few minutes. Fortunately, the rain only lasted maybe half an hour, but the temp stayed down for the rest of the evening.

My grill is not a big apparatus. It’s a little bigger than I need to cook for the four of us, but it’s not one of those grand, party-sized things. I just assumed, (with no real basis for the assumption), they were going to have more than one grill out there. But, it turned out, they managed everything on my one, alone. (I didn’t do the cooking, myself.) The cook had about a dozen hamburgers and a dozen hot dogs cooking all at one time on my little grill. I was impressed.

In addition to the grilled meats, everyone who came to the gathering brought some other dish. There were meatballs, pastas, chips, dips, and a variety of desserts. Personally, I ended up eating two hamburgers with buns, another hamburger patty, (that I ate sort of like finger food while chatting), a handful of chips, and oh God, far too much dessert — two cupcakes, and maybe 8 cookies! At a buffet-style spread, I kind of lose my freakin’ mind, especially with desserts. I ate so much I made myself feel sick. My body isn’t used to eating like that — that much all in a few minutes.

We parents talked, the kids played, and all went pretty well. We all wore name tags to help everyone learn everyone, (our neighborhood is only a few years old). On my name tag, I wrote my name but also added, “Calfgrit7 & Calfgrit11’s dad.” When I stuck the label on my chest, one of the dad’s standing across from me read it and said, “Oh, that’s a good idea. Now I know exactly who you are.” Our kids play with each other every day, but he and I see each other maybe twice a year, at these neighborhood parties.

Nearing 9:00, the kids gathered in a big circle in the cul de sac as one of the dads and a couple of the older boys set out and lit some fireworks. It was a pretty good show for as simple as the works were, and the kids loved it. As darkness set in, everything started winding down and everyone started cleaning up and going home.

Not a bad little neighborhood gathering, and no child or house was set on fire. All in all, a good event.

Bullgrit