The Fourth

IF I LIVED in the States, nearly everyone I knew would understand me if I said, "I'll see you on the Fourth." In the minds of many of my American friends, that could only mean the Fourth of July. I've been away from the States for every July since 1985 and that means I've missed replaying some of the most memorable events from my childhood. As a family, we would head towards a corn festival, a chicken corn soup supper, a fireworks display, a BBQ on the beach, or an airshow at the local VFW lodge. Those kinds of events might be a little foreign in Ireland (except for a beach BBQ along Lough Derg, the Irish Sea or the Atlantic Ocean). The biggest Fourth I've enjoyed happened in 1999 at the American Ambassador's residence in Dublin. It was a great gig and best of all, it was enough free food to last a weekend. I don't know if I could even fly an American flag above our Cashel home on the Fourth without being misunderstood by neighbours but I'd risk the raised eyebrows to raise Old Glory for a day if I had a flag as big as the one in the photo. For the moment, I'll think about friends in the States who are treating this weekend as one big Independence Holiday. And I'll have a Guinness in honour of the occasion.

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Previously written here on the Fourth:

From Kilkenny on 4 July 2004: "Celebrating Independence Day"
From Kilkenny on 5 July 2005: "Ridiculously thorough guide to making pizza"
From Cashel on 4 July 2006: "To Be American"
From Cashel on 4 July 2007: "My Independence Day"
From Cashel, with blogging affected by a toddler on 6 July 2008: "Qik Look at Sunday Tech"

Bonus Link: Explore Independence Day with Feedly.

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