Life of Wry

Or something like that. Who’s counting?

Here are a few shots on the day…

Jim and I started the day eating pancakes with Darlene at the Little League fields, watching micro ball players do cute things.

Tear-worthy many times over.

Chilled for a good part of the late morning, early afternoon, then headed up the hill to attend Rick and Linda’s BBQ at the Flying Fish Mine in Dutch Flat. That is actually the name of their house, designated an historic landmark for reasons I can’t quite remember. I’m sure I’ve written about it before… a very neat old home, beautifully preserved with vintage flair, nestled in pines on the outskirts of downtown Dutch Flat.

Here is our host, who also was honored earlier in the day, I think for the second time, as parade Grand Marshall (note sash). Nothing subtle about Rick’s attire, patriotic from top….

…. to bottom:

There were bunches of folks… a mix of locals, friends, family and work associates…

Rick reserved a table for his former colleagues, all retired California state court judges..

Rick, accompanied on guitar, lead us in an all-verses rendition of America the Beautiful…

Peter and Jim singing along…

Good buddy Jimmy Johnson, always in full smile…

Some standard Fourth of July fare, though I have to say the barbecued turkey was not standard… Rick’s preparation was shockingly moist and flavorful… best turkey I’ve ever eaten.

Took Peter on a mini tour–there is no other kind–of Dutch Flat. We got a look at the parade route through the tiny town center; numerous other front yard parties in progress; sweet woodsy cabins tucked amongst the towering trees, most decked to the hilt in patriotic crepe paper; the charming community pool; the dense forest surrounds. Dutch Flat is definitely old timey and shoots you back to any number of bygone eras. Fun place to be on the 4th.

Here’s a parting shot as we left town. Sun is very low in the sky and we are wondering if we’ll make Davis–a little more than an hour’s drive–by fireworks time (we did, barely).

Firework note: It was dark when we got to Davis, or nearly so. We figured the fireworks would be starting at any moment, no time to settle on a blanket at Community Park, so decided to forgo. But then I decided that maybe I could get a little closer, so headed out on my bike to get a slightly better view than we usually have on A Street. Got to Vets… still no fireworks launched, so I kept going. Ran into Sharon, who was meeting friends, so I parked my bike and tagged along. Still no fireworks had gone off. She was following texted directions from her friends as to their location; we wended our way through the dense crowd, stepping on blankets, stepping over bikes and kids. Finally got to their spot (an impossible objective I’d assumed…), and plunked on a blanket spread with room for all four of us. It was right in front, on the tape line, the vast space in front of us (soccer field) marked off limits–the buffer between the crowd and launching pad. Wow. No sooner did we sit, than we had to rise for the National Anthem. Sat back down and BOOM, off they went. Hadn’t sat so close in years… it was neat to see the explosion at the very same instant I heard the explosion… no distance delay at all! Felt each boom reverberate deep in my gut. Huge smile on my face as I lay there, feeling like I’d gotten the most possible out of that situation.