Monday, July 4, 2011, Nashville, Tennessee, 11:04 a.m., D.S.T.~
Dear Journal~
First and foremost, let me wish each and every one of my friends (and my co-workers) the happiest of Fourth of Julys EVER; may it be full of family, fun, food, fellowship, and above all, FIREWORKS!!
Louie Sandusky here. Hope this finds y'all well and happy! I and my family just got done with the parade; we're all sitting at Golden Corral, cooling off and seeking shelter from the heat. Also, it's fixin' to come up a cloud: storm moving in. Nothing severe, but enough to wreck plans for an hour or two. Just as long as it doesn't rain during the fireworks, then I'm okay with that.
The parade was wonderful. It was over an hour long; it had several marching bands, numerous floats, and tributes to our country and our military heroes. They even had two B-17 bombers fly over the parade route, which brought the crowd to its feet.
Now we're getting something light to eat before we head over to downtown Nashville, where they have been holding the "Red, White, and BOOM!" Festival for the past few days, with today being THE big day, complete with a mammoth fireworks display, which will be one of the biggest (and the longest) in the nation. It is supposed to last at least 45 minutes, according to festival officials; over 100,000 people are expected to be in attendance, so it's best to get there as early as possible.
The kids are eating ice cream, cake, and cookies, which can only mean one thing: SUGAR RUSH!! Bill and I will have our work cut out for us; at least we have the extra help in the older, more capable members of our brood as well as the guiding, loving hands of my parents! I just hope the kids behave themselves or don't cause any trouble for themselves OR for us!
Johnathon is supposed to do the countdown to the fireworks tonight. He's also supposed to lead the audience in the Pledge of Allegience and will also hand an award to the Citizen of the Year for the city of Nashville. He will be very busy tonight during the Patriotic Program and the launching of the fireworks!
Johnathon is very happy: his sweetie, Rebekkah, is here, visiting us from Arizona; they have enjoyed their time together so far. Rebkkah has been doing fairly well with her health; she was in the hospital last month for a few days but seems to be over her issues now. I pray that continues! Rebkkah has been through so much with her health!
Gemini fell during the parade: scraped her knees all up. She continued to march and twirl her batons, but it was hard not to miss the blood streaming down her legs! She didn't even realize she'd cut her knees all up until I mentioned it. I then cleaned her knees up and bandaged them before she caught up with her co-marchers and finished the parade.
This coming Saturday, there will be even more fireworks: Nashville is holding their annual Tribute to The Military Ceelebration at one of the local smaller airports; there will be an air show, patriotic music, speeches, honoring the military (past, present, future, as well as the fallen or those who have died), concerts, contests, midway rides, and another mammoth fireworks display at dusk. So our firework fun is NOT over by a long shot!
Well, I'm going to get something from the buffet; I'm suddenly hungry! The carrot cake and ice cream at the Sweet Spot bar are mocking me. I will write in here again soon; until later, stay safe this Independence Day, and please be careful! Have fun and never forget to thank God for the blessings of living here in the greatest nation in the world: The United States of America! Happy Birthday, America!! God bless, and God, please bless America again!
~Love, your friend in Tennessee, Louie May. :D
