Red, White, and Blue !

Three days away from my favorite holiday! You better bet I will bust out my red, white and blue clothes tomorrow as I head east to celebrate this wonderful weekend with some great friends and my toes in the sand!

The 4th of July is not about present giving, Easter baskets, tons of heavy food followed by football. We don’t run around trying to visit every family member, shopping, and making sure we spend exactly $30 on each relative instead of buying what we really think they would like. We don’t waste time cooking endless hours and worrying how we are all going to fit in one house. No one is stressed and frantic. The 4th of July is the only holiday that hasn’t succumbed to these outrageous routines we force ourselves through. (You should be trying to see your family throughout the entire year…not just at the holidays!)

As kids, the 4th of July in the Higgins household meant watching the parade from the corner of West Mountain and Nelson Street with all of our church and family friends. It meant going to the pool as a family, cooking out with friends and right before it gets dark, heading to Kernersville Raiders field behind Kernersville Elementary to watch the fireworks with the rest of Kvegas. My biggest attraction to this holiday is because out of all the holidays, I remember having a stronger feeling of “family” on the 4th of July. When telling mom this last weekend, she said “I don’t know why, we never did anything special for the 4.th” Well that’s my point exactly. We didn’t do anything special. We did our regular activities during the day, but for once we did everything together. All four of us went to the parade; all four of us went to the pool; all four of us ate dinner together; all four of us watched the fireworks together; and all four of us came home together. This was rare in our family with all of us being so busy. It was the best feeling in the world to know all four of us were together for the entire day.

In honor of my favorite holiday, here is a little 4th of July Trivia!
1. Independence Day commemorate the formal adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. However, it was not declared a legal holiday until 1941.

2. Fireworks were made in China as early as the 11th century. The Chinese used their pyrotechnic mixtures for war rockets and explosives.

3. Uncle Sam was first popularized during the war of 1812, when the term appeared on supply containers. Believe it or not, the U.S. Congress didn’t adopt him as a national symbol until 1961.

4. The first two versions of the Liberty Bell were defective and had to be melted down and recast. The third version rang every Fourth of July from 1778 to 1835, when according to tradition, it cracked as it was being tolled for the death of Chief Justice John Marshall.

5. The American national anthem, the “Star-Spangled Banner,” is set to the tune of an English drinking song (“To Anacreon in Heaven”).

6. Father of the country and architect of independence George Washington held his first public office at the tender age of 17. He continued in public service until his death in 1799. (ARE YOU SERIOUS – 17!)

7. There is no official designation or meaning for the colors of the flag. There is no record stating why red, white, and blue were chosen for the flag. However when the Great Seal of the United States was chosen this is what was listed for them:
White for Purity and innocence
Red for valor and hardiness
Blue for vigilance, perseverance, and justice

8. Benjamin Franklin, John Adams & Thomas Jefferson served on the committee that picked the eagle for the national seal (Franklin wanted the turkey!)

9. A French engineer, Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, who built the Eiffel Tower in Paris also devised the iron framework of the Statue of Liberty