Contributing writer
My daughter was born on July 3. As I was anticipating her arrival, I really thought it was a good idea for her (although in those days I didn’t know if it was a boy or a girl) to be born on the Fourth of July. A fitting day for such an amazing child, as this was sure to be. A wonderful day of celebrating independence: the country’s, mine, and hers. But, it didn’t happen that way.
By the time she was born on the afternoon of July 3, I was very glad for her early arrival and too shagged out to care about the day of the week. She had arrived, independent from birth, with or without it being a national holiday. This year, after 10 years of missing her birthday, I purposed to be in California to celebrate the day of her birth — 42 years ago.
Ah, I remembered it well. Hers had been a tricky birth — aren’t they all? Neither of us knew what we were really doing. And now, here we sat, 40 years later, eating with friends at a Napa Valley restaurant on a glorious summer day. Her life, her presence in my life, has been the most extraordinary experience. In a life filled with artistic endeavors, she is by far my best and most creative work.
Creating a child, raising a child into adulthood, interacting with that child and all the things they bring into your life (some easy, some difficult) is an experience I would never have wanted to miss. Next best was watching her through her pregnancy and delivery and now four years into raising her child. Now THAT is something to celebrate. And celebrate we did on the 3rd and 4th of July.
The little town of Calistoga hosts the annual Napa Valley Fourth of July Celebration with a parade, a fair, and fireworks. We always went as a family. When the girls were old enough, we started entering the parade competition. Early on, we figured out that we had the best chance of winning in the comedy section. We usually won something and that would give us spending money for the fair.
As I was watching this year’s parade, I couldn’t help but think about what was going on back home in Ramona. In the Napa Valley parade, there were hundreds of supporters, hundreds of participants, oodles of money spent, and thousands of spectators.
In Ramona, the day’s celebration is choreographed by about 10 people; watched by several hundred; but the entries in Ramona’s parade gave the Napa Valley a run for its money.
For instance, I’d heard that Art had gotten a hospital gurney from somewhere and enlisted his family to re-enact The Redneck Ambulance, complete with a can of beer hooked up to an IV and I imagined emergency lights blinking and a siren, after all, Art can do almost anything. I didn’t see anything that potentially funny in the Napa Valley.
Then there was Alex with his grandpa’s buggy, pretending he was the country doctor with a sign that said, “Will examine any young lady under 25 free of charge.” Talk about creativity!
There was a float in the parade I watched, celebrating their great-grandparents who had started a winery in the Napa Valley 100 years ago. It was sweet, but not memorable like Ramona’s entries.
Wow! Ramona should be so proud of what they (this stalwart 10-plus family and friends) pull off with lots of help from the country folk! You’re amazing!
My sister told me about her plan to turn Triple T’s mower into a tank with a turret and gun advertising Redneck Home Security. I had to see it to believe it! Hilarious! Did you see it? Shoulda been there! I saw nothing quite as clever as I sat on a curb in California.
I have to say, the fireworks were spectacular in Calistoga. They obviously had a larger-than-life budget. And they have a large lawn area at the fairgrounds where we could spread our blankets, lay back, and let the fireworks explode over our heads. (We didn’t even have to worry about getting chiggers.)
It was a beautiful night, a spectacular display, and they had music. But, hey, thanks to our faithful sponsors, Ramona has wonderful fireworks every year — maybe we can only afford 25 percent of what they shot off in Calistoga that night, but they tell me Jayme did a wonderful job in Ramona.
Next year, I’ll be right here, celebrating another day of independence and freedom in our country: Kansas, USA. Maybe in 2012 at Ramona’s 125th anniversary, we’ll even have music.