Happy 4th!

The fourth of July is my favorite holiday of the year. This year it is a little less happy since Mrs. Grouch is visiting eldest daughter and our cute as a bug granddaughter for a week. Youngest son is at Boy Scout camp doing his counselor duty for most of the month. The other two Grouch offspring are busy with their lives and not around today so I must make the best of it on my own...I started early with a great cook out at youngest Daughter's place on the 3rd. Great food and lots of dog talk. I had fun talking with a women from Murmansk Russia.

Now for the 4th.
I started the morning with the Lions Club pancake breakfast and then on to the community parade!
(click on the photos for a full-size view)

A parade has to have veterans..



old cars....

and motorized reclining chairs!

My camera wasn't fast enough to photograph the little girl riding the burro, the kids on bikes or Santa Clause in the rocket propelled sleigh. This parade is truly eclectic which is why I love it so! I wore my cut off ACU shorts and ACU boony cap which got the two Vietnam era guys next to speculating sotto voce if shorts are now part of the Army uniform. The one guy mentioned that the Navy used to have shorts so maybe the Army does too...?
After the parade I went to church for Sunday mass. The priest had asked me a couple weeks ago to wear my uniform to church today to be part of the military procession (and LEOs, Fire, Scouts, etc) at mass. Good thing I did since we had exactly one other military type (AF ROTC) one cop, four scouts, and the ever-present Knights of Columbus. I could get into being a KoC; I really like the fore-and-aft Nelsonian caps, the swords, and the dramatic capes. I wore the whole class A uniform with blouse (coat) which was a mistake. It was hot in church!

Yard work is waiting for me so I better wrap this up. God Bless America and happy 234th birthday!