Happy Birthday

I am fairly certain that I spent some portion of last night with a lampshade on my head.  I honestly don’t remember.  The house is a mess, I have a four wheeler that needs some fixin, there is too much food and too many empty beer cans laying about and my boots are full of mud-on the inside. BUT DAMN IT WAS AWESOME!  I was blessed this 4^th of July to get to spend some time with my family at my home in South Florida.  There was too much food, there always is.  We grilled brats from Carroll’s Sausages in Georgia and they were fantastic.  Pasta salad that Melissa made with home made duck egg mayonnaise was out of this world.  We bought corn on the cob, but we forgot to cook it.  That’s OK though because the horses love corn on the cob-more for them I guess.    There was the screaming of small children in the house and it was music to my ears. 

We started the day at Peace River Seafood right down the road.  I want to say a special thanks to all the folks who worked on the holiday so that others such as ourselves may celebrate it.  The seafood festival that followed was no less than spectacular.  Oysters, clams, shrimp and crabs were sampled by all.   Peace River is the kind of place where when you order blue crab, its still alive and waiting on the back steps when you place the order.  I have not found a place that serves fresher, or better seafood. 

We followed this up with the age old American tradition of mixing alcohol with explosives. We broke out the firearms and headed down to the range.  I honestly can’t think of anything more American to do on America’s birthday than spending an afternoon with my nephews and cousins disposing of old communist ammunition-one bullet at a time. My nephew Blaze got to shoot a .380.  The smile on his face and the approval of the range master at our absolute application of firearm safety were awesome rewards for this venture.  (And for the record, the alcohol only came out AFTER the firearms were put back away.)

Then it was off to the mechanical horses.  We own two four wheelers and it didn't take long before people started to notice that it’s the rainy season in Florida-so there is PLENTY of mud on the ground. The younger kids squeals of delight while being toted around on the four wheelers through the pasture was food for the soul.  You cant help but enjoy the smile on the face of a child that goes from ear to ear when the get off such a fun little machine. 

  That was of course followed by my two nieces who INSISTED that they were going mudding with Uncle Boo Boo.  They paid for it…they had to ride behind me.  

Of course, my boots are still soaked through and I am not sure what I will be wearing on my feet today.  I know better than to wear my good boots on the trails, but by this point in the evening, the Allegany Mountain 140 proof moonshine liquor might have been making a few decisions for me.

I have a brother in law who is pretty sick and may not be long for this earth,

   I very much wanted to spend some time with him and I am glad I got to do it.  My only sadness comes from the fact that my children: Alex, Nicole and Steven are all off living their own lives and could not be home for this holiday.  By the way- HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICOLE!  I am sure you thought I forgot.

Too many holidays I have wasted not caring too much about celebrating them.  This year, with everything that has been happening in society around us, I kinda felt it important to celebrate everything that makes America the best place in the world to live.  A day where we can put our petty political differences aside for a few hours and just reflect and celebrate all the things that our founding fathers did to insure that we would have this opportunity.  I am not sure they intended for me to do it with a lampshade on my head, but at least I am free to do it.