Red, White, and Blue

Red for pain, sorrow, and sacrifice.

White for hope.

Blue for respect and integrity. Reverence.

The world in which we live alternates between impossibly beautiful and impossibly terrible. We rejoice in and give thanks for the beauty. We mourn the terrible. Neither can extinguish the other so long as this world, in its present state, exists. Yet still we try, and it's the trying that makes the difference. To trade one moment of pain for one of joy. To shadow one terrible time with the memory of one beautiful time. To persevere. 

Taking moments to acknowledge the good and be glad for it have always been crucial towards safekeeping that good. That's why I find so much overlap between the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving. So this Independence Day, let's remember history but let's also be glad for what we have today that is good. 

Happy Fourth of July

Land that raised me. 

Land that loved me.

Land that I am here to love.

The United States of America, today is our day to honor you our home.


I have no pictures from this weekend because I haven't really been taking many, but I have been busy with Fourth of July celebrations as usual.

Friday I baked an apple pie (using Martha Stewart's recipe). Saturday I was able to spend a little bit of time hanging out at the park enjoying the shade and the grass and the trees. Sunday I spent in Prescott, visiting the art fair at the Square and a new chocolatier in the area (review coming on Friday). And yesterday, Monday, brought me to Flagstaff and their fireworks celebration, which is always a welcomingly cool weather experience in the middle of summer. I draped myself in stars and stripes and red, white, and blue.

Today is for quiet. The chicken is on the grill (a whole chicken cooked on top of a beer can). The watermelon is cut. I've already watched Sara Romey's coverage of Disneyland's Fourth of July fireworks from Sunday night and might watch it again later tonight.

Today is for contemplation. This year my theme has been to enjoy what we have in our daily lives because of where we live. I enjoy great beauty and I enjoy great possibilities.

Happy Independence Day to the U.S.A.

July Fourth

I'm sitting out in Tempe right now, and the Fourth of July is good. It's something like a picnic day--but with an entire community and with more events and entertainment. It's about celebration in unity, isn't it?

Spread out your blanket (preferably a red, white, and blue one) and relax, wearing as much red, white, and blue as possible. Bring water and get drinks and food, listen to music, chat with your group. Sweat under the late afternoon sun. 

And then when the sun sets, let the air cool a bit and take a moment to ponder. Ponder your home and how it came to be your home, and ponder your country and how it came to be and how it is. 

And when you watch those fireworks spread across the sky, celebrate and be joyous. Today is the Fourth of July, Independence Day, and we're all excited together. 

Be the Fourth of July

It seems that each year, I keep going more and more crazy over the Fourth of July--and I think everyone else should, too. I've been so happy that nearly every clothing store I've been by lately has at least had a Fourth of July display and many have had specifically patriotic clothing (flag shirts, for instance). So I'd like to just take a quick moment today and list some of the ways that I bring red, white, and blue in; tomorrow I'll do some sort of more general Fourth of July post.

1) I like the flag shirts best, but if you can't get one or don't want one, at least try and wear two to three colors. I actually bought two flag shirts because I decided that the first one I got was too thick of a material (I'll be around Phoenix on the Fourth); the second one is a much lighter material, though they're both tank tops with vertical flags on them. The easiest way, of course, to wear flag colors if you're not wearing a flag shirt is to wear denim shorts with a white or red shirt--maybe add an accessory in the color you're still missing.

2) Nail polish is great. I don't do my fingernails anymore, but I like to make my toenails into a flag design. I alternate the small toes in red and white and paint the big toes in blue with white stars. I've been using Revlon's 680 Revlon Red, L'Oreal's 220 I Will, Sally Hansen's 901 Royal Rage, and the Sally Hansen i Nail Art Pen in 360 Pearly White.

3) Don't forget the makeup, either. Blue eyeshadow and red lips aren't something I would wear together any other day, but they're perfect for July Fourth.

4) Temporary tattoos--I've never had Fourth of July tattoos before, but I came across some in Hobby Lobby that looked good, so why not? There are flags and stars and eagles and butterflies with the flag; they're kind of an alternate to face-painting, I guess.

5) Jewelry is good, too. Depending on where you're going to be, you maybe don't want to wear your nicer jewelry. If you were going to be at home, you might wear pearls and coral and blue beads, but I'd leave those at home if you'll be at a park. This is where fashion jewelry or the cheap kind they sell specifically for the holiday can come in nicely. I have my necklace with all the little triangular flags from Charming Charlie that I'll be wearing (actually, I've been wearing it for the past three days already . . . )

6) Do you use hairbands? Throw on a red, white, or blue one--or try and mix up the colors. Michaels had some good ones for sale, too, if you want something that combines all the colors.

7) Enthusiasm tops it all off. I want us all to be excited, wherever we are and however we're celebrating. Choose your own traditions, but let's make this a big day, a triumphant day, and a thankful day. We, through our attitudes and our collective memory in honoring this day, we are the Fourth of July.

American Favorites

I've done lists before; this year, let's go on a journey. I'm going to take you on a trip through the America of my mind. Where we'll begin and end I don't really know, and what we meet along the way will be an adventure.

California. The place everyone wants to visit, some to live in. That's where I started, in the heart of it all. The Hollywood sign was just something that sat on the mountain that I saw all the time. Griffith Observatory, the Natural History Museum, the Arboretum, the Huntington Library, the beach--they were all there within my grasp. Oh, yes, and Disneyland. Disneyland was born into my blood.

From California the great to Alaska the magnificent, where I played in the snow and a treehouse built high up. Where my family went fishing and I threw my pole into the water because I was too young to quite understand how fishing worked. Where everything was different, where I laughed because it couldn't be bedtime yet because the sun was still out.

More California--where I spent afternoons watching I Love Lucy and The Andy Griffith Show--but also my first trip to Arizona. It was new. It was hot and devoid of the cities I was used to--but it had new things. Exciting things. I saw the Grand Canyon. I visited chickens. I watched the stars and traced the horizon across the mountains. And then the summer trips here stopped and we came here to live. After living in an apartment, we had a yard again. Open space to play in. I read Little House on the Prairie and watched the show, too.

The Red Rocks of Sedona are beautiful and the historic downtown Prescott a lovely place for a cool afternoon. The Painted Desert spoke always to me, from when I first heard its name in fourth grade. When we finally made the drive years later, I fell in love with the soft land, layers of colorful dirt forming hills that no picture can capture. Google Image the Painted Desert and you will not see it: it is too beautiful to exist in a photograph.

I discovered Get Smart and I Dream of Jeannie, listened to Blondfire and Flyleaf, and whiled away the evenings with Once Upon a Time. I vacationed in New Mexico and breathed in the cooler, still warm air. Drifted across the wide lands of colorful earth and soft plants, visiting museums and old homes, places where people had lived who loved this land. Acoma lived up to its name of Sky City, built up high to look out upon the most gorgeous land. I always want to go back to Santa Fe because it feels familiar and home-like.

I tasted, as well. American chocolate has a bad reputation, but that is changing. Amano makes some of the best I've ever tasted--their Montanya bar may be my favorite ever. Everything is atmospheric, artistic, pure, and beautiful. I found Valerie Confections and felt fancy with Rose Petal Petits Fours. I ate at House of Tricks by ASU again and again, and then I finally went to Pizzeria Bianco and then went two more times.

I thought more and more of The Wizard of Oz, and I imprinted my own meaning on the green light in The Great Gatsby. I looked at New York and Texas and everywhere else from afar, places that I might enjoy visiting--but that I did not need to visit. There is much to see and do--but not all of that is far away. So much already I have found to delight in. My America is different from your America, colored by the years of our individual lives. But together, our separate experiences and joys comes together and create our America. Let's live it richly, shall we?

Independence Week

You see, I think it's silly that you can go to stores, year-round, and buy all sorts of products with the British flag*--but products with the American flag are fewer and tend to pop up only around the one or two national holidays. Even then, you usually have to be devoted to find anything more than cheap flags and flag bunting, maybe some napkins and cupcake papers. Why? Why? Why?

Let's be patriotic, I say. I wear my U.S. flag scarf on the national holidays. I even wore it in at least 110 degree weather last year for the Tempe Town Lake fireworks; that's devotion, I tell you. This year, I quickly snatched a flag pillow from World Market, and the Fourth of July display tempted me to walk into Charming Charlie for the first time and buy a flag necklace. I did my toenails flag-style: alternating red and white on the small toes and blue with white stars on the big toes. I wore my flag necklace already today, and got excited when I found out that my church is doing a Fourth of July Sunday next week. Bring on the Independence Day spirit, I say.

Fourth of July should be all week. Let's make this our week. Let's decorate ourselves in red, white, and blue. Let's rejoice in the open hillsides--or glittering cityscapes--that we call home. Let's recall our favorite characters out of history. Let's think of how many states we've visited and which we love best. Let's read our favorite American authors, watch our favorite American shows, listen to our favorite American bands. Let's remember what is good about our country and set aside this or that little worry about whatever.

Let's lead up to the fireworks on Friday night. Let's let each day focus on one of the many aspects of this country that there are to love. Let's celebrate.

*Don't get me wrong, I love some British-ness as much as the next person. I have my morning and afternoon and sometimes evening tea every day and greatly love a good British TV show and would be slightly concerned to visit the Great Island because I think I might very much like it.

In Celebration

Forgive me if I do go overboard, but in celebration of the Fourth of July (Independence Day, that is), I'd like to go over a few memories from the past year. Let's start with images from last year:

Then there came the stormy monsoon season.

Along with a friendly visit to Fort Verde; this is one of the upstairs bedrooms.

Must not forget Sedona and its Red Rocks.

With Thanksgiving came a multitude of my favorite, turkeys. 

December brought cold and an evening trip to Prescott to walk around the Square and admire the lights on the Courthouse. 

February saw clear skies and a sprinkling of sunshine.

Spring Break took me to the enchanting Mission Inn in Riverside, CA.

We must not exclude a picture from Disneyland (California Adventure, actually). You're cool if you know where this picture was taken.

Visiting dinosaurs in the Discovery area of the Natural History Museum.

Saying goodbye to the outside of the main library at ASU.

While I'm at it, here's graduation.

That's enough of pictures of me. Here's a tiger at Out of Africa heading back to its habitat.

And here's a baby turkey.

Here it is a little older, in what I call the dinosaur stage (with chickens it's the alien stage).

And here's a different bird swimming in the ocean. 

Sunset Crater, up in Flagstaff. 

 Now let's finish with a branch reaching away from the obsidian and basalt encrusted earth toward the sky.

I promise, I'm done now. Happy Fourth. 

Celebrating the Americans

With the Fourth of July being tomorrow, here is a list of a fewAmerican authors/works I have found notable. Some are expected, while others are a bit lesser known. As usual, the list is in no particular order.

1) The Great Gatsby - I would just say F. Scott Fitzgerald, but I haven't yet read any of his other books--I know I'll have to make the time to eventually since this book at least is amazing. The first time I read it, I didn't even care what it was about: the language is just stunning, while still remaining simple. Then you can move into themes, of hope, of loss, etc., and also of the American Dream (though, of course, there is no single interpretation of this book, which is one of the things that makes it so wonderful).

2) Little House on the Prairie - This series of books I find very valuable: they are almost like folk tales of pioneers. Some things in them are based purely on fact, some are adjusted, and some may simply be based on stories heard during that time. However the case is, these books set up a story both loving and somewhat sad of what these prairie days were like.

3) Edgar Allan Poe - Though not the most uplifting of artists, Poe was talented enough that British anthologies often try to steal him as one of their own. But, no, even a couple centuries ago Americans had talent, too.

4) Gone with the Wind - I know, I haven't yet finished the book (and of course I'm waiting until I do to watch the movie), but it's finely written and centers on one of the great American tragedies, the Civil War. It's considered by many a must-read for a reason.

5) The Wizard of Oz - I suppose I'm actually referring more to the movie than the book here. Going back to the idea of mythologies, this story has become something of an American mythology. There are so many references made to it, even by people who haven't seen the movie ten times. Its story and characters have entered the collective consciousness, and that is no small accomplishment.

6) Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison - This is a very depressing book, but also a very good one that I think ought to be read more--it's completely a classic, in my view. It handles problems of identity, of fitting into a culture, of being accepted and not being accepted, of making one's way in the world. Specifically, its character is a black man struggling with his life and career around mid-20th century; but it is as much relevant to any human being who has lived or tried to live.

7) Hmmm, I can't quite think of a seventh, though I'll probably think of ten more in half hour's time. I suppose I could always list the Declaration of Independence, couldn't I?