Chapter Twenty-Nine: Parades, Fireworks, and Merchant of Venus

For all of my American friends: Happy Independence Day! I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Fourth of July weekend. I sure had a great time!
I started the holiday by heading over the the Heritage District with my dad to see the annual parade. I think I might have seen this before when I was like, 6, but recently Fourth of July's have been spent indoors, cleaning in anticipation of visiting family. So, even though it was pretty hot and sunny, it was fun to bathe in the sun and see all the patriotism.

Respect

And, surprise surprise, my boyfriend, Luke was in the parade, too. I saw him, which is most important, but my snapshot skills were a bit slow that day, so this was the best picture I got....

Those calves tho.

Since Dad only came to see the Fire Department (which led the parade) and I only came to see Luke (who was about third in the line up) we decided to ditch the parade early. Real patriotic, I know.
I was lucky enough to be invited by Luke's Step-Father, Allen, to spend my Fourth of July at his farm. I have spent most of my life in the city suburbs, and have maybe visited three farms in all eighteen years of my life. So you can say my exposure to the country is...pretty limited.
Anyway, so we drove down there around lunchtime and started my farm adventure by driving around a seventy-year-old tractor. I've never driven a tractor, but it was pretty simple and fun!

Vroom Vroom

After that we climbed into a jeep without working breaks. Don't fret; we didn't take it for a spin. We just slowly moved in a circle on the grass which, surprisingly naturally stopped the vehicle quite smoothly. So first Luke showed off that he can drive a standard (in contrast to an automatic, which is where the car works for you). I've only driven automatic, so when Luke started to attempt to explain the mechanics and math and crap about the whole standard thing I just was kinda like

Whaaaaaaaaa

Buuuuut you don't really learn something until you do something. So I did! And I did pretty darn good (if I do say so myself!) 

After I successfully parked the jeep under some shade, Luke and I decided to go visit Allen's cows. I love cows. To eat, yes, but also to look at and pet because they are just so goshdarn cute. So we walked pretty far over to where the cows are held and found them all hanging towards the back, in the shade. For a hot minute we saw (from afar) a mommy cow with her cute calf (which of course made me squeal, which promptly scared them away). But what we really caught our attention was one of Allen's bulls.

Manly Moo

I'm not going to lie, we were intimidated by the cow. He was just...staring at us. So we stared back. As much as I love cows, I don't read their facial expressions very well. Was the bull interested? Angry? Hungry? So we rationalized the cow was probably just bored or something so we took a step forward. 

The bull did not appreciate this, and decided to, err, charge.

MOOOOOOOO

By charge I don't mean he full on began running at us, but he definitely threatened us. I can understand that cow language. Suddenly, the thought of a snowcone sounded much more appealing. The cow watched us the entire time, I'm assuming to make sure we actually left him and his little herd.

After this, we just hung around...We ate some food, I was introduced to some people, saw some elephants, petted some dogs, threw a frisbee...Finally, dusk set, and the familiar sound of popping fireworks began. Out here in the country, everybody can blow up fireworks...as long as they don't blow off anything valuable. The closest I've been to fireworks was probably at Disney World, so this was, yet again, a whole new experience. 

Oooooh. Aaaaaah.

I even set off a firework! Well, kind of. Luke lit it. I nervously watched and ran away. 

Oooooh. Aaaaah.

There is something so lovely about the sound of fireworks echoing throughout the night, in celebration of our country's independence. It was so much fun!! I am so happy and thankful I was invited. 

The next day, my family hosted our monthly Family Night, where all eleven members of my family come to be in each others' company and eat. But, most importantly, to play Merchant of Venus. 

This is not one of my favorite games, but it is a Lane tradition to play this game at every Family Night possible. I invited Luke to come over, so my family was a little excited (understatement) to introduce this game to an outsider. I knew he would love it too, so I decided to try and play too. 

*Angel Chorus*

We played until midnight, and Luke and I (we played as a team) did pretty well for our first time! I think we unofficially came in third out of six, so not too shabby. 

All in all I had a wonderful Fourth of July weekend, and I hope everyone else did too. Happy Independence Day!

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Chloeneu1 Asks: "Any Celebrity you think is overrated?" 

Answer: The majority of them. To name the ultimate: the Kardashians. I honestly have no idea why they're famous, and I don't think anyone else knows either.

Funnybunny2006 Asks: "What is your greatest talent?"

Answer: I don't know if I know it yet, but I am pretty good at public speaking, singing, and writing. But, like I said, I have lots of time to discover my "greatest talent." 

Ally4life05 Asks: "Do you squeeze the toothpaste from the top or the bottom?" 

Answer: TOP! It's inefficient to squeeze from the bottom! Get all the paste you paid for!

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