Can We Talk 2

My Fourth

         We passed the holiday with just family at my niece's farm about 30 miles south of town. It is wilderness there with winding roads, lots of flags at the end of driveways. Her driveway is between other people's homes, since her farm is not accessible to the road. She lost her husband last year, when she was 3 months pregnant. We like to gather there because the kids love the chickens and pigs and huge dog. They also have lots of room to run around not wander into the street.

         We older folks like the open barn. There's a hayloft that they use to store kayaks and such. There are some exterior doors to storage rooms within, but there's a big cross section with no doors. We pull up the chairs or the bales of hay and sit in the breeze. My brother, the grandfather to six of these kids, has rigged up a big fan, so we can sit in the shade and stay dry in the heat. It has a dirt floor, so he scatters straw around. There is an attached chicken coop and fenced in yard, but the chickens and roosters are free range during the day when folks are home.

          He's fenced in one end of the cross section for a dog corral. She gets shade, some grass outside the barn border. My niece never uses it, but he puts the dog in it when he's babysitting and has to leave. The dog tears up the toys and makes a mess in the house, which drives him crazy. She slobbers really badly. Yesterday she ran freely, inside and out at will. She can open the front door to get in. I cleaned up the outdoor trash a couple of times and pulled her out of the barrel.

         My dad and I took most of the food. We had to search for a watermelon with seeds, so we could have a spitting contest! At the last minute this niece ran to the closest store, which is not close at all, to buy chips, tea, and mini ice cream sandwiches for the kids. Her sister and husband brought beer and water, an extra table and small folding chairs. My second brother, who came from furthest away, brought trash bags, utensils, plates, and fruit and dip, and his own 5 year old son, the picky eater in the group. The older brother/grandfather had cut the grass and set up the barn. He has cancer and tires very easily. He lives for the kids. I brought table cloths and some decorations, so the barn looked festive.

         The kids wouldn't stop playing to eat. One of the two year olds went down for a very long nap. The other one wouldn't nap, but passed out before we did fireworks. They were grilled by several people throughout the afternoon and evening about the meaning of July 4. My nephew kept throwing out some names like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. He obviously has heard the stories, but can't quite grasp it yet. For the fireworks, they pulled the folding chairs out of the barn without being prompted and set up a straight line, so that they could watch side by side. I set a wooden rocker behind them for Big Pop, who is a month away from turning 90, and unsure on the gravel and grass. His hearing is not so good, but they all interact with him. We started a little before dark, but it turned dark before we were finished. Neighbors were doing the same thing with louder booms. I started out with the six month old in my lap, but when he got fussy, his mother took him. The two year old was soon in my lap. He had started bravely, cheering with all the other kids. But the sizzle and the colors were a little unsettling for him.

         Thankfully, the sun faded before dark, so the heat was a little less intense. I sat before that fan and thought about people in more Southern states. How did they make it before air conditioning? And what about farm workers? A few hours weeding in the yard, and I'm done in. And that's when I felt a kinship with Southerners sweltering in the heat and humidity. No wonder ceiling fans were invented. So the fourth was kind of a lazy, hot, humid, slow day with screaming kids and lots of food. I fed watermelon rinds to the pigs and took pictures of multi-colored chickens scratching in the straw.

         It was a nice day with family.