A Slice of Indepence Day... just a little late

It's Independence Day and so muggy for somebody who's lived in the Northwest their whole life. I finally made it past the election propaganda booths to the Lilac Bowl. The Lilac Bowl is a gentle, grassy slope down to the river. The last time I was on this slope was sheer nausea. After eating an entire bag of kettle corn for lunch my little sister and I rolled all the way down, hoping my lunch would get to the bottom with me. For the next hour I would have felt much better without it.

A kid jingles by with his full weight in black material and chains on. He reminds me how hot and sticky I feel and I wonder if he will eventually shed his social statement for a tank top and shorts. The band, "The Blisters" just got introduced by a man in an over sized garden hat shouting, "God bless America and Rock and Roll!" A gray-haired man with an orange Hawaiian shirt, louder than the band itself, just ran up swinging a bra over his head. In an attempt to support the band, he flung the bra only to have it become a temporary kite, landing in front of the monitor. Somehow it's he just lost momentum bending over and giving it it's second toss over to the lead guitar's feet. There's a middle age man with a receding hair line and long frizzy hair dancing through the crowd with a tambourine. His flowy, white shirt is unbuttoned far enough to show chest hair creating quite a fashion contrast to his black Reeboks. His mid-thigh shorts look about as awkward as his dancing. He's now in front of the stage facing the audience and I have to wonder if the band is feeling slightly upstaged. The band members are all middle-aged men and they're pretty good. I wish so badly that you could all see the "Keeper of the Tambourine". I can't stop laughing. He just gave the Texas Longhorns/rock and roll sign with his hand and is contorting his body in all sorts of positions. The source of the illegal substances I've been getting whiffs of just walked passed me to join his friend in the tie-dyed shirt. They both look exactly how I stereotype the late sixties, but with a few more years under their hemp belt.

I settle into my spot on the warm lawn. Yeah, now my kind of music- country, or "Country and Western" as the guy in the over sized garden hat called it. Somehow the array of people all together just fits this holiday since I'm sure the original day brought together all sorts of characters. I can tell this is gonna be a fun day.

...Oh, and in case you were wondering, it looks like "The Keeper of the Tambourine" enjoys "Country and Western" too.

D