Being Independent on Independence Day

Celebrating an American Holiday in Greece = carrying 6 Flaming bottles of Moet Chandon champagne through a crowd of 300 sweaty, dancing Europeans, then having them opened all at once by seven guys from L.A and screaming “Viva America!” 

This morning I woke up at 2pm and opened my box of Special K with Strawberry cereal…and I smelled the box. My mind was flooded by memories of riding in my father’s old plum colored Saturn with the windows (manually of course) rolled down. The Seattle summer breeze rolling in through the car as we passed by local AM PMs with high school cheerleaders wanting to wash our car. The skies of Seattle are the most beautiful blue in the summer, and it smells of freshly cut grass and bark for gardens. Then, as I smelled the box of cereal again, I got this image of Costco…the best place to shop for ANYTHING. My dad always wanting to get a Polish hotdog and a churro stick…and me trying to decide if I wanted a generous slice of pizza, dripping with hot cheese, or a hot dog loaded with onion wedges and ketchup.

I miss Seattle summers. Me and my Ford Focus driving on the 520 West into Seattle on my way to Gasworks Park or Golden Gardens for a BBQ with friends. My favorite image is driving on the 520 and right when you are about to hit the bridge, the trees part and you take your first view of Seattle; choppy water on one side of the floating bridge, calm on the other…Mt. Rainier to your left and sailboats for miles. The sun shines on Lake Washington and you could swear it was made of gold sparkles. The air is fresh, the trees are the greenest and there is no other place in the world I would rather be.

Except I am somewhere else. I am in a place that is equally as beautiful but holds a different value and attitude in my mind. The infamous American author L. Frank Baum was correct when he wrote the Wizard of Oz and had Dorothy say “There’s no place like home.”

In my eyes, home = Seattle = America…and no matter where I am in this world of ours, I will always light something on our day of independence…even if it has to be a flaming bottle of champagne.

Happy (late) 4th of July!