This is probably one of the most uneventful Fourth of July weekends I could remember. In fact, I checked my diary dating back for 20 years to find that we always had something going on this weekend. For the first 10-years of our marriage, while still living in the Midwest, we were usually with my wife’s mother watching their home town fireworks. That all changed when we moved to Austin, Texas and I started temporarily working in the retail business. One Fourth of July weekend was all work and no play. We did at least see the fireworks at Zilker Park and Auditorium Shores.

The following year, 2011, we went to a wedding in my home town, the last time my family was all together for an event. Three years later both my parents died just after we moved to Portland. In that time span, there was one very memorable Fourth on the beach in Port Aransas, Texas. Tinker was scared to death of the fireworks in the sky above us. The last Fourth with my wife’s mother was four years ago in Indianapolis. Portland was just too far away to run back to Indiana, so we explored Oregon, including a hike and picnic at Punch Bowl Falls and a fabulous weekend at Crater Lake. 

My wife’s mom passed 14 months ago. This ended all trips back to Indiana and allowed for last year’s Fourth at Canada’s Butchart Gardens. Both Tinker and Tally were relieved that there were few outbursts of fireworks once we crossed the border. It was Tinker’s best and last Fourth of July, including an All-American hot dog in the peaceful garden setting. She was a princess in her special stroller and got lots of attention from passers-by. Tally got to smell the flowers in the dog-friendly grounds. Unfortunately, it was their last together. 

Last night, Tally did have company for the noisy night. My wife’s grand-dog Falco stayed with us because the neighborhood where she lives is much louder than ours. In fact, she’d been medicated for days and reluctant to even go outside. On their final outing last night both dogs were freaked out. Falco refused to pee, after not touching her food or water for days. It was quiet once we got back inside, so both dogs slept undisturbed. However, it took a longer walk this morning to get either of them to do their business. We did have our traditional chicken legs and potato salad dinner, while I drank a bit too much wine. Sadly, in these pandemic times, there was little else to do but watch Yellowstone, for me a repeat. For the first time in our marriage, we were stay-at-home Fourth of July shut-ins.