What a Fourth of July!

Did you have a good Fourth of July? (Or for our fine Canadian readers, a good Canada Day!)

We did. First of all, our contractor Dave was here Friday, doing a good sealing job along the joint between the big awning and the top and side of the trailer. That should take care of leakage that was evident from the prior set up. He also installed some smaller awnings over windows on the west side of the trailer to help with the afternoon sun.

Friday afternoon, I went down to our church to help the Knights of Columbus decorate a parade float. Since this is hot summer, there aren’t many Knights (or anybody else) in town now, so every pair of hands is welcome. Five of us showed up for the project, and we had a grand time.

It you’ve ever seen the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade or the Rose Parade, you’ll recognize this is not a major float we’ve built. It’s a flatbed trailer, with two old church pews centered lengthwise for any of us who would show up to sit on it. But it was festooned with red, white and blue flowers, banners, sparkly stuff, and enough duct tape to hold it all together. Most of the decorations were plastic because this is Monsoon season, and rain can come any time and in any amount.

Saturday, we were up early and got to the church in time to climb aboard the float. Again because it’s summer and Monsoon season, the parade started early, at 9:00am. We had to be at the church by 7:30 to get organized, and at the staging area by 8:00. Suzy joined five Knights to climb aboard the float, as did two other wives and eventually about 8 kids.
Benson is a small town, the parade route was relatively short, but there were plenty of floats, horses, mules, cars, tractors, and carriages to delight the onlookers! Our float was unit #48 in the line-up, and there were at least a dozen or more behind us! If you consider that a “unit” might consist of five fire trucks or engines from nearby St. David, and that other neighboring fire companies sent multiple pieces as well, you know it was a pretty long parade! (I'd've had more parade pictures, but the camera battery died and I didn't have the spare with me.)

After the parade, we hurried home so Suzy could prepare for the 1:00pm potluck here at our SKP Park. She made a corn casserole that has become her regular potluck offering. It’s made with cans of whole kernel corn and cream style corm, a box of Jiffy corn muffin mix, and a bunch of other stuff. It’s always a hit. She added a can of green chilies for a Mexican flavor. She also took a Jell-O salad, my favorite.

In summer, there aren’t a lot of folks here in the park. Out of 300 leased sites and maybe 45 shorter term lease sites, there are only 80 leaseholders and about 20 to 25 renters here right now. There’s not a lot going on, but a potluck like this will still draw a pretty good crowd. Some of the folks here are singles, and even an older fellow who doesn’t do much cooking can go to the store and buy a cake or a big pot of potato salad, and then be able to socialize a little.

Even with a relatively small population in the park, there were between 65 and 70 at the meal today, with plenty of food for all. Both of Suzy’s dishes were empty at the end of the meal.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, reading, playing Mexican Train. Until 8:30, when we started hearing thunder. But wait, that’s not thunder, that’s the fireworks display from Benson! We dashed out to our front porch, and lo and behold, we had a first row balcony seat for nearly a half hour of magnificent fireworks! We were able to see all the aerial displays clearly, and the lower level pyrotechnics peeked up over the desert landscape. We felt blest with that display, one more plus for our home and our lifestyle!

We weren’t prepared for pictures, and even if we had been, the show was too far away. We took these shots three years ago at Clear Lake, Iowa. Their show wasn’t a bit better than this one in Benson, Arizona!

That’s a major holiday for two people living … Our Life on Wheels.