July 4th among the Pilgrims

We spent an idyllic 4th. Our son had his first tennis lesson, offered for free to all island kids, at a stunning Tennis facility for youth only. It was shocking to learn that adults couldn't play there at all. We then sat at the beach, our candy-stripe colored umbrella blowing in the breeze. The weather was perfect, sunny, but not stifling hot. We came home to change and go to the annual 4th of July parade in Edgartown. This parade celebrating what this holiday is about--our independence--is also kitschy and quaint in the ways a small town parade should be. Our son, who has been coming since he was a baby, is really enjoying it now. It's fascinating to see the world through his eyes as he takes in these 'old' rituals, which in his short term memory are really new. The evening was capped off with a meal of hamburgers grilled on our deck and corn on the cob. It was as this holiday should be celebrated.

Life here settles down and slows down to a rhythm that helps you to notice the way an osprey swoops, swirls, and hovers over the water. You can't help but notice the splash of color in the sky as kites skid and collide across a cloudy sky. Conversations are carried to you by the sea breeze as you sit in a beach chair reading your newest book. Children gather and dig in the sand, figuring out whether this time over a shared hole will result in summer of friendship. Sandwiches packed in the morning are savored, the foil peeled back to reveal a bit of bread stuffed with the pink and white of cold cuts.

And you notice how the sea is really layers of blue and green. Even as the clouds come in, the beach now desolate except for the diehards, takes on a haunted look of gray. There's so little to be angry about when the world in front of you is breathtaking in its simplicity.

And so ended the day, each of us tired from the sun, taking in what this day means to our nation and to us, individually.