Most young children shy away from loud objects. They cringe at the high pitched squeal and quick pops and blasts. The 4th of July typically is not a favorite holiday until they're a little older. But Tigone is a special bred, she comes from what I like to call the "rock on" generation. She totally dug the fireworks (accompanied by some very patriotic Lee Greenwood). She waved at them while rockin out to the tunes. (My child always has a beat going in her head, it just so happens there was music playing that night to dance along to.) She also gave them many sporatic claps of approval in spite of the obnoxious schrilling sounds and nasty smelling smoke that's left behind. It was a proud moment...my little Tig is a party girl.
Some of the best people in the world are grandmas, and one of my favorite people in the world was my Grandma Arlene. When I was young, she watched me almost every summer when she wasn't teaching school. I have great memories of baking, swimming (in those good ole above ground pools), laying on the concrete afterwards (cuz you can't go in the house wet), watching the Wizard of Oz over and over (and getting scared every time), and having her always ask me if I wanted her to pull my hair back (because she didn't like it in my face). My cousins and I played Oregon Trail and Number Munchers like it was going out of style (my grandma was in the only one in our family with a computer until the nineties). She was a fun grandma, she could always find something for us to do. I think I told her that I finished reading the blue book probably three times a day during one summer. The blue book was the old paperback Book of Mormon with Moroni on the cover, I was around 5 or 6 years old, pretty proficient reader at such a young age.
