Since moving to Virginia, our Independence Day festivities usually occur in Colonial Williamsburg, which has been amazing.
This year my kids are busy with their summer jobs, so we stayed home this Independence Day.
That meant returning to old time Texas traditions of barbecuing ribs and hand cranked ice cream.
RAINY DAY
Despite all the rain, we refused to let that dampen our spirits and traditions.
Can you see the downpour, which got heavier and heavier?
While dodging raindrops, I put mesquite wood chips in the grill and maintained a 275-300 degree environment for a four hour long smoking experience for spareribs.
Then, we conquered hand-cranked ice cream by placing a waterproof tarp on top of the deck to shield us underneath.
HAND-CRANKED ICE CREAM
Although we are more used to BBQing and hand-cranking ice cream in 100 degree sunny heat in Texas than this drenched 70 degree novelty, we conquered both!
Don’t you just love our antique hand crank ice cream maker?
Pulling this out for many visiting family members has always been unexpected fun for them.
My kids have been hand-cranking ice cream since they have learned how to stand!
Keeping perfectly dry from the tarp above, we hand-cranked while surrounded by the dripping of cool rain.
One of the treats of hand crank ice cream is getting more than the allotted scoop(s) from the store bought carton.
Once this paddle comes out and all the ice cream is scraped off…and then scooped out of the canister…it seems such a shame to merely rinse it all off in the sink and let all the goodness go down the drain.
After I scrape the goodness from the paddle into the container for the freezer, the family grabs spoons to scrape remnants of deliciousness off the paddle.
BBQ AND FLAGS
Grilled ribs and sweet corn. Perfection!
I also baked zucchini bread this morning and made Tex Mex cole slaw for dinner.
Meanwhile I want to add to my flag collection…
MISTY VIEW FROM DECK
After dinner when the rain ceased, the mist rose from the warm ground into the cool air!
Not used to this in Texas, these mists are a purely northeastern experience for me, which I love.
LIGHTNING BUGS AND FIREWORKS
Hearing a few fireworks in the distance, my perplexed daughter asked if it was gunpowder. 😉
My daughter has far more experience with gunpowder and cannons since moving to Virginia, than she has with fog and fireworks.
Intrigued by the pops of fireworks, myself, I sat on the deck to enjoy fireworks over the distant treetops that were covered with mist.
Meanwhile lightening bugs lit up around me as neighbors played with sparklers.
While most of the fireworks were from Bristow neighbors, some were from Manassas and Gainesville.
What a good old-fashioned 4th of July this was.
INDEPENDENCE DAY OF, BY, AND FOR THE PEOPLE
I love celebrating Independence Day that was hard fought against tyranny by our Founding Fathers and the soldiers of the American Revolution.
Despite what we think of Washington DC politics, our flag and Independence Day is not about that, but about the government our Founding Fathers established of the people, by the people, for the people.
PATRICK HENRY BOOK
To paraphrase Patrick Henry, if we want to keep it, America’s Independence, we must practice virtue and diligence.
I highly recommend his excellent biography, A Son of Thunder by Henry Mayer.
