Friday, July 04, 2008

Independence Day: Then and Now

I took Benjamin to my old neighborhood today to witness the annual Independence Day parade. It was scaled down from when we were kids but I still joked with my old neighbors wondering if there will be beer distribution for those thirsty parade watchers and I tried to guess which Redskin or politician will be there. Answer was no and none although there was some councilman who I never heard of distributing candy and Benjamin got some good stuff.

We got a lot of walkers and bikers and some cars were decorated. No real big floats were constructed. Back in our day neighbors from various streets used to battle for that top float prize every year. Benjamin loved the fire trucks and he did his Fireman Sam thumbs up to the firemen, who gave him a thumbs up back. He loved seeing the dogs on parade too.

We went to the park afterwards to have some fun. We stood for the Pledge of Allegiance and Star Spangled Banner, then got some food. The line was too long for the moon bounce but we ran and played on the slides and swings before calling it a day. I was bummed there wasn't a softball game and egg toss contest. Pony rides were replaced by a motor train, which drove kids around the playing fields at the park.

I'm very much into nostalgia. Can't explain it except I used to love listening to my Grandparents talk about their lives and what was going on in the DC area when they were kids and adults. History was my favorite subject during the times I paid attention in school. Also I get nostalgic when I listen to tons of music off my iPod from various eras. I'm proud of where I grew up, appreciate my roots and we had a fun childhood that I'll never forget. I get a kick showing Benjamin the area now and he's starting to develop an appreciation as he told me today "I like seeing where you grew up Daddy". He's two and a half, going on ten.

Hope everyone who reads this had a Happy Independence Day! Enjoy the pics. Just for kicks I took a few of Benjamin today in front of the house we grew up in.

My Grandparents awaiting parade, 1969


Benjamin awaiting the parade, 2008


Daddy staying cool, 1969


Benjamin kicking it, 2008


Daddy at the front door, 1970


Benjamin at the front door, 2008


Policemen and Firemen, 1969


Firemen, 2008


Cars in parade, 1969


Cars in parade, 2008




Miscellaneous shots


Daddy and Benjamin


Benjamin and a friend

7 comments:

Kim said...

Thanks for sharing Bill, the old pics are a hoot!

K

Anonymous said...

I agree with K, Bill. Nice trip down memory lane, you young whippersnapper. :-)

dadman

Anonymous said...

This is one of the joys of living in a small town. We don't take part much in Hanover's Independence Day stuff, but there are many other small-town traditions I know Bridget will grow up enjoying. Sadly, those are going away in places that have grown from small town to suburb in the last 20-30 years.

Keep getting as much of that nostalgia into him as you can.

maryjanejeff said...

I thought you ran out of things to post about. :) I'm glad you posted about this.

Bill-DC said...

I had block. Since I am not a writer, I can't call it writer's block ;)

Things have picked up now. I had been wanting to get a pic of Benjamin at my old house for quite some time and yesterday was perfect since the current owners weren't home.

Anonymous said...

Great photos and it was good to see the old homestead. Funny, I think I actually have a photo of Missy looking very similar to her daughter in that picture with Ben.
Aunt Kim

maryjanejeff said...

Maybe when he's cap-tied to the US, they will finally have the red kits a lot of their fans will want to wear. :D