Our First Married 4th

Today was our very first 4th of July as a married couple. We are in a new town with no friends to speak of, so there were  no gatherings to attend, no calls from anyone down the street....

instead we drove up the coast to Bodega Bay and down to Point Reyes for some yummy sweets from the Bovine Bakery.

We came home and went jogging together around the high school track a 1/4 mile from our home. We made dinner of foil-wrapped potatoes and creme fraiche to complement a delicious chicken marinade and ate while we watched the darkness rise in the streets outside of our lovely dining room window.

At the first sign of a major fireworks display we went onto the porch with some fantastic cheesecake and some cherries bought at a roadside stand (the woman said they were from Washington state, so 'farm fresh' seems a bit generous in terms of time) and watched the show framed by sycamore branches.

All the loneliness we might have felt being away from the familiar for our first major national holiday wasn't there: I sat in the halo of my husband's strong arms in my thick sweater and basked in the warmth of our little life. We named fireworks as though Anthony and I were their makers, things like, "Doublemint Twins", "Cherry Bombs", "Warp Speed", etc. There was a lot of laughter and some vulgarity included in our false knowledge.

We. Our. Us. I never knew a holiday for two could feel like a family of 4 - such is the power of strong love.

I hope that you all had amazing 4ths, full of fireworks and laughing children... God Bless this land so full of hope and promise!!!