2026 Life Logs, Day 185: A Day of Celebration
Date: Saturday, July 4, 2026
Weather: Sunny and Hot, again; High Temp 87, Low 67 degrees F
Location: At Home with My Shadow, Falmouth, MA
I hops this 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence was a day of celebrating democracy for you, as it was for me. I started the day standing out at a busy intersection in town with my sign with a depiction of Lady Liberty and the words, “Democracy Has No Kings.” Just a little reminder! Heather came by and we got a selfie of the two of us wearing our US soccer team jerseys, making us 
look like we were wrapped in an American flag. We were definitely ready for a day of celebration.
We left the standout and headed to Heather’s neighborhood for their annual 4th of July parade, this year led by Ollie on his lawn tractor, hauling his business partner’s wagon of landscaping equipment. They were followed by children and adults from the neighborhood. Afterwards, everyone was headed to the neighborhood swim party.
But first, Heather and I went to the Green for the weekly standout for democracy where Heather spoke briefly about the importance of celebrating this day.
Then it was back to the Grasmere party for lunch. After lunch I headed to Mashpee to visit with Patsy. I was almost there when I seemed to lose power steering. It was very difficult to turn a corner and then every warning light imaginable lit up on my dashboard. I made it into the Bridges parking lot, backed into a spot, and turned the car off. I had forgotten to roll up the windows, so I tried to start the car, but the battery was dead. I knew I had to get the car towed back to Falmouth to a garage, so I called AAA. While waiting, I had a short visit with my sister but the tow truck came sooner than expected. He opened my hood and said that the problem was that there was no drive belt. Hopefully that is the only issue, but I will have to wait until Monday to find out. I had asked to be transported back to Falmouth in the tow truck, but the man driving asked me who was picking me up on the other end. I said I would figure that out when I got there, maybe take a bus into town. But because of the extreme heat, he was not going to let me get in the tow truck until I called to make sure I had a ride on the other end. I tried to convince him that I would be just fine, but he wasn’t having it. He said his grandmother would roll over in her grave if he ever dropped a customer off in such hot weather without having arranged for a ride. I made a few calls and found Karen Baranowski at home and willing to pick me up, so off we went. But then he wouldn’t let me get out of the truck until Karen had arrived. Part of me was infuriated, but part of me was very grateful that this man takes his work so seriously. Thank you to Marc’s Auto in Wareham and thanks to Karen for coming to my rescue!
The evening celebration began with having smoked baby back ribs for dinner at Heather and Jed’s. Then we were off to the beach to watch the town fireworks display. Sam and his friend Ethan were going to watch the fireworks by boat. Jonah was off to Falmouth Heights Beach to watch with friends. So Heather, Jed, Ollie, and I met up with Ollie’s friend Seton and his family to watch from the beach off Surf Drive. I love listening to the waves lapping ashore while watching fireworks. It is one of my favorite things to do. And this year it was so hot, Heather and Jed went for a swim before the fireworks began. Happy birthday to the United States of America!!!
