My 4th of July

This was not the Independence Day that I had hoped it would be. Whenever the weather is hot, the days sunny and the skies blue, I long to be on the beach....It was that kind of day. We didn't go to the beach like we usually do on the 4th, for a couple of reasosns. (1) Doug thought we should conserve gas and (2) we both had to work the next day so being at the beach for fireworks would've brought us home around 11pm or later what with traffic and all.....

We decided to deliver phone books to an apartment complex in Apollo Beach. We were quite thankful when the manager told us to just leave the books under the cluster of mailboxes--thereby saving us from having to walk them to each apartment.
Doug pulled into a shady spot for us to bag some more in preparation for our next drop. He was in the back of the van tearing open packages (the phone books come in bundles of six wrapped in plastic) and I was standing outside the back of the van bagging. A man appeared out of nowhere and startled me. He asked me where the office was and I pointed in the direction. Ordinarily, I would not have thought much of it but for some reason, I felt creepy, like this man had another agenda. It was the strangest feeling....his eyes seemed glazed to me, like maybe he had taken drugs. It was subtle but for a few seconds, I felt vulnerable. Thank God my husband was right there (the man probably didn't see him in the back of the van)....

When we got home, we decided to go for a motorcycle ride. A friend of Doug's loaned him his Honda so we would have alternative transportation. I have not been on a motorcycle in a long, long time. Doug has had several bikes throughout the years and we've sold them all as the need arose. Consequently, we no longer have motorcycle helmets. Doug assured me that we would just ride through neighborhoods not much on the busier highways.....So, we spent our Fourth of July riding through Fishhawk and other residential neighborhoods, looking and dreaming......After a while, we were butt sore so we stopped at Starbucks and got a Frappucino to share. It was fun. I wrapped my arms around Doug like I had done so long ago, got my hair whipped around and enjoyed the freedom of the moment. About a quarter of a mile from home while we were stopped at a traffic light, a blonde girl passenger on a motorcycle close by in the other lane smiled and waved at me. I waved back.
Doug told me that she broke the "rules". "What rules?" I inquired innocently. Then my husband educated me. "When you're on a Harley, you only wave or nod at other people on Harleys." Oh. Oh, well--I felt cool!

Later we watched the fireworks on tv at the Capitol. The Beach Boys were on. I enjoyed hearing "California Girls," even though I'm a Florida girl, Kokomo and Good Vibrations. And yes, I danced.......