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| Illustrated by Tasha tudor |
Ms. Campbell tells us that the Fourth of July signals the start of the clambake season in Rhode Island. Here is her recipe for Clam Fritters. . . .
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Tasha Tudor shows us how her family celebrated in her book "A Time To Keep" with the traditional firing off of fireworks as well as watching them being set off at the fairgrounds in the village from the vantage point of their high pasture. A picnic on a little island in the Black River reached by canoe was also part of their celebration. . . .
In Tasha Tudor's "Around the Year" she celebrates the 4th of July. . . .
When I was a child we'd always go to my grandparents' farm to celebrate the 4th. The cousins would be there and we'd have sparklers and firecrackers. The cats would hide under the porch and us girls would cover our ears. Watermelon and homemade ice cream could be counted on being a part of our celebration. . . .
How did your family celebrate the 4th of July when you were growing up?
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Take Joy!
We lived along the southern shore of Lake Ontario until I was 10, so the Fourth of July meant dozens of relatives from both sides of the family spending the entire day with us. We were the only ones in the family who lived along the Lake and as my Mom often said later, "We had company every weekend in the Summer - whether we wanted it or not..." I remember long portable fold-up picnic tables covered with oilcloth and strewn with all kinds of food - many things we kids were never allowed to have - normally - at our house. There was swimming of course, and riding in my Dad's boat as a spotter for my teenage cousins who'd be water-skiing. I remember my great-aunts playing bridge on the screened porch, and my Dad and uncles playing poker out in the side yard. Some of our neighbors were Summer-only residents - I particularly remember one lady two houses over, Miss Clark, who taught French at an area college and doted on one of my little brothers - but EVERYONE was "in residence" on the Fourth. And two of the families on our street had a friendly fireworks competition each year, taking turns blasting off various rockets etc for about an hour. Luckily our house was situated just about at the midpoint between these two houses. Of course as kids we always looked forward to this because it was the latest we were allowed to stay up the whole year. It wasn't dark anough to start the fireworks until about 9:30, and even if there hadn't been fireworks, it would have been exciting enough just to be outside in the dark night. Families with older kids would usually sit on their docks to get the very best view of the fireworks, but we always had babies and toddlers of various ages in the mix, so Mom & Dad wisely kept us on our concrete breakwall, which was still a very good vantage point for all the sparkle. And of course the littlest kids would invariably fall asleep long before the fireworks actually started anyway - LOL. I remember struggling to stay awake myself on occasion. After we moved away from the Lake, we continued the family picnic at our new house. And we added a haywide, because early July was the time when the farmer next door to us was cutting and baling his hay. and it was so much fun to ride along on the haywagon as the bales were stacked up.
ReplyDeleteJanet, you have such wonderful memories of your childhood. You are like Susan Branch in that way! Coming from a large family which lots of people--neighbors to make it all the merrier.
DeleteYes, you might be right about the large families, Cathy. Our street at the Lake was chock-a-block with families. Hardly an empty nester, or a single person, or a childless couple in the bunch. A fair number of Summer-only people, maybe 10 percent - but most of these were families who shared their Summer places together all Summer etc. As I said, the only single lady I could ever remember was Miss Clark the French teacher. I wonder whether Susan and I both being firstborns is a factor into why we have such clear memories of our childhoods? I know my sibs don't remember nearly as much as I do. Of course I have 6+ years on my youngest sister - I'm just older and there's MORE to remember overall. LOL.
DeleteI had a fourth grade teacher named Miss Clark! 😊 I think girls remember more than boys in general. They say emotions "tag" memories which helps recall. I think that's why we remember more--we're more emotional that most boys.
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