July 4th

Independence Day in the U.S. of A. A very festive time indeed!
On July 4th, Bayou Bend hosts a free 4-hour event celebrating the day with 1st floor tours of the house, crafts for the kids, brass ensemble, fife and drum corps, a reading of the Declaration of Independence, jazz, birthday cake - generalized fun for all who come. Yesterday (yes, I'm writing a day later due to exxhaaaauuuustionnnnnn...), we had over 600 people come to visit with temperatures outside ranging from 100 to 105, taking into account the heat index.
It was a fun-loving and attentive crowd, and if one were to walk around just listening to people's conversations, you would hear many different languages. Many nationalities were represented, and that's not necessarily unusual for Bayou Bend because we seem to attract people from all over the world with a passion for history, architecture, furniture, and for lovely gardens. But I do think it is interesting that they would choose to spend July 4th with us. Last year, we had a family who had fairly recently arrived from Turkey, who were trying very hard to learn about this new place and what it was like to live in the USA, and they were so articulate about their excitement and about the hopes that they had for the time that they would be here. I wonder how they are doing now...
When it is all said and done, I'm very glad that we can watch the fireworks on TV. I have done the thing with the parking and the crowds and the walking and the booming overhead...and it was very grand...but now, it is also ok to watch in amazement on the tube, then roll over in one's cool, cool bed and fall into a blissful sleep.
Happy Birthday, Land that I Love!