Our neighborhood resurrected a years' old tradition last week, born of Mayberry and family and simpler times:  a Fourth of July parade.

We don't have 76 trombones or 110 cornets or a thousand reeds, but we do have air horns and car horns and I think a kazoo or two.

Crowds don't fill the streets, but neighbors come out of their woodwork or brickwork to cheer for the red, white and blue…

Patriotically-embellished lawnmowers replace tissue-laden flatbeds, golf carts putter street-side instead of brobdingnagian floats suspended overhead, and characters aren't cartoonish giants, they're pint-sized or daddy-sized.

 

Slices of All American Apple Pie:  John Deere tractors, Radio Flyer red wagons, Harley and Rolling Stone tee shirts on middle-aged men, and a little surrey with the fringe on top.  They all bless my born-in-the-USA heart.

S i g h…how can you not love a home grown parade?  Since we don't have a riding mower or a golf cart or a tractor, I figure I could still "participate" by taking pictures of those who do…although a few rabble rousers asked me if they needed to sign a release.  To teach them a must-needed lesson, I added 10 pounds to their weight in Photoshop. 

You can have your Macy's Thanksgiving Day or Rose Parade…I'll stick with the party in the 'hood :). 

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How do you celebrate Independence Day?  Is this the quirky kind of thing you think of when you consider the South?  If you live in a neighborhood, do y'all have any community get-togethers?  If not, why not initiate a new tradition!!!