Happy 250th Birthday, America

Where has the time gone?

I was in junior high when the country celebrated the bicentennial of being an independent nation.

It was a big deal.

Fifty years later, we are celebrating the semiquincentennial of being independent.

It’s still a big deal.

Fifty years from now will be the tricentennial. I’ll be 113 years old and most likely I won’t be around to celebrate.

I know it’ll be a big deal then too.

So, what did we do to celebrate the country’s milestone birthday?

We attended our home town parade.

Unlike most of the country, Alaska temperatures have been below average. An hour before the Kenai parade began I took this screenshot of the forecast. The temperature was accurate, and fortunately the rain forecast was not. It didn’t rain until the parade was over. Nice!

As you can see, hats and jackets were the norm.

It was a hour long parade which drew a lot of spectators. Jane and I found the usual corner where the Beaver Creek All Stars congregate each year to watch.

Always fun to see kids scramble for the tossed candy. Jane and I shared a laugh about our childhood home town parade in Minnesota. If a Jolly Rancher or Tootsie Pop was left on the asphalt for any length of time it would melt. Kids in Alaska rarely have to worry about that.