In high school I had blue streaked hair, a big mouth (it earned me a suspension from this library), and a serious love of punk music. I spent most of my weekends at local shows or in a friend’s garage listening to NOFX and Catch 22.
When I was a kid my father would take me on drives in our car. We lived in the suburbs and he would takeme through the seediest places in Chicago, Uptown, Downtown, ghettos on the west and south sides of Chicago. He'd tell me stories about growing up in the city and show me places where notorious crimes took place.
Growing up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, July 4th was always the actual start to summer; the lakes would finally be warm enough to swim in, you could usually count on not needing a jacket during the day, and the tourist traffic in town would finally increase to a steady stream instead of a trickle.
My son and his cousins playing in the lake.
With the June we’ve had this year, I’m having flashbacks to those childhood days as here we are, closing in on the 4th, and we’re only now getting some steady warm weather! For me, the 4th of July has always meant beautiful sunny days, barbecues, parades and fireworks at dusk.