4th of July Festivities

Picture of the Day for 7/4/2012. Busy day! It started off with a neighborhood breakfast.

I sat next to my 90-something neighbor Max McBeth who related some fascinating stories I had never heard before about his time in New York City in the early 1950s. He showed up at our table wearing a straw hat and asked if it were OK if he kept his hat on during breakfast. Such courtly manners!


The theme of today's patriotic program was the American flag. Harald Clark (sporting a great-looking kilt) provided a really interesting overview of the evolution and history of the flag (hence the display of flags shown in the photo below) from its inception to its current incarnation.



The Boy Scouts conducted a flag-folding ceremony while Tim Barney outlined the "unofficial" meaning for each of the folds.


The neighborhood celebration ended with a parade down the street.


Busy night! In honor of my newly clean porch, the family gathered at my place for a potluck dinner which turned out to be a very successful event.


The adults enjoyed visiting while my nephew Robbie kept the younger kids entertained. He assumed the role of Evil Mastermind and the children did his bidding while performing the following roles/functions:

Ethan - Henchman (he's pictured below bowing before his master)

Hayley - Chief Assassin

Sadie - Secretary (just because you're a band of ne'er-do-wells doesn't mean you shouldn't take good meeting notes)

Dane - Servant


Of course it wouldn't be a Merrill family party without zombies coming into the picture. In addition to being a superb Evil Mastermind, Robbie does a pretty wicked zombie imitation. As you can see from the photo below, Hayley is unaware of the danger that lurks behind her. Run, Hayley, run!


Ethan, on the other hand, is fully aware of Robbie's transformation into a zombie, but remains unfazed. That is a mistake. Run, Ethan, run!


After the zombies, henchmen, and assorted villains went home, I watched the Holladay City fireworks from the end of my driveway.