July 4th Weekend

     So, most of America is celebrating the Fourth of July, or "Independence Day", as it used to be called. Caleb and Trevor have been setting off firecrackers for most of the last few days. They've had fun with those. (The rest of us haven't.)

     We spent the day cleaning the garage and burning trash, a very productive way to spend a day. And holidays are much the same as any others, yes? If you're going to burn stuff, make sure those flames are doing something useful. And ours certainly were - Dispatching a broken-freezer's worth of rotting meat and assorted scrapwood, limbs and hay. And most of the garage is now clean, too.

     Last night we went to Tahlequah to Louise and Harry's for their 25th anniversary party; it was very good to be in Tahlequah again, even if it was only for a quick visit. And it was equally very good to spend time with Lankfords. Saw Grandpa and Robbie, met two of Harry's sons, talked some with Damon and Louise's friends Annie and Geneva, threw a football around with Clay and Hayden, and shot baskets and played ping pong with Lillyanne. Also got to hold my two-year-old cousin Lyla Rose; together we watched the fireworks shot off by the people across the street. It was a good time.

 
    (Updated Sunday night...)
     The U.S. women's soccer team played in the final of the World Cup against Japan. So of course we watched it. This made the third major tournament in a row that the two teams had faced each other with the title on the line, and the last World Cup Japan won in a shootout. Vancouver is much closer to America than Japan is....pretty large homefield advantage, eh? Carli Lloyd scored two goals within the first five minutes, and then Lauren Holliday added another goal, and about ten minutes late Lloyd earned a hat trick. It was pretty awesome. Sure, Japan scored late in the first half, and then early in the second on an own-goal by a defender's misplaced header, but Tobin Heath scored after passes from Alex Morgan and Morgan Brian.
    Final score? U.S.A. 5, Japan 2. Twitter and Facebook go crazy with "Party Like It's 1999!" flashback photos.
     In 1999, we'd just moved to Morris from Broken Arrow, and I was the starting defender for the Sonic Drive-In team, which won all five games, winning the 1st/2nd grade division of the Okmulgee County Y-league  (Other teammates included neighbors Katie and Kelsie, and Logan, whose parents were/are the local vets. Katie's mom Becky was our coach.) Also, I played at least two more seasons with every other person from this team. And then in high school I covered Guy Kiehl's football games for the Free-Lance. (He's in between me and Kelsie in this photo.)

   

   
     Elizabeth texts me right after the game ended, screaming "MERICA!" Then we compared favorite soccer movies that we reenacted in our backyards. We both loved (and love) The Big Green and Air Bud: World Pup. I really liked Switching Goals, and her favorite is Bend It Like Beckham. That got me to thinking about the stories I would write with Mimi's help about a YMCA soccer team called the Panthers, and the updated reboot/sequel that I wrote about some of those characters last summer. Might need to spend some more time with those characters, that was fun.

     And now I'm winding this post up because the NASCAR race is finally dropping the green flag in Daytona after about a million years of rain delay. It's been a good weekend.