4July2011 Independence

Watching fireworks while listening to the star spangled banner. 

Smelling charcoaled burgers and tasting flame kissed hotdogs. 

Splashing each other in the pool and slurping down homemade, peach ice cream. 

Good stuff! 

Today we're gonna miss another 4th of July in the good, ole U.S.A but we will be celebrating our independence nonetheless.  It's a heartfelt imperative!  A large portion of the world can only dream about the freedoms we enjoy.  Freedom of speech, freedom of religion and all those other inalienable rights we often take for granted are a but fantasy to many.  This part of the globe has basically been turned upside down as the people here clamor for independence.  Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Morocco, etc., etc.  CNN, FoxNews and friends have probably talked about it to the point that you change the channel when these stories come on.  I can certainly understand it but please don't lose the wonder in what is transpiring.  The world is struggling for independence. 

2July2011 We now lock the doors.

It happened so fast it caught us all off guard.  It was mid-afternoon, following Group, and everyone was resting in the heat of the day.  The two youngest were taking naps, their mother may or may not have been too (depends on who you ask), Z and I were watching something on TV, and  J was in the front room, reading.  Now, normally we lock the front door of the apartment.  Not because of safety concerns but because it's old and the lock doesn't latch completely, allowing the door the swing open if the wind blows the right way. 

Anyway, everyone was chilling, when I heard the door latch and J say, "Uh, Dad, there's someone in here."  He didn't sound scared just shocked.  I quickly walked in to check on the situation and sure enough there was a bewildered little boy staring back at me.  J was sitting on the couch completely dumbfounded.  After greeting him and asking him what he wanted, our visitor mumbled something about our upstairs neighbor and wanted to know who we were.  Apparently in his five years of life he'd never walked into a house full of Americans.  Amused bewilderment abounded, at least on our part.  Abdullah was scared.  I did my best to calm him down and after some questions realized he had stumbled nto the wrong apartment.  Initially he was unconvinced so I walked him to the stairs and showed him our neighbors' door.  Abdullah reluctantly conceded but he made it clear that he wasn't 100% convinced by repeated glances back over his shoulders as he walked away.