IN MY LIFE-4TH OF JULY

In my life...

Independence Day, also know as the 4th of July, is the day Americans celebration our country's birthday. This year the United States will be 241 years old. It's one of my favorite holidays because there are no gifts or religious ties/ It's simply a celebration, having a good time and fun. It's all-American too, the red, white and blue, unlike other holidays, such as Christmas, which is celebrated around the world.

The 4th is America. Here are my memories and thoughts on the 4th..

* I was never a big fireworks guy. As a kid, they were always too loud. Now I appreciate them more, but I can still take them or leave them.

You have to see fireworks under n open sky to get the overall effect. I never do get showing fireworks on TV. it's just not the same.

Fireworks used to be exclusive to the 4th of July, They were special. Now, you can see fireworks at an outdoor concert, or after a home run in baseball, or even on New Year's Eve.

Fireworks are better with music, but it seems no matter how hard they try, the explosions of color are never quite synced to the music.

The Phillies do a great fireworks show twice a year around Independence Day. The climax is always the best, when the sky lights up in constant color and the roar of the explosions thunder through the night.

Funny, I had dogs who were afraid of the booms and whistling of fireworks and would scamper under a bed, yet I've also had mutts who really didn't care and didn't flinch a hair.

As kids we used to light sparklers and things called bottle rockets. They were illegal, but unless you had an arsenal of firepower the police and the neighbors would usually look the other way as dust approached on the evening of the 4th.

* My favorite part of a 4th of July celebration was the bar-b-que or cook-out. It was usually family-oriented, and a lot of times it was a good reason for family to gather. Kids were off from school, maybe home from college. Sometimes you would have multiple cook-outs to attend, and you wondered how you were going to eat your way thru 2-3 bar-b-ques.

My favorite cook-out food is hot dogs on a grill. Just the aroma of a neighborhood grill was the best, especially in the evening./ Mustard on my dog,maybe a little sauerkraut. Macaroni or potato salad is a must, and nowadays you see more and more fresh fruit. Watermelon and ice cream are 4th of July staples. Burgers, chicken, ribs-so much food on the 4th.

Pool parties,wiffle ball games, horseshoes made get-togethers a blast. Have the ballgame on the radio as everyone eats at a picnic table under an umbrella is the perfect setting. Mosquitoes and flies notwithstanding.

* My favorite patriotic song? Probably "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy" or, a more contemporary song about freedom, 'Some Gave All' by Billy Rat Cyrus.

My favorite patriotic movie? Not "Born on the 4th of July",which is good,about a Vietnam Vet returning home. Maybe "Saving Private Ryan". My favorite colonial flick is "Drums Along the Mohawk," which has a 4th of July theme.

 Famous People who were born on July 4th include-

- Malia Obama- daughter of President Obama
- Calvin Cooledge-30th President of the U.S.
- Gloria Stuart- Titantic actress
- Nathaniel Hawthonre- author of The Scarlet Letter
- Geraldo Rivera- TV shill
- Stephen Foster-famous American songwriter
- Ron Kovic- disabled vet whose autobiography "Born on the 4th of July" was made into a 1989 movie starring Tom Cruise
- George Steinbrenner- late NY Yankees owner

Note: George M. Cohen, who wrote the song "Yankee Doodle Dandy," was actually born on July 3.

Weirdest fact about the 4th: Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826- 50 years  to the day when the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia.

* Although not the middle of summer, July 4th was always thought of as being "the middle of summer." Summer always goes too fast, and the 4th was a reminder that Labor Day, and Autumn, really weren't that far away.

Baseball was always a big part of the 4th. other than listening to games on the radio while on the beach or during a cook-out, baseball has always been big on the 4th.

New York Yankees left-hander Dave Righetti pitched a no-hitter on the afternoon of July 4th in 1983. The feat was done against the rival Boston red Sox at Yankee Stadium- how American is that?

An old baseball lore was that whichever teams were in first place on the Fourth of July would go on to the World Series. A report by Sports Illustrated in 2012 finds this old superstition did hold weight- about 60% of the time a team in first place in it's division would in fact, move on to the Series.

The number of games have expanded, so July 4th isn't quite the halfway point of a baseball season anymore. Divisions have expanded, as have the number of playoff games, but it still rings true the a division leader on July 4th will go on to make the playoffs 2/3 rds of the time.

Baseball on July 4th usually meant doubleheaders, either daytime or twi-light. I loved doubleheaders- you got to see almost all the players on the roster play in one session- but they are a thing of the past. If there is a rain make-up teams play a day-night doubleheader- two separate games, two separate admissions. Plus in today's world, where young people are looking for shorter games, the last thing a younger fan wants is spending 8 hours at a ballpark, even if you're getting two games for the price of one.

Still, for devoted baseball fans, spending the Fourth of July at the National Pastime and rooting for your home team  for hours and hours wasn't a bad way to spend your holiday.

* One of my favorite Fourth of July celebrations was on July 4, 1976- the Bicentennial,  America's 200th birthday. Wagon trains, which crossed the country form Oregon earlier that summer, wheeled into Phoenixville on the 4th. I remember it was a crystal blue sky, sunny, hot Sunday. A million people had gathered in Valley Forge Park to see then President Gerald Ford. We watched the tall ships sail into New York Harbor past the Statue of Liberty that afternoon on TV. The evening was filled with patriotic concerts and celebrations and, of course, massive fireworks displays.

The Bicentennial was something all Americans looked forward to for a long time, so there was a big build-up to the 4th that year. The celebration was not a let-down- it was fantastic to be alive during such a historical moment in American history.

* A continuing tradition on the 4th is the hot dog eating contest in Coney Island. Now, ESPN makes it into a one-hour special "sports" program, broadcast the afternoon of the competition. A lot of Wing Bowl contestants participate in the hot dog consumption. It's kind of stupid, thousands of people cheering for "professional eaters" gorging themselves on wieners and buns, but hey, it's tradition, and that's what July 4th is all about-tradition.