Ten on Tuesday: 10 favorite things about the 4th of July

Eh. Not my favorite holiday but....

1. The neighbors who were so awful with the illegal fireworks in the alley have moved away. Can you tell I'm a curmudgeon about the 4th?

2. Municipal fireworks displays. No matter how rinky dink or how over-the-top. I love finding a decent vantage point and watching.

3. The silly soft rock station that plays patriotic music to go along with the St. Louis fireworks.

4. Midway through summer, I like to assess. This year it will be a big pat on the back.

5. An excuse for a barbecue is always nice. Sometimes with neighbors, sometimes with parents or inlaws.

6. We got married on the 4th of July weekend 15 years ago. We know many couples who did the same (1st through 7th of July folks). I remember an especially fun one in Milwaukee with the reception barbecue being the happiest drunk I've ever been (and I've never done better and I've ceased to try).

7. Berry season is in full swing. I'm envisioning the triple layer cake I'm going to make.

8. I'm tan. I'm not a big tanner (I burn pretty easily, although I always fade and until three weeks ago, I hadn't burned in a decade). But slow layers of bike exposure and gardening has given me a nice farmer's tan. Better than that, actually.

9. 5 1/2 months until Christmas, everything still seems possible (things to make and do between the 4th of July and the end of the year: Halloween, Thanksgiving, birthdays, Christmas, back to school, and so on).

10. It's a holiday that doesn't exclude anyone (well, except for those not living in the US, I suppose, but they're not living next door or go to my school or parish or whatever). It is self-congratulatory like Valentine's Day or Mother's Day, except that anyone who lives here is part of that. Or they don't have to, but we don't tell them they don't belong. It's like Thanksgiving that way. You don't have to celebrate it, but one group of folks isn't saying you can't celebrate it.