The 4th of July

I'm a bit late reporting on our 4th of July. Actually we didn't do too much. It was a little strange...this being our first year celebrating such a patriotic holiday out of the country. The day before, Sam was talking to one of the German bus drivers who was asking what holiday it was. Of course saying "the 4th of July" meant nothing to someone who is not American. So finally Sam said it was America's birthday.

Patch Barracks was having a celebration of sorts and we planned to spend at least part of the day out there. It was planned to start at 1:00 with the Commander tapping the keg. I hate to admit my ignorance, but I envisioned him literally tapping the keg with a stick or something. I had no idea what it meant until Sam filled me in. Here in Germany to start a celebration they tap the cork into the keg to open it. It doesn't seem like much is done here without the presence of beer (or any kind of alcohol).

Well, we were there at 1:00 (even though it was raining), but then found out it had been postponed until 5:00. That threw a wrench in our plans, so we just messed around the house and went out to eat that evening, then back to Patch Barracks. We had fun on the Bumper Cars and Sam won a couple of beer steins. It would have been nice to see the fireworks, but that wasn't until 10:30 and Sam had to get up early for work. Besides, it was still raining.

I really enjoy living here and we're taking in all that we can, but at times I really miss the USA. I'm American to the core and while I like it here, I look forward to returning home someday.

The picture at the top is the entrance to Patch Barracks. The streets were lined with American flags. It was very beautiful, but the picture doesn't do it justice.