God Bless America… and Mexican Beer!

I guess the Fourth has different meaning for everyone, and I’m no different.

There are parents praying for the safe return of their sons and daughters from Iraq, war veterans recalling previous battles and what they fought for, while others find it an opportunity to celebrate a day off from work for fun, food, and drunkenness.

But for me, I find it a chance to reflect on my granddad, who passed away five years ago today. I always have a rough go at it in the weeks leading up to the Fourth, I guess because his death was the first and only passing I’ve ever witnessed. To be honest, I hope I never see something like that again, but I suppose I’m lucky to have lived to 19 and never witnessed someone dying in front of you.

So this morning, I woke up, cried a little, remembered what a true American stands for, and spent the day with Ashley and her family out in Comfort. I was thinking about going home to Dallas, but I had to work yesterday, and I found out my mom had to work. That and my family never talks, reflects, discusses the Fourth and Gramps’ passing, so I figured, what’s the point?

Comfort, Texas is about an hour and a half southwest of Austin, between Kerrville and San Antonio on I-10. It’s a beautiful drive through the Hill Country, and there is nothing quite like a serene 70-mph drive on Hwy. 290 through Johnson City and Fredericksburg while listening to Madonna and Kelly Clarkson. Haha. God bless crappy, yet awesome pop music.

I got there in time to see a traditional July Fourth parade, complete with “Little Miss Comfort” pageant contestants and their floats. After a few good laughs at the fake waves these girls were tossing out to the crowd, I quickly realized they must be taught to wave like corpses. I also learned that a horizontal oval looks much better in presentation than the more common circle wave.

But probably the best float/parade moment was the Mexican float. Now, I hate being stereotypical, but this totally went down!

So, their float was just a big trailer, not decorated, with people just sitting in the float, not really doing anything. And
instead of throwing candy to the children like the rest of the floats, they had coolers filled to the brim with, take a guess, Mexican beer. AND they were passing the stuff out to the crowd along the streets!! HAHAHAHAHA! I couldn’t stop laughing, and if I had thought before I left my house the morning, I totally would have grabbed my camera for a blog picture opportunity!

Only in Texas would that stuff go down, and only a city south of Waco and outside of the Bible Belt would something like this be approved as a valid parade float. HAHAHA.

So, happy Fourth -- and happy shortened work week!