Leaving early to avoid Traffic

4th of July. We got up a little late and it was great sleeping in. For me that means I woke up around 5 AM wrote a little and then went back to sleep for about an hour finally getting out of bed around 9. God it feels so good to sleep a little once in a while without the hectic schedule of rising to do all the shit that we do on a daily basis that seems so important. Ok, I digress. We all rolled out of bed and after eating a quick breakfast strolled downtown to watch the 4th of July parade. It is a very small town so the parade takes all of 15 to 20 minutes but it is very cute.

We have a section of dogs with flag scarves on, a section of three wheelers, a section for Harley riders and a few old cars. The fire engine goes by and other than that there are a couple of miscellaneous floats. It is a little hickish but extremely enjoyable. We then came back to my neighbors house, made some lunch had a couple of beers and the next thing we knew it was 4 PM. It is like the entire day gets sucked into this slow moving relaxation void and you just mosey along until the next hour passes by. We had plans on going to a winery for dinner, seeing a few bands play and watching the fireworks so around 4 we headed off for our evening outing.

The winery turned out to be a great idea. The bands were ok but the venue was beautiful and the kids for the most part behaved. We drank some Sangria, some beer and even had some Champagne. We ate some very expensive average food and spent some time talking. It was one of the best 4th of Julys I can remember having in a very long time. As the sky became a fountain of red white and blue sparkling bursts of flames my oldest daughters friend ask if we would be leaving early to avoid traffic. I was engulfed in the atmosphere of family, friends and a beautiful woman while watching the sky dance in multi colored entertainment so her question took me by surprise.

I am not sure why since I have often had the same feeling on previous occasions. It seems in my past the importance lay in attending the event versus actually enjoying the event. Something like checking a box so you could say yes another year has gone by and I did my duty of watching fireworks or whatever it was that you felt obligated to complete. I can remember several times leaving an activity before the final curtain was drawn and who knows maybe I might find myself in that mindset again someday. Oddly on this evening it felt more important to see the day through to fruition ensuring that every last morsel of enjoyment was savored even if it meant sitting in exhaust fumes as we waited our turn to make the ant like trek out of the parking lot.

Lately it seems I am spend more time enjoying the moment versus constantly looking forward to things that I will have to do tomorrow or the next day or the next. I actually wake up thinking about what I am going to be doing every time I open my eyes and relishing in the thought of sharing these activities with somebody I love. Isn’t it more rewarding to enjoy life instead of only being concerned with doing what you think is appropriate to look like you are living the life that somebody scripted out for you several years in advance?

I am happy to say I enjoyed my day. It was relaxing, fun, easy, and filled with wonderful people. I might be more disorganized than I have been in years failing to plan anything in advance because I am too busy enjoying the moments that I am currently living but I am enjoying those moments.

Happy 4th everyone. I can only hope that your day went as well as mine. Life is too short to waste on leaving early to avoid traffic. Stay until the very last light dims and squeeze out as much happiness as you can living every second like it might be your last. Things will look differently I promise.

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