Homer's 4th of July Parade 2013

 Homer's parade for the 4th of July was great this year. Senator Lisa Murkowski was the Grand Marshall this year.

 Homer Fire Department

 Representative Paul Seaton

 Senator Lisa Murkowski

 Senator Peter Micciche

 Homer Animal Friends

 "Gumby for President"

 Anchor Point Natural Foods

 Automotive Collision Experts

More photos to be found on the Facebook page.

Anchor Point's 4th of July Parade and Festivities

 Anchor Point, Alaska had it's Independence Day parade today and a great time was had by all!

More photos on the Facebook page!

Nature's Fireworks

Happy 4th of July! I hope your day is full of fun but also safe!

I have been working the past 6 years on the 4th, and this year, I finally have it off. I plan to thoroughly enjoy it!

For those wondering, the flower is a Blue Poppy - an eye catching flower that is apparently hard to grow, but provides a wonderful reward if you are successful!

4th of July!

This was my first Fourth of July off in 6 years! It felt so good!

Representative Paul Seaton throwing out bouncy balls!

We drove to my hometown for the parade and festivities there. Hung out with my parents in the rain, and saw lots of people I know.

The parade was short and sweet like usual, but we got lots and lots of candy, haha!

We stayed for the picnic and waited in line for over 30 minutes to get food. Behind us, we had a whole passel of Michigan teenagers, mostly making ignorant comments :) "I feel so terrible for the people that live here. All this water everywhere and it's too cold to swim in! And all the lakes too. I don't know what I would do!!" LOL We get over it and swim anyway!

Had a great picnic meal, but hid in the car out of the rain!

Next, it was to the river for the plastic duck race! The duck race was the highlight of the 4th for me as a child and I was excited to participate again!

Three colors of ducks get dumped from the bridge above the river and the winning ducks win cash!

After the duck race, we hung out with some friends for a few hours before heading back home for the next parade!

This parade always lasts longer and is generally more exciting! We got more candy than usual this time around too, but I suspect it was due to the rain and less people were in attendance.

Paul Seaton and the bouncy balls again!

It was a fun parade, a fun and full day and I can't wait for next year!

Squirrel Acrobatics

I am always amazed at how the different strengths and talents of different creatures enrich the world around us. I love watching Splat scamper around on trees without being concerned about falling!

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My 4th of July was typical of the last few years: Work, and then the local parade. I got off at parade time, so C and I watched the parade together, then rode home. I was disappointed to not be able to celebrate with anyone this year, but that is alright. Went to bed late, to the sound of pointless fireworks all night. (No darkness = pointless fireworks!).

4th of July

Since I first started working at my place of employment, I have missed the festivities of the past 5 Fourth of July's. I really dislike not having the day off for it, since my family often went all out in participating for the holiday with a church potluck and small town activities, including the plastic duck race down the river.

I really miss getting to do fun activities on the summer holidays. Working tourist retail means that summer holiday weekends are nonexistent. I usually whine and complain over it, but sometimes it's not so bad. I always get to watch the parade go by!

Since C had the day off (lucky!) he was able to go to church with me. It's always lots of fun to see everyone exclaim over him: "Hi, my name's ___. You must be Michelle's husband! *wink*"

When church was finished, C dropped me off at work, and then came to watch the parade with me. For the parade, my boss closes the store and we watch the parade along with the rest of the town. Unfortunately, people still want to shop during it, which means we have to chase them out.

This year, because of the Hoka Hey motorcycle race, the parade was at 2pm (instead of 6) and starting at the opposite end of town. Which meant that we had no idea what time it would start for us.

We herded people out of the store at 2:15 and proceeded to wait. And wait. Finally, we could see the start of the parade well past 2:30. It was a good one this year, with the finale being many of the Hoka Hey riders. Since we were closer to the end this year, none of us got any candy thrown to us! The parade finished at 3:15, and my coworkers and I raced back into the store, and were quickly overwhelmed with customers.

It was obnoxious, and I still had not had lunch yet! The customer bathroom had a line out the door, and soon, the toilet was out of order, due to being constantly in use. Shortly after this, every third or fourth customer asked me for the restroom, and I irritatedly had to tell them it was out of service. We were so busy that it was impossible to get back there to fix the problem.

Thankfully, the customers thinned out enough eventually that I could get some lunch, but I sure was over people by the end of the day!


Someday I will get the holidays off AND holiday pay. Until then, I will bide my time and enjoy the parade!