Our corner of the United States has big plans for today. We plan to have breakfast at home this morning, but if we wanted, we could join the crowd at the community pancake breakfast at the community center in Blaine then head downtown to take a look at the Show N Shine Car Show and see what treasures we might find at the library book sale and wander the vendors at the art and crafts street fair. There is a parade at noon. The parade, of course, will have many of the same cars that are part of the car show, but this year’s big attraction will be the Plover Ferry. It is the oldest food passenger ferry in Washington and it usually operates in the summer between Blaine and Semiahmoo Resort, across the harbor. The Plover, however, was in dry dock all last year and the anticipated launching on Memorial Day didn’t happen because the work was not completed. The ferry, however, has now passed its Coast Guard inspection for the hull repairs and has received the many coats of new paint to have it all shiny and fresh to return to the water today if all goes as planned.

Those lucky enough to endure the lines and crowd to get on the ferry might linger over at the resort where there will be a seaside barbecue. Those who don’t get on the ferry and who don’t want to wait in line can listen to free live music on main street. There will be a beer garden open all afternoon.

We’ll probably skip all of those busy activities, but our gang will spread our blankets and be ready for the big fireworks display. One of the realities of fireworks displays here in the north is that it is pretty late before it is dark enough for the show. Tonight’s fireworks start at 10:15. The official sunset time is 9:17, but last light lingers until 10 pm. Judging from our experience with previous years, the fireworks will be worth the wait.

Before the fireworks, however, I’m looking forward to cherry pie. We have a very productive cherry tree in our back yard. Yesterday alone, I processed over 15 pounds of cherries for the freezer and I’ll need to keep up that pace for several more days in order to keep up. Some of the fresh cherries will be baked into pies for our dessert this evening.

There is another tradition around our small bay. Hundreds and hundreds of people will gather on the beach all around the bay. They’ll start camping out to claim their spots early this morning and many will have their cars parked well before noon and will maintain a presence saving their lawn chairs and staking out their territory. There will be so many gathered that inevitably some will not wait until dark to begin to light their fireworks. There will be so many people that the fireworks will continue around the bay well past midnight.

Just because we will avoid the beach crowding and craziness with a family barbecue on our back deck we won’t fully escape the event. We’ll be listening to the noise of the fireworks all evening long. They’ll be shooting them off while we eat super. They’ll still be shooting them off when we leave for the formal fireworks display in Blaine. They’ll still be going on when we drive home. We may even take the longer trip down the street along the bay just to see a few of them on our way home.

And we’ll go to sleep with the booming of fireworks and probably we awakened at midnight with several volleys of blasts.

Last night when we were walking around the neighborhood we stopped to greet our neighbor’s aging dog, Ginger. I noticed that old age has granted Ginger a particular grace this year. She didn’t react at all when the booming of fireworks was heard coming up from the waterfront. Ginger’s hearing problems seem to have progressed to the point where she is deaf. I can’t imagine what it is like for the many dog owners in our neighborhood whose animals have their usual sensitive hearing. I’m pretty sure there will be plenty of miserable dogs all day and all night long.

Tomorrow morning there is a big community event that is a tradition here. That is the July 5 community beach clean up. Hundreds of volunteers will collect tons of garbage off of the beach. Revelers with car loads of fireworks and coolers of beverages will be less than careful about cleaning up after themselves today. Our community has brought in truck loads of portable bathrooms and installed a lot of extra garbage containers, but those will be completely overwhelmed by tomorrow. There will be a few responsible people who will clean up after themselves and a small sub set of that group will even haul their own trash and dispose of it at home. A whole lot of people, however, will just leave their garbage behind.

More worrisome than the garbage that can be collected is the garbage that is left behind. Fireworks leave behind bits of cardboard that fall to the earth after the displays. When they are aimed at the water, lots of debris falls into the bay. Some of it washes up on the shore and will be picked up by volunteers over the next few days. Some of it adds to the pollution in the bay that is already threatening the safety of the abundant crabs and clams that live in the bay and provide a rich food harvest for those who venture out.

Independence is worth celebrating and we enjoy community spirit and welcoming guests to our community. We are also interdependent. We need one another. Learning to work together and support one another is another important quality of community. All of the planning and events would not occur if people didn’t cooperate and work together. Celebrating our nation’s independence from the British monarchy so long ago requires that we be more than completely independent from one another. Working together is a necessary part of community and continuing to defend freedom requires cooperative skills.

We’re all in this together. The mess that one leaves behind affects the rest of the community. The work of the volunteers who clean up benefits everyone. May your celebrations be joyful and may you remember your connections with others in your community.