I’m not a huge fan of holidays because of my family’s history with being over-the-top every single time.
Christmas holidays used to be fun until my mom started competing with her sister-in-law every year to see who could have the most outrageous decorations and homes.
Gone were the days when we cherished simply being together and sharing the love for one another. I hated seeing the commercialism of the holiday affect my mother so negatively and all it did was sour me whenever the season would return each year. It took something wonderful and communal and warped it into a nuisance and a headache. If Christmas was ridiculous in my household, you have no idea about Independence Day. We’re a military family with multiple people from every generation serving at some point in one of the branches of the military. Saying that my family takes patriotism too far would be an understatement. They often buy the most ridiculous sets of mortars, rockets, and roman candles to light off like artillery fire on the night of the fourth. I would rather spend an hour or two in the various cannabis dispensaries in town because they all run Independence Day sales to compete with one another. Sometimes you can get cannabis concentrates and flower products for 40% off to commemorate the holiday. Then on 7/10 there are the cannabis oil sales which also includes concentrates like live rosin and shatter. Independence Day means cannabis dispensary sales in my mind. That’s a better use of my time on that holiday versus lighting off bombs with my extended family while drowning myself in beer and whiskey.