July 4th, 2013

My Dad suffers from a sensitivity to loud noises. They hurt his ears and overwhelm him. This has, perhaps, progressively worsened with age. Watching Independence Day fireworks outside? He tolerates them. I cannot say the same for Rose, however!! We actually enjoyed ourselves an eerily quiet Independence Day. No pops. No screams. No booms. Nothing!! It was so weird!! Didn't our calendars say Independence Day on them?! I continuously wondered. I awoke, and, as tradition, created my ever-changing red/white/blue getup. Normally, I plan this outfit long in advance. I make lists, check them, and purchase a brand new T-shirt. Not this year!! See, I had been a bit preoccupied with working on My Life Story. Plus, we could not find very many patriotic T-shirts!! And after what occurred in Boston? Where is the patriotism these days? So, I had very few ideas, exactly, as to how my Independence Day getup would look like!! Very few ideas. I wore the Star Spangled Bandana around my ponytail. A red/white checkered blouse with blue stars stitched into it. Two different necklaces. One was a red/white/blue cross. The other? It was this "silver" dog tag which features a heart-shaped American flag. They jingled against each other all day long, and I loved it!! Around my left wrist were three rubber red/white/blue bracelets. I flipped them around in an effort to hide their messages. And, lastly, I wore my American flag socks!! Not bad for on-the-whim planning!! After a strangely quiet day, fireworks began around 9PM, later than last year's 6:00 time. I'd skeptically hoped that Rose and I could sort of compromise by camping out in our great room while watching some July Fourth special on television. We did that on New Year's Eve, me stroking her velvet-soft fur, the red leash connected, bottle rockets exploding periodically. Not a chance!! See, we have this truck driver who resides behind the great room. He snuggles in illegal fireworks, which are extremely loud. But they produce gorgeous sky lit explosions!! Plus, I could not torment poor Rose. So, I watched her body language closely. She wanted to flee, far, far away from the booms, screams and pops. With all doors securely closed, I unlinked Rose's red leash. She slunk away, ears back, shoulders slumped, tail tucked. I followed closely behind. Rose crept toward the Boy's Bathroom, which muffles noise considerably!! Our house is, unfortunately, one level, so we haven't a cool, musty-smelling basement to "den". It is the same scenario every single Independence Day. Bottle rockets {Which I call "bombs"!!} are set off in every north, west, east and south of outside. Plus normal fireworks, as well. This can carry on until well after midnight. So, Rose and I hung together, on the hard Boy's Bathroom floor. I hummed loudly to her {Any tune. Patriotic, church songs, even Christmas carols!!} as "bombs" resounded high above our roof. I stroked Rose's velvet-soft fur, gluing ebony hair to our pearly-white bathtub. I can vacuum later!! I sang various songs to her. Rose loves it when I hum and sing!! I even read selective paragraphs aloud from the book which I'm currently reading, "Soul Surfer", by Bethany Hamilton. I could sense thoughts, prayers and positive vibes from my Blogging Friends all around the world. Because Rose handled those fireworks quite well!! Tremors never shot their way through her body. Never. She even fell asleep, slipping into Dreamland, as "bombs" exploded!! {No, Rose was not under the influence of any medication, thank-you very much!!} Occasionally, she would awaken, pop open her colossal brown eyes, and sigh deeply. I was the one who felt unsafe!! But I could not show it, because Rose will sense my fears and apprehensions. As tradition, I get a can of lemon lime soda from our garage--for the sugar high--knowing full well that I'll stay up very, very late. Walking out there, I always feel extremely insecure!! It literally gives you an illusion that the garage will blow up, your limbs will fly off, blood will spill everywhere, and you'll die!! {No, I am not being a Drama Queen!!} So, I ran out there, opened our refrigerator, snatched my Sprite, and bolted back inside!! I was also apart from Rose. To quote Tony Stark from "Iron Man 2". "Not okay. Not okay with that.". Rose needed me within her sight. You know what? The Boy's Bathroom is an excellent place to camp out in. Not only does it have an incredible "bomb"-barrier. But it also has a toilet {Which I used. Three times!!} that converts into a makeshift table!! Plus the bathtub. It is a wonderful flat surface, as well!! Unfortunately, however, while using the toilet, I had to maneuver around Rose's lying body, so I would not step on her. Tricky, tricky!! And once, my jean shorts accidentally caught the toilet's seat, slamming it closed with a loud BANG, thus frightening an already terrified Rose!! I felt so bad!! But Rose recovered with a bit of coaxing from her Mama!! For reasons beyond my comprehension, staying up late makes me hungry. Yes, hungry!! So, around 11:30PM, I ventured out of the Boy's Bathroom, and walked toward our kitchen. I needed to stretch my legs, anyway!! So, I found a large-sized sourdough croissant, and ate that, its buttery flavoring touching my taste buds. Mmmm!! Meanwhile, my little black clock ticked away, midnight lurking, as the "bombs" slowly reached a close. I could no longer read "Soul Surfer", which sucked, because Bethany Hamilton's arm had just been ripped off by that unsuspecting shark. But my eyelids were drooping, and I was getting sleepy. Then as the horizon appeared silent at last, something surprising occurred. Our feline, Katrina--who is also terrified of fireworks--paid Rose and I a visit!! Katrina's designated person is my Mom, so she seldom ever seeks attention from anyone else. I recall asking her this. "What are you doing here?". I extended my right hand to stroke Katrina's soft grey fur, which she accepted gratefully. Then, Katrina nervously slunk away. Weird. Looking back, I wondered if by exhaustion, I hallucinated that!! No, I was actually quite alert!! I always am in the middle of the night!! Somehow. I am glad that I spent the night alongside Rose. I only witnessed one "bomb" explode in orange colors outside our great room window while stretching my legs. No regrets....