It is the 4th of July and that means it’s the annual Piedy beach potluck. I have known these folks my entire life, I love them, and I love talking to them but, being an introvert (albeit a friendly one), man oh man am I tired tonight.

So here’s a recycled photo from the past. The way back past. I’m not sure exactly the year but I’m thinking around 1960? It is eight of us FinFam cousins and we are about to embark on a 4th of July parade. Missing from the pic are our oldest cousin who probably had better things to do than dress up and “march” in a children’s parade and our youngest cousin who wasn’t born yet. And. My little brother, who was mad at our mom because she screwed up the taillights on his paper bag car costume and refused to participate. He is out of frame to the left.

This parade was planned to happen on the beach but in true yooperland fashion, the weather was colder than blue blazes so it was moved to the two-track cabin road, which is at least sheltered from the wind. So we are lined up behind the Old Cabin garage, which is really hard to see in the pic and is now long gone.

I can name each of these folks but I have no memory of what their costumes were. Like why is Grinch wearing a paper bag and why does Pooh have those paper plates over her face. I do know what I was wearing. I am the little hula girl and I absolutely REFUSED to wear a sweatshirt or shoes or anything that might’ve given me any degree of warmth. The grass skirt and lei were a gift from Granddaddy and Bolette, my Detroit grandparents, and I treasured them.

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