Fourth of July celebrations

A posting from my friend John F. reminded me of the wonderful reading of the Declaration of Independence on NPR every year.

And for our celebration? This being the 350th anniversary of Quakers in the United States (and in Maryland, too!) we had an all-day celebration planned at meeting. First we had the best potluck ever, including sesame noodles, sweet-and-sour meatballs, an excellent green bean dish, tortellini, pies, brownies...and we brought cucumber salad and Rapunzel free-trade organic chocolate. At our table we talked about Jen's Cherokee heritage, Janet's work as a writing teacher, mine as a librarian, and Alex's knitting (she offered to make me anything I wanted, and we both agreed on a pretty camisole from her Vogue Knitting magazine.)

Then we were visited by a phenomenally true-to-life reenactor who *was* George Fox (the closest Quakers have to a founder) for an hour, in full accurate costume. He talked about his experience in the United States, his own spiritual experiences, persecution of Quakers in his day (Maryland was one of the most tolerant areas, partly because of being founded by persecuted Catholics as I know from my American Catholicism course at St. B's!). He also related stories about other Quakers and the Quaker issues of his time with humor and plenty of good Quaker spirituality. He spoke in 17th century English with the Quaker "thees" and was often humorous, especially about his tendency to be thrown into jail (seven times by the time he came to the Colonies).

Then it was cleanup time, which was partly the responsibility of the Ministry and Worship Committee so that included me. Next we were involved in complex arrangements for the parade in Annapolis. Our theme being "Quakers Then, Quakers Now," we had a carriage for George Fox and a few members of our meeting dressed in more-or-less authentic garb, plus plenty of "Quakers Now," mostly in assorted Quaker T-shirts, who were riding in hybrid cars, walking, or (in the case of three of our teens) riding bikes. Ken and I went to the event-parking area and waited for Careen who promised to transport walkers to the staging area. And we waited. And talked. And waited. Finally, Sky and Nan drove by and took us over--turned out everyone else had their directions backward and Careen was ferrying them around. Doesn't always pay to get things right. On the other hand, we got time to talk together, admire wildflowers, and chat a bit with Sky and Nan.

The parade. Ah. We had a great time talking with everyone at the staging area, particularly Wes (aka George Fox). Turns out he, like Ken, has a master's in history and is an historical-photography hobbyist. The two kindred spirits had wonderful conversations and Marcia (another "Quaker Then"), myself and others enjoyed listening. Finally we walked to our spot, and on the way it started raining. By the time we got to #7, our location, it was pouring, thundering, and lightning. Fortunately the #7 spot was by a big corporate building with a substantial awning, so we stayed mostly dry. We chatted with members of our meeting and from the Washington, DC Quaker meeting about everything from tornadoes to the lollipops two little girls were handing out.

Needless to say the parade was called off, and we got a ride to our car, squeezed into Marcia's Mercedes (with Wes/George Fox again).

Not the celebration we expected, but still a good one. Hurrah for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness with our fellow citizens!