"We live in a great country. We are Americans," Jaiden White

One of the great benefits of country life is the week of the Fourth. Not the heat, or the extra stinky manure pile or the ragweed pollen. But at night, all around the horizon, you can see all the fireworks "in the world" - and my girls screech "oooooooooooooooooooh". I want to record their reactions sometime, priceless. We enjoy guessing what town, or farmer, is hosting the show. We watch for shapes and colors and listen for the booms. We don't have to deal with traffic or people who've had one too many. We stand in our yard and scan the skyline for the next burst of color!

Saturday night, Jaiden and I were outside. She's a night owl like her mama. I had to lift her up because she is too short to see over the corn field. But we watched fireworks for twenty minutes together. "Mama, why we see fire shoots?" "Fireworks honey. They are called fireworks." "Mama. why we see fire-worts?" "Because we are celebrating, we live in a great country." "Which country, Mama?" "America. We are Americans and we are celebrating because we are free." Miss Jaiden goes in the house when we are ready for bed. Jumps on the bed to tell her Daddy. "DADDY! We live in a great country. We are AMERICANS!" To which Daddy replies, " I know honey, now go to sleep."