Fourth of July, Manomet-style

There is nothing quite like the magnitude and excitement of a Fourth of July in Manomet. Celebrated on the night of the 3rd of July, the beaches are full of bonfires and fireworks, allowing for downtown Plymouth to run a fireworks show without conflict on the holiday’s traditional night of the 4th of July.

In Manomet, the change in sound and feeling begins in mid-June, around Father’s Day. It’s entirely possible that the popular Father’s Day gift in this area is a daytrip to New Hampshire for a trunk load of fireworks. And you hear these things shot off in the streets for two solid weeks, night after night, until the night of July 3rd when the rest are fired off down at the beach…beginning right at dusk. Each year, I wonder if they’ll run out of these things that’ve been shooting off into the trees for weeks, and each year, there seem to be even more… And while it’s disturbing to think of a wayward professional-quality firework zooming into my house there is also a very strong emotional memory connected to shooting fireworks off in the streets. It’s a “tension of opposites” that I embrace each year. Or maybe I just brace for, each year. It really doesn’t matter…it simply is…

…It’s a happy time of year, The 4th of July, with the words of James Taylor in my head:
“With a tear in your eye for the Fourth of July,
For the patriot’s and the Minutemen,
And the things you believe they believed in then,
Such as freedom, and freedom’s land, the Kingdom of God and the rights of man.”

My excitement in planning begins in mid-June, too. Scattered thoughts of things to grill, wondering who’ll join in this year’s festivities, hopefully “the regulars” will be visiting along with friends who’re visiting for the first time…unsuspecting of my plan to turn them on to Manomet, making them fall hopelessly in love with the area to where they feel the need to move here? Too much? Will there be small children at the house this year?, where I can bring up the beach toys from the basement, and ensure there are enough s’mores to jolt them into another dimension?

Friday night’s dinner: I’m thinking grilled salmoncakes…and my good friend, Debbie, will bring her pasta/feta salad. Two sauces for the salmoncakes: a homemade horseradish-y cocktail sauce, and a sauce of mayo, horseradish, fresh lemon, and capers. A side-dish of grilled asparagus tossed with a little fresh garlic, lemon, and peeled chopped apple to give it a sweet summery seal of approval.

Saturday, our big dinner on the night of July 3rd: served on disposable plates so that minimal time goes toward clean-up – the object of this night is to head back down to the beach after dinner for the sunset excitement, the bonfires at their highest, the beach hasn’t yet become dark with the glow of firelight, and you can still pick out which kid is yours! This year, Saturday night’s dinner: marinated grilled London Broil sliced thin and served with grilled carrot strips/onions/garlic, grilled pineapple, marinated grilled scallops, warm tortillas, chimichurri sauce, avocado/cilantro/lime, and Big Al’s homemade potato salad like Mom used to make.

Few things on earth are as valuable to me as good friends, loving company, making people happy thru laughter and food, stories and music, and wine. I look forward to the next few days as my most major holiday of the year…it is my Passover, or my Christmas…in fact, it is my favorite kind of Fourth of July.