Cassie Nova • 24.12.07 – Dallas Voice

Celebration of the Fourth

Hello everyone. As you know, we recently celebrated the Fourth of July – although as an American, I am not exactly in the mood to celebrate given the current political climate. Every day seems to bring me news of a new attack on our way of life.

If you are not a straight, white, Christian man, you should be worried.

If you are one of those people who have decided not to vote in the next election because you don’t like any of the candidates, try to remember that you are not just voting for a person, but for their government.

Not voting is like giving your vote to the other side. Those who don’t vote are hurting their own community. I’m asking all of you to help us: put aside your feelings and judgments and do what needs to be done to protect our freedoms before more of them are taken away from us.

Excuse me for preaching so much, but this is important. I am speaking to you, the young and frustrated people. Things can and will get worse if we don’t all do what needs to be done.

Okay, let me get off my soapbox.

Speaking of fourth, I remember when I was a kid we would go to the Cotton Bowl in Fair Park and watch the fireworks. I remember sitting in the stadium seats with a big cup of Dr Pepper and a bag of popcorn. It was so exciting.

We didn’t do a lot of family outings, but we were a pretty big group of aunts, uncles, and cousins. The fireworks went off and it was so damn loud – damn cool, but loud. A bunch of little kids and babies started crying and freaking out. I was totally scared because they were freaking out so much.

That night there was absolutely no wind and it was as hot and humid as sweaty balls in woolen underwear. Just about miserable.

Then ash and firework debris rained down on us—black snow and what felt like sand fell and landed in our eyes and mouths. My damn drink didn’t have a lid, so it and my popcorn were ruined.
It disgusted me so much.

I got yelled at a few times for complaining and asking if we could hurry up and go home. Well, I wasn’t exactly yelled at, but you know that dirty look your mom gives you that feels like a slap? I got that a lot that night. I was hot, dirty, thirsty, annoyed, and maybe 10 years old, so you know I was in a bad mood. And to top it all off, my asshole cousin Eddie Paul pinched and slapped me the whole long, damn drive home.

I hated almost everything about this Independence Day. I guess I just needed a Snickers.

One of my favorite 4th of July holidays was when I was maybe 13 or 14 and we went to my Aunt Zina’s in Waxahachie. They bought a ton of fireworks and she let us shoot them off in her back yard. We used one of those incense sticks to light them. Zina and my mom would both freak out if we didn’t get away from the lit fireworks fast enough. It was a success because neither of us lost our “fingers”!

We walked around with sparklers and were completely carefree, which was surprising since the metal rod in the middle glowed white hot. We lit these weird little black pills that expanded when they burned and looked like feces. I loved the colorful smoke bombs and their disgusting and probably toxic smell.

The smells! The smell of fireworks brings back so many nostalgic feelings for me.

I’m pretty sure I worked most Fourth of July nights in my twenties and thirties. I don’t remember seeing or shooting off fireworks until maybe eight years ago. There’s a fireworks display in Midlothian on July 3rd a few blocks from our house. This year we got a pizza, sat in the back of my truck and watched. It would have been romantic if it weren’t for all the damn families trying to claim the good spots in the field near where they shot off the fireworks – a bunch of morons.

One of those years we went to our friend’s house at the lake with a large group of gay people. My husband and our friend Marc had nearly $2,000 worth of fireworks between them. They bought every huge firework they could find. When I asked them why they spent so much money on all the fireworks, they said they were adults and could afford it.

I was laying in the back yard by the lake with a bunch of drunk gay guys and watching them take turns setting off some of the coolest fireworks ever.

It literally went on for hours, but it was quite a show.

For the past five years, we’ve thrown a big pool party for the 4th of July/end of Pride festivities – lots of food and laughter. We always rent one of those inflatable water slides. The biggest one they make is 28 feet tall and fits perfectly in our backyard.

The guys who deliver it always say something like, “I bet the kids will love this.” I quickly reply, “There won’t be any kids here.”

Screw the kids. Why should they have all the fun? This is for a bunch of grown men.” Their response is usually a curt nod and a “Fine.”

Trust me, you’ve never laughed until you’ve seen a bunch of gay guys and drag queens in their free time screaming into a small pool of water and being thrown full force against an inflatable wall. Climbing up is exhausting, but it’s worth it. There was nothing like this when I was a kid, so I feel like I’m making up for lost time. It may sound corny, but we literally laughed until our faces hurt.

I love my friends and it makes me so happy when I see them acting like children.

The only problem with the water slide is that Ruby, my 130 pound turtle, hates it. She runs into it, tries to crawl under it, and as soon as she loses air, she shits on it. She’s the devil.

I love our 4th of July and end of Pride parties. My husband works hard to make our yard beautiful so it’s nice to be able to show it off. I’m so proud of him and his ability to make things, build just about anything and beautify our home. These parties make me very happy.

I hope you all enjoy the rest of the summer. Remember to vote, complain less, and be fabulous! XOXO, Cassie Nova