Fourth of July Cookout

Charcoal's in the air before noon, the coolers are packed with ice, and kids are running through the sprinkler while someone argues over whether the burgers are done. Neighbors wander between backyards, flags hang from porches, and the radio plays all day from a garage or an old boombox on a picnic table — cornhole, water balloons, and the same stories the adults tell every year. As afternoon turns to evening the sparklers come out, the lawn chairs face the horizon, fireflies appear, and the first distant boom rolls across town. These are the songs of backyard America — family reunions, neighborhood cookouts, lake weekends, and long summer days that felt like they'd never end.