4th of July

 Mountain Home, Arkansas

 Fireflies...watermelon...blueberry pie 

Paul and Diane's family will begin arriving tomorrow for the big summer blowout. They don't do the 4th fireworks shows anymore because:

1. It scares the grandchildren.
2. When they set the woods on fire it's too hard to put out.

I have a watermelon chilling for the occasion. I'd also like to make three blueberry pies. There is a blueberry farm just up the road.

  
One Blueberry Pie

3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups blueberries
9 inch double crust pie pastry
1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon, and sprinkle over blueberries.
3. Line pie dish with one pie crust. Pour berry mixture into the crust, and dot with butter. Cut remaining pastry into 1/2 - 3/4 inch wide strips, and make lattice top. Crimp and flute edges.
4. Bake pie on lower shelf of oven for about 50 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

 It's a pretty place. After listening us to us debate buying a house for nine years, they offered us their spare house for as long as we like to see how we like living in a house again...It's OK but after a few days we decide to stay mobile and avoid unnecessary entanglements and things like lawnmowers, leaf blowers and paint brushes for as long as possible...

The berry farm has onions and other produce...

A lot of deer in the neighborhood...the fireflies are very thick here in the early evening. My favorite species is the Photuris that kills other fireflies. The Photuris sucks out the juice from other fireflies to retrieve bad-tasting chemicals from their bodies, which it uses to protect itself from predators.