Tradition

By Beth Gulley

Going to watch fireworks on the 4th of July, eating fried chicken with family, and swimming at the lake, these are all 4th of July week traditions people enjoy. My own family engaged in several of our favorite traditions this week, too. We rented a car, drove to St. Charles, Missouri, and stayed at our favorite hotel along the Katy Trail. On the second day of our trip, we got up early and drove to the St. Louis Zoo. Once there, we made sure to see the penguins, the elephants, and the giraffes. That night we ate dinner at the same Bob Evans we always stop at in St. Peters.

These traditions make us feel safe, and they bring back good memories. Other traditions, like walking the dog on Sunday morning and then eating cinnamon rolls, help us to know where we are in time. On the other hand, if we let our lives become so cluttered with traditions, we won’t have time to try anything new.

In order to not get stuck in a rut, we also tried a few new things this 4th of July week. We repaired all of our bikes and took an inaugural family bike ride along the Flint Hills trail. We tried a new restaurant in St. Charles called Lewis and Clarks. And in the heat of the day on Friday afternoon, we stopped in at the St. Louis Art Museum to enjoy works by Matisse, Degas, and Monet as well as a stunning display of arms and armor.

Traditions are great, but at some point we tried something new in order to create the tradition. Life seems sweetest when it is a balance between honoring tradition and trying new things.

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Posted by admin on Jul 8 2012. Filed under Beth Gulley, Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry