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Celebrating what we love about the USA
By Elaine Durbach
On the Fourth of July we have a patriotic duty to celebrate - not what the politicians tell us to value, but what we really love about this country. When has there been a greater challenge to highlight its achievements, the traditions we cherish and the qualities we stand for? ? When the rocket's red glare flares overhead this year, the fireworks will mark an independence hard won and still vital to protect.
For the Fourth - and for all the good times ahead - you have a range of options that celebrate American values where they mean most ? at home. Whether seeking out what looks best or finding the materials that meet your needs most efficiently, you can assemble a selection that makes you proud.
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That American Look
Visitors are often surprised by how traditional American tastes are. They expect the pioneers of innovation to favor experimental designs, but instead we hew to the familiar more than the Italians or French or Spanish. Perhaps with all the change around us, we place a higher value on the time-tested forms refined by our forebears. Given the breadth of creativity this country has nurtured, that still leaves plenty of room for choice when it comes to outdoor furniture.
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At one end of the spectrum you can find elaborate detail, with turned legs and curved arms as elegant as any your grandmother loved, shapes introduced by the craftsmen who came here from Europe. At the other end are the forthright forms that most explicitly characterize American country style, the solid, wide-slatted designs brought to perfection in Shaker and Mission furniture, and quintessential to the Nantucket beach look. Perhaps the most American quality of all is convenience, and that you can find in both ornate and simple forms, in natural wood finishes or easy-care cast aluminum.
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Ready for Apple Pie?
What is more American than a backyard barbecue, with sweet summer corn, sizzling burgers, and a crusty golden fruit pie? Gathering with family or friends to party on the Fourth, you?ll want to make sure of another American priority: comfort! Hospitality means having ample seating for all, with table space for those big platters of watermelon. Extra tables, folding, rolling or regular, also come in handy. July means heat, so make sure you can offer shade ? with awnings or umbrellas. With everyone fed, you deserve to put your feet up and relax, on a great lounger.
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Red, White and True Blue
Flags are all very well for parades, but there are better ways to set a patriotic mood on your patio. You can assemble a festive feast of color, complete with stars and stripes, with flowers, food and fanciful accessories. Planters can be filled with ready-blooming arrays of red and white blooms, like impatiens and geraniums, alternated with blue petunias or lobelia. Keep the grilled fare conventional, but adorn your desert table with stripes of all kinds from cookies to berries, punctuated with jiggling jello stars and ice cream. Give the kids the challenge of decorating the yard. This is one day when the setting looks better the bolder they get. Let them show their colors with paper flowers, streamers and yes ? even flags!
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