#july4th

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/merica-eagle-cake.jpgMeet the radical new Sam the Eagle from Mark Millar’s Ultimate Muppets reboot.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

It’s that time again! The Indiana State Fair is an annual celebration of Hoosier pride, farming, food, and 4-H, with amusement park rides, cooking demos, concerts by musicians either nearly or formerly popular, and farm animals competing for cash prizes without their knowledge. My wife Anne and I attend each year as a date-day to seek new forms of creativity and imagination within a local context…

…and one splashy theme recurred throughout the various exhibits of arts, crafts, cookery, and antiquing across all participating buildings: the 250th anniversary of July 4th, 1776, generally considered the date of birth of the United States of America. Granted, not all citizens observed the only semiquincetennial party our nation will ever have, particularly among a statistically significant percentage of the terminally online. No, America isn’t perfect and never will be, which is kind of the point, no matter who’s in charge. If you only love people, places, or things that are perfect, then how many absolutely perfect people, places, or things do you genuinely love? If you count more than one, you’ve gotten it wrong.

As it happens, our road trip this year began over the Independence Day weekend and showed us evidence of folks proud to celebrate offline, about which I’ll get to post about here someday when I get caught up on sharing our travelogues, Lord willing. Anne, for one, was excited to see America cross that milestone without preemption by the Second Coming, collapsing under a giant meteor, or being conquered by a conspiratorial Canada/Mexico tag-team invasion. She braked at every roadside attraction that acknowledged its happening and was overjoyed to see that same enthusiasm here at the fair.

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/america-250-soybeans.jpgWall art made entirely of soybeans.

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/usa-quilt.jpgA Liberty Bell quilt hanging high above in the Indiana Arts Building.

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/america-icons-thin-quilt.jpgMore American quilt blocks.

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/flag-variant-quilt.jpgAmerican flag but with the stars replaced by quilting versions.

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/rushmore-quilt.jpgMount Rushmore blanket.

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/us-flag-handbag.jpgAmerica: the Handbag!

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/250-blanket.jpgAmerica: the cozy blanket!

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/usa-christmas-tree.jpgAmerica: the Christmas tree!

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/america-wreaths.jpgAmerica: the Wreaths!

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/america-lunchbox.jpgAmerica: the Antique Lunchbox!

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/bicentennial-flask.jpgRemember America’s previous Independence Day mega-party with a vintage Bicentennial booze flask.

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/america-250-lady-painting.jpgDown in the 4-H art galleries, this American traveler is proud of what she can do and who she can be here.

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/wooden-statue-of-liberty-250.jpgThe largest Statue of Liberty at the fairgrounds.

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/lego-flag-and-eagle.jpgLego representation included a Lego flag and Lego bald eagle.

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/lego-flag-tractor.jpgLego American tractor.

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/1776-cake.jpgAnd wow, did the American bakers turn out to compete and/or cater the occasion.

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/liberty-bell-and-two-fiddy-cakes.jpgAn entire Liberty Bell-shaped cake and a “Two Fiddy” birthday cake.

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/fireworks-cake.jpgFireworks cake.

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/memorial-cake.jpgA Washington DC cake topped with the Jefferson Memorial.

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/stars-stripes-stitches-cake.jpgIt’s a quilt. It’s a cake. It’s quilt cake!

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/plane-landing-cake.jpgA fighter jet and an eagle landed on the same cake and then there were fireworks, and they all lived happily ever after.

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/happy-american-forest-animals-cake.jpgHappy forest animals hate fireworks but love American holidays!

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/america-cookies.jpgAmerica cookies!

https://midlifecrisiscrossover.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/join-or-die-cookies.jpgAmerica cookies but for history buffs like Anne!

To be continued! Other chapters in this very special MCC miniseries:

Part 1: Our “Taste of the Fair” Tour, Worst to Best

Part 2: The Year in VHS

Part 4: [coming soon]