Land of the Carefree : Fourth of July: Attitudes and weather are sunny as people relax at beaches, parades and block parties.

From the coastline, where tanned bodies and brightly colored umbrellas formed a ribbon along the hot sandy beaches, to the parks and main streets where parades and festivals were held, Orange County partied, marched, danced, cycled and roller-bladed its way through another Independence Day Monday.

As the aroma from countless back-yard barbecues faded away, skies were filled with the pageantry of fireworks displays over 22 cities.

“The country looks good to me,” said Linda Lagattuta, one of the residents of the 5300 block of Keelson Avenue in Santa Ana, which was celebrating its 26th consecutive Fourth of July block party. “People say there’s this problem and that problem, but we are all here, and we are all happy.”

Indeed, at the Huntington Beach Fourth of July Parade, which drew 230,000 people Monday, many agreed that the U.S. looks pretty good at the age of 218, even if it has experienced some growing pains in recent years.

Huntington Beach resident Mark Kemmer, 37, roped off a patch of grass along a Main Street sidewalk two days before his city’s parade, not because the floats and other attractions are so spectacular but because the event gives him a sense of “small-town America,” he said.

“The country does have some significant problems, but it’s things like this that help us reaffirm some of our basic sense of morality,” Kemmer said. “It’s a nice tradition to hold onto.”

Anaheim resident Trisha Stoll, 44, said she has seen many changes in Orange County in the past two decades, including a growing ethnic diversity that symbolizes the freedom that Independence Day stands for.

“Now you see all nationalities here. It shows you what the U.S. is all about,” Stoll said as she watched the parade.

“I’d say the country looks pretty good, but some of the politicians don’t,” added 85-year-old Harold Ewell of Huntington Beach. He and his wife, Martha, 76, had just watched a line of elected officials--including Gov. Pete Wilson--cruise the parade route in convertibles, before “Bill and Hillary” Clinton look-alikes strolled by.

Along Main Street, parade watchers created their own amusements.

Cyclists tied flags to their seats, and those not in swimwear were generally wearing red-white-and-blue. Youngsters had their faces painted, and adults behaved like kids.

“I love parades, but my family doesn’t, and that’s why I’m here by myself,” said Fred Padilla, 50, of Buena Park.

Front lawns facing the parade route were filled with private parties, and observers called out to the passersby.

“We love your doughnuts, Mrs. Winchell,” one crowd shouted in unison as Huntington Beach Councilwoman Grace Winchell drove by.

One couple turned the sidewalk into a dance floor as they swayed to the music of a blues band performing on one of the floats.

Then there was Buddy (the kissing bandit) Noble, a 28-year-old high school football coach, who for the past 12 years has created his own sideshow along the parade route with back flips, cartwheels and attempts to kiss parade participants.

Noble jumped on the sideboard of a car to win a peck on the cheek from a woman accompanying former California Angel and All-Star pitcher Bert Blyleven. He also climbed up the float for a kiss from County Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder and received huge smacks from World War II veteran Col. Violet Cowden and Lt. Col James Ghormley III, the parade’s reviewing commander.

Mickey Mouse and television star Sarah Purcell, the grand marshal, pushed Noble away. And he didn’t even try for the governor. “Two words: Secret Service,” he explained to the crowd as the governor--oblivious to the joke--cruised past.

The crowd booed when television actor Jack Scalia became irritated with Noble’s advances toward a woman riding in his car. In a city still jittery over street battles between police and revelers last Fourth of July, a police officer then approached Noble and, in so many words, asked him to cool his hot lips.

Hot was the order of the day for those on the beach.

By midday, Tustin resident Diana Abbott, 30, was driving an umbrella into the sand and covering her toddler, 17-month-old Alexis, from head to toe for protection from the sun.

The Abbott family had been there for several hours, arriving before the sun had pierced through the early morning haze to beat an expected rush to the beach. But they would not be leaving soon. With blankets spread across the sand, this would be a day of total relaxation.

“This is a day to have fun, because you are off (from work), you don’t have to cook, everybody expects that you are not going to cook and instead you’re going to eat sandwiches,” Abbott said.

The beach was not the most comfortable setting for a Pomona woman who sat stiffly on a lawn chair with a brace around her neck.

“I told my husband, ‘I’m giving you 10 minutes to have a good time, because I’m ready to go home,’ ” she said.

In Santa Ana, Keelson Avenue residents stayed home to salute America the way they have for the past generation, with their block party, bicycle parade, volleyball game and food extravaganza.

“When I was younger, we wouldn’t let the kids on the (volleyball court), and now, the kids won’t let us on the court,” said Bob Williams, 58, who with his wife, Patricia, helped organize the first celebration in 1968.

They say the event has actually grown through the years as the children and grandchildren of the original residents have come back to celebrate.

“This is what we have here: families, and family traditions and family values,” said Thomas Mueller, who returns each year with his wife, Kay, even though they moved 15 years ago to a neighboring city.