I hope you enjoyed the 4th of July weekend.  I had a great day.  Hot dogs for dinner.  As silly as that sounds, I love hot dogs and don’t eat them often.  But a grilled hot dog with all the trimmings and pasta salad, excellent tomatoes and so forth. . .   Delightful.

Then, there were the fireworks.  For the past couple years, I could watch them from my driveway.  But, it is amazing how fast trees grow, and I was afraid our view would be blocked, so we walked down to the corner to make sure we had a clear view.

As usual, we were early and the fireworks were late.  So, we sat in those foldup camp chairs and watched the activity.  We were sitting at the edge of a neighborhood street, and we complained about the cars going too fast trying to get even closer to the fireworks display.  But, then there was no light from the cars, and no streetlights.  But, lots of people joining us in the street. 

It was fascinating watching the shimmery figures of people in the dark.  They seemed to suddenly appear from nowhere, flickered in the dark as they walked along - then either disappeared as magically as they had appeared, or planted themselves in what they thought was the best viewing position.

Then, the fireworks started.  We were right – our seats were perfect.  We watched in awe as shapes and streaks exploded in the sky.  Sometimes I jumped when the explosion of light was particularly loud.  I’m glad that there were a lot of my favorites – the ones that end up looking like a brilliant weeping willow tree, curving out of the sky and sparkling toward the ground.

The finale filled the sky with light, sound, and a regal salute to our freedom.  I’ve seen fireworks many times, but each time is different.  And, each time I’m grateful for America, and for the grand serendipity that resulted in my being born here.