4th of July

So this recap is a little belated, but better late than never.

I think this year was the very first year since I was 5 that I have spent the 4th of July elsewhere besides on my lake in NH. The lake fireworks are no huge spectacle (especially by comparison to city fireworks and the ones you see on tv) and the mosquitoes attacking you for a half hour while you stand on the beach is hardly appealing. Still, there is something magical about the 4th on the lake... maybe it is the playing of Taps after the fireworks are done, the unified lighting of the flares at dusk, the fog horns and the cheers, or the prospect of something going crazily awry at Kidder's point (although I admit this tradition is one of the past, now)... it's probably a little bit of everything that makes the 4th one of my most favorite holidays.

This year was fun but definitely different. I saw fireworks with thousands of strangers and the sky was anything but dark... I think I was sitting under a street lamp. I shared the obscured view with a rat, and the sounds of the fireworks were muted by distance and other city sounds.

Still, what I could see from where I was standing was pretty cool - I saw smiley faced fireworks and planet fireworks which were pretty incredible. Next year I am going to find a better location... I'm scouting starting today and if any native New Yorkers have suggestions I'll gladly take them.