Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Memorable Fourth of July nights

Dragon Mood? -- happy and tired

Ten twenty-six, Fourth of July night and things are a-boomin' and a-poppin' around here. Anybody and everybody who's got fireworks is out settin' 'em off! Happy FOURTH of July, everybody!

I'm back here at the pied-a-terre, gettin' ready to head to bed ... so I can be ready to head to WORK tomorrow morning. Driving down here this evening, I was reminiscing and remembering some memorable Fourth of July nights that S and I've had together.

Like the Fourth up in Copper Harbor, at the national park. We were camping in the playground of the park, it was so insanely full! We watched fireworks, drank beer and played cribbage until four in the morning. Then we hiked a ways to a park bathroom to pee, brush our teeth and get ready for bed ... and some weirdo teenage kid was peeping in the women's bathroom. Scared the sh*t out of us!

Like the Fourth, driving through western South Dakota on the freeway, observing one little rural town after another's fireworks displays from a distance. It felt intimate and distant at the same time and I felt so happy and proud to be American that night.

Like the Fourth last year. We were at Riverfront Park in Lansing, with two of S's three sons, two wives, one grandbaby. It was Preston's first Fourth as a toddler and Mark held him in his arms, oohing and aahing with each poof and pffft and fizzle of the fireworks.

Sweet memories!

And tonight, I'm thinking of my sweetie at home in the pines. And my sweet kidlets down on the farm in Texas, with my sister and my dad and my aunts and uncles and cousins. Ohh, I bet they're having a good time! Drinkin' and playin' Spite and Malice. Maybe shootin' off some fireworks? Maybe watching the stars in that Texas night sky that seems to go on forever and ever?

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