Happy Independence Day

I spent my morning off work relaxing, afternoon shopping (several hours!) and evening having a delicious dinner at Extra Virgin with Yahtzee and a hip west-villager, followed by a gorgeous display of fireworks on the Hudson River. Man, I miss this neighborhood.

When we moved here (already 7 years ago yesterday) the fireworks were launched from East River, Hudson River and the harbor downtown. Now its just one barge on Hudson..and on a 95 degree night  like tonight standing with a large crowd, no wind…one just might begin to entertain themselves in the name of fun. And this came in many forms - from smoking reefer, hollering out for the fireworks to start, singing out loud, or, after the fireworks have started- very passionately cheering on the works with a "come on baby bring it higher", and "spit it out" and "oh yeah, there you go, thats fine baby fine" as one woman did. At one point I had to glance over at this woman to see what was really going on!  There stood a very patriotic 50 some-odd-year-old woman just staring at the sky in delight.

My personal favorite was the occasional breakout where one would shout, "Happy Birthday America" and everyone would clap and hoot and holler. It might seem corny, but it is a reminder of what the holiday is all about, those that gave their lives for all the freedoms we enjoy in this country, and the pride that comes with being an American.

Hope your fourth of July was spectacular too.