A Lovely July 4

I’ve always wanted to live someplace where I could sit on my porch or in my yard and watch a huge fireworks display on Independence Day.  So it isn’t a big dream, but it’s been one of my small, wish list kind of things that has now come true.  Last night the town I live in put on a wonderful fireworks display over the lake near my condo, and surprise, it was visible from my balcony.  Hooray!  We watched all evening as a steady stream of cars and pedestrians made their way up the road toward the park where live music was playing (yes, we could hear it while sitting outside).  At one point we thought about walking to the park and sitting with everyone, but the homemade Swiss, bacon burgers and caramel apple pie we ate earlier made us a little lazy and the chairs on my balcony were oh so comfortable.

The show started right on time as I was chatting with a neighbor who was wandering the grounds below us.  She raced to a nearby knoll to see the amazing view, while we “oohed” and “aahed” from above her.  It was spectacular.  Can fireworks be anything else?  And next to the lovely display and spending time with my family, the best part for me was knowing that I wouldn’t have to fight traffic or drive for hours to get home.  Once the awesomeness was over, I stepped inside and poured myself another limeade.  This is how life should be all the time.

I tried to get photos, but this was my first time taking fireworks pics and I chose the wrong setting in all the excitement.  Since I was holding the camera off to one side and randomly clicking off shots so I could enjoy watching the display, this is the best I got.  I eventually realized most of my shots were of the dark sky because my hand had wandered upward, and so I gave up completely.  Why try to capture it in a photo when I could just sit back and enjoy the moment?

So that’s how I spent my July 4 evening.  I hope yours was just as wonderful.