We drove the car
To the top of the parking ramp
4th of July
Sat out on the hood
With a couple of warm beers
And watched the fireworks
Explode in the sky
— Ani Difranco, “Independence Day”
Man, am I homesick. This is the third “Fourth of July” I’ve been out of the country, and for some reason this one’s the worst. It’s not that I’m a big gung-ho patriot or anything; it’s more what the 4th of July represents. Sun, family, barbecues, fireworks, the Taste of Chicago, floating in a pool… and here I am, sitting in an apartment thousands of miles away. *sigh* Okay, I’ll try not too get to maudlin on you. Just suffice it to say that I wish I was with all of you Yanks right now. So when you’re watching the local fireworks tonight, pick out a pretty one for me, okay? I wanna hear all about it in the morning. 🙂
Tricia
July 6, 2002 — 8:05 am
Happy (belated) 4th of July, Kris! I hope that you’re getting over your homesickness. It’s got to be hard to be away from home this long.
Despite being in the US, I find that I get nostalgic for summer celebrations gone by, too. My Seattle 4th wasn’t anything like the hot sunny barbecue with family and friends that I remember from childhood. I did, however, have a funny fireworks experience of corporate sponsorship gone too far, which I just posted on my site.
There were a bunch of smiley face fireworks this year, so I watched at least one of those for you.
Kris
July 6, 2002 — 10:52 am
Ooh, smiley faces? Man, there have been some advancement in firework technologies since I left. I remember at the last ones I saw in the States, at the Taste of Chicago in ’99, they had some rudimentary “shapes” (hearts and planets and stuff) and we just went nuts. It was the first time I’d ever seen that. They must’ve gotten even better at it. Wow, smiley faces! Thanks for that. 🙂
Tricia
July 7, 2002 — 8:00 am
My pleasure. 🙂 Last fireworks I saw before this year was in ’99, too, and was amazed at the hearts, etc. Oh, and the posting on my site is finally working again (I felt bad about saying I had posted a story, which didn’t publish).
TD
July 9, 2002 — 1:39 am
Tricia- smileys all over here, too – it must be a trend this year. I heard that at the capitol, they spelled out USA (with seperate fireworks, over the Capitol Building). Wow! Hey, and I know what you mean – Kris, it’s just not the same. Still fun, still picnics, still bug-gy, still humid, still nice – but it isn’t the fourths of our youths anymore.