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lydamorehouse Mason has returned (finally) from St. Louis!
Today, Shawn is home due to the holiday. For my non-US friends, y'all probably know this one. It's the Fourth of July, American Independence day, aka "Steve Rogers/Captain America's birthday" (which is what I prefer to celebrate.) Normally, Americans celebrate this with outdoor grilling and blowing things up (fireworks). It's raining cats and dogs, so I am hopeful that fireworks will be cancelled. I'm not a big fan of the noise. Or the crowds.
I can't say I have never enjoyed a fireworks show, however. There are several I have fond memories of attending when Mason was young, including one in Valparaiso, Indiana at a big open field. I remember laying back on the blanket and enjoying "ooo" and "ahh"ing with the rest of the crowd (which was smaller because smaller town). There was another I remember taking him to the river's edge in downtown St. Paul and watching them not far from where they were being loaded and shot off from. That one was nice because it was also not nearly as crowded.
Otherwise, I was up late last night with the returned youths and so I am tired and not very brilliant today. Happy 4th to those celebrating.
Today, Shawn is home due to the holiday. For my non-US friends, y'all probably know this one. It's the Fourth of July, American Independence day, aka "Steve Rogers/Captain America's birthday" (which is what I prefer to celebrate.) Normally, Americans celebrate this with outdoor grilling and blowing things up (fireworks). It's raining cats and dogs, so I am hopeful that fireworks will be cancelled. I'm not a big fan of the noise. Or the crowds.
I can't say I have never enjoyed a fireworks show, however. There are several I have fond memories of attending when Mason was young, including one in Valparaiso, Indiana at a big open field. I remember laying back on the blanket and enjoying "ooo" and "ahh"ing with the rest of the crowd (which was smaller because smaller town). There was another I remember taking him to the river's edge in downtown St. Paul and watching them not far from where they were being loaded and shot off from. That one was nice because it was also not nearly as crowded.
Otherwise, I was up late last night with the returned youths and so I am tired and not very brilliant today. Happy 4th to those celebrating.
no subject
Date: 2024-07-04 03:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-07-04 07:20 pm (UTC)The best display I've ever seen remains the one put on by the 1987 Brighton Worldcon on Brighton Beach. That convention was plagued by many issues, but that display was elaborate and enormous and very long. Over the ocean! Wheee, says the Midwestern girl.
After that all five thousand convention members tried to go to the publisher parties until fire marshalls refused to let anyone into the hotels who didn't have a room key. We missed all the parties, but it was worth it.
P.
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Date: 2024-07-09 04:05 am (UTC)The best fireworks I've ever seen, though, were in Jerusalem in 1998, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Israel's independence. There was a big gathering with speeches and music. Al Gore was there and endeared himself to me by apologizing (in Hebrew simple enough that I understood it) for not being able to deliver his entire speech in Hebrew. And finally, there were fireworks that were simply stupendous. I know they've improved the tech since then, but those still stick in my memory.
(Richfield was supposed to have fireworks on the Fourth, but canceled on account of weather just before 4 pm, which was apparently the last minute to make that decision. Oh, well.)
no subject
Date: 2024-07-09 10:23 pm (UTC)It's been a long time since I went to Aunt local fireworks displays. Too crowded and usually too humid. It's fun to just stand in the yard and see what appears, though this year the air quality was so awful that we had to shut the windows.
P.