Happy Fourth of July!

Yesterday was the Fourth of July, a favorite holiday. One where people actually play instead of work on projects the whole day. Yeah, maybe some project work gets done but then people come out and play. So anyway, we putzed around in the morning getting stuff done and then in the evening went to see the fireworks.

Where we go they shoot them off at the river. Most people sit on the one side and the fireworks are launched from the other side. Its almost always a really good show so there's always a really big crowd. They block off several streets and limit it to foot traffic. Street vendors and small-time entertainers come and work the crowd. Its a pretty good time.

To be able to get a good seat, where you can see the fireworks you have to get there a couple of hours ahead of when they shoot them off. So we did.  That means you have time to kill while you wait. Fortunately, being on the river bank, there's usually plenty of interesting things to see while you wait. This year the most interesting thing was a family of ducks that was also swimming along the river bank, working the crowd. Near us a couple of people were throwing popcorn to them so they came over to get it. The baby ducklings were pretty cute.

There were also lots of smaller fireworks that people were setting off. This year something new that I'd never seen before. I'd seen pictures but never in real life.  Someone had some floating lanterns, candles with a cover so the heat from the candle carried the cover and all up into the air. So someone was lighting these things off, they'd float up above the town and then drift off until they got so far away you couldn't see them anymore.  Made me wonder how many wildfires gizmos like that caused. Maybe they don't come down until the fire goes out. I dunno. But they were fun to watch.

Saw birds flying over the river, right in the area where the fireworks would be going off after dark.  Good thing they didn't hang around. And then, finally, dusk arrived and the fire works began.  Always a good variety of fireworks, some super bright, some super loud, all just nice to watch. It was a fun way to end the day.