Happy Fourth of July today, people!!
It's been a really great day and night tonight, remarkably pleasant after being so hot and humid these last few weeks. I just did some bumming around the house today (read: moving one bit of junk/mail/clothing to another), and listened to some really bad television while doing so. You know, just general indecisiveness/laziness that takes up your time, but doesn't really get anything done...which is a shame, really, as I have not one but two trips coming up (Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in western North Carolina next weekend, and then up to Chicago the week after that). Oh well, I'm not called Princess Procrastination without good reason. It will all get done, sometime.
No one except me is really around at the house this weekend, all of my neighbours having gone to the beach or out of town to be with relatives, or some combination of both. Under the assumption I had things to do (and I'd actually do them), I had declined all offers from friends to go someplace else for the day. That said, I hadn't really planned on doing much in celebration tonight, either, but at about sunset I was feeling stir-crazy enough to go venture out and see if I could catch something aflame in the night sky. I'm still a kid at heart with this day, I guess.
With a rare bit of good timing, I made it over to the UNC campus before anything really got started. In fact, apparently I was one of many, many others feeling the same way: late arrivals all to the show kept pouring through the entrances. (I think the numbers were such that the officials held back that start time, honestly.) In years past, I've went to Kenan Memorial (UNC-Chapel Hill's prized football stadium) to watch the show and not seen even half of tonight's crowd in attendance. I don't know if it's the economy or what, but a lot more people 'stayed home' it appeared. Added plus: it's free to attend (even for the parking, very rare indeed for a TarHeel-hosted event).
It was a good, almost joyous crowd, with a good warm-up band who did rather excellent renditions of most of KC & The Sunshine Band's greatest hits. Before ignition, I closed my eyes and took it all in: babies crying and wailing loudly, kids running around playing tag in the stands, Moms and Dads smelling faintly of freshly-cut lawns, fried food and maybe even the odd glass of cheap wine. And it was a mostly clear night, with just a slight southerly breeze coming in. In short, it was the perfect night in which to celebrate all the blessings we Americans all take so much for granted.
And luckily for us, the fireworks were nothing short of spectacular.
Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend!!
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