Celebration

So how did you celebrate the Fourth?

In our house, the LovelyBbride pulls out the old vinyl disks and plays Copeland, the Fifth Dimension, and the soundtrack from "1776" (William Daniels as John Adams) while she makes waffles. A little yardwork, and then off to The Monkey King's for an afternoon of grilling (burgers, hotdogs, salmon) and general discussion with various nefarious types.

And finally fireworks down on Gene Coulon Memorial Park down in Renton. One of those mysteries in my life is still the identity of Gene Coulon, but he has a wonderful memorial park. And the Renton itself did a great job securing event parking at the landing and shutting down the nearby roads to let the thundering hordes leave. We had our normal spots, but someone had improved the sound system, so this time we could hear the music as the fireworks went off.

Now, call me a purist or a fuddy-duddy, but short of the 1812 Overture, fireworks don't really need music. The woosh of the rockets, the crackle of the ignition, the thunder of the detonation, that makes firewords so worthwhile. They don't need a soundtrack, really. Even so, I'm tolerant as they unspooled the patriotic songs - National Anthem, some Springsteen, some cheesy country bit, some Sousa, and the theme from Star Wars ...

Hang on. Star Wars? Patriotic? Yeah, it goes with blow-up-the-death-star fireworks, but somehow, the Emperor's March isn't what we signed on for. Are we so bereft of patriotic music that we are celebrating a group of rag-tag rebels and their wookiee? I mean, you probably could get the Fifth Dimension, if you really tried.

Regardless, 'twas a wondrous Fourth, to be followed by a general collapse on the Fifth. More later,