fourth of july

Fourth of July is probably one of the better holidays we celebrate. For one, it represents independance, freedom and its landmarked as the day democracy was born. And what better way to celebrate that than to gorge on barbeque, drink lots of beer and watch a bunch of bozos shoot off some dynamite and call it patriotism. Now, I admit, fireworks are pretty and, annually, I set off to find the best spot to watch the show, but overall, it seems sort of idiotic.

Tomorrow morning, there will be story after story about fingers and toes and faces that have been ripped off because of some drunk dude and his need to be a manly man. Or maybe even some naive kid giving into peer pressure. Same stories every year.

And then there is the clean up. I dont know about anywhere else, but Richmonds idea of city maintenence is retarded. The sidewalks will be lined with garbage and beer cans for weeks. I know, I'm from New York so I should be used to littered streets, but I don't like it there and I don't like it here.

Oh and how could I leave out the most patriotic of all traditions, the annual Hot Dog Eating Contest at Nathan's in Coney Island. Nothing says I love my country like shoveling 50 hot dogs down your throat in 10 minutes.

Regardless, Trey and I headed out to Byrd Park this evening to watch the colored sky and take photographs. It happend to be a nice walk, with a nice breeze and was overall quite entertaining. The best part of the event was sitting near two older couples in their lawn chiars. I really do love them older folks. It reminded me of growing up in brooklyn and hanging out with my nanna on the front stoop with all her gals in their fancy curlers and moo moos, gossiping about the neighbors. Man, those were the days.