independence day

DSCN0840, originally uploaded by lilylord.

The fourth of July always seemed to be the holiday that other people celebrated. My mom hated street fireworks and told us of the neighborhood kid who's hand was fried to a crisp from a bad sparkler. So inside we stayed on the fourth, keeping all of the animals safe, keeping ourselves safe. The next day, running outside and collecting all of the colorful firework wrappings and wondering what magic had been unleashed the night before.

And still today, I still have residual fear of rogue fireworks. Imagining that the fireworks from across the way will go horribly south and something bad will happen. Feeling the same kind of tension as when a conversation turns tense in a bar or public place and the fight inside is eager and ready to let loose.

There is a system of large signs along our freeways that have changing messages. Sometimes there are alerts of missing children, sometimes traffic. The messages are always fear based. "Stay alive. Don't drink and drive" it this weekends message. Which is a good one, but like the warning of the kid's hand becoming an extension of his sparkler, makes me paranoid of the other yahoo drivers on the road. "People around drink a 5th on the 4th", said my mom when talking to her today "I'm staying in". I think I might too. Happy 4th of July.