4th of July Skies
Posted on July 4, 2019 Posted by John Scalzi 6 Comments
They were pretty without the fireworks.
As for the 4th in general, this is what I had to say about it today on Twitter:
This 4th of July I am celebrating the better nation I know we could be, and committing myself to the work it will take to become it.
Also, I’m having pie.
Accurate on both counts.
Hope your 4th was inspirational, and pie-laden.
No pie, but sourdough bread was baked.
I kept the brave men and women of the 1776 revolutionary army in my thoughts and prayers. For it was, on this day, the anniversary of their capture of the British Air Base at Ft. McHenry near Baltimore. If it wasn’t for their last minute, desperate efforts, ramming the ramparts we might be drinking tea this morning with breakfast instead of coffee.
We had no pie, alas, but we had patriotic cupcakes and the traditional PB&J sandwiches, this time on bread that my nibling made with his own hands.
Plus fireworks that were legal and therefore a bit lame, which we light in broad daylight to ensure the lameness is maximized. We’re all a bit pyromanic so we enjoyed that tremendously.
No pie, but burritos. And ice cream.
Since I was very young I have celebrated the 4th for the ideals and not the actualities of the American experience.
I stayed home trying to convince a couple of dogs that the world was not ending and we were not all gonna die. I failed. After dark I went out to watch my across-the-street neighbors (originally from Vietnam) set off a few small Roman candles. My next-door neighbors (originally from Sierra Leone) also came out to enjoy it. It’s a good neighborhood for appreciating the Fourth of July.
By the way, if I may respectfully correct Tom Mears, my understanding is that the name of the fort is now “McHendry.” I too had thought it was “McHenry,” but it seems not. Also, it’s probably “Fort McHendry OF Baltimore,” since there seems to be a new rule that every other preposition gets replaced by “of.” I am surprised of this.