4th of July

4th of July just happened. what a boring holiday it's become. my girlfriend likes it because they have a family reunion at her meme's house every year. her family is enormous and they all seem to love each other's company. most of her aunts look so similar I can't tell them apart. the family usually plays games out on the lawn, like this one where they stand in a circle and try to keep a big ball up in the air. one year I joined in and tried to show off by headbutting the ball. it bent my glasses all out of shape and they're still not right. that was a few years ago. we're in california now so naturally we didn't make it to her meme's.

We tried watching the fireworks here but it was too foggy. they were being shot off at pier 39, and across the bay in berkley, but we couldn't see them from the top of the hill. we could hear them but it just sounded like a civil war re-enactment. we walked back down the hill and tried to see them from the top floor of our apartment building. the highest spot facing the bay is the fitness room on the 12 floor. when we got there there were two old asian women sitting on the exercise bikes, pedalling slowly and looking at the fireworks across the bay. you could barely make them out. they looked more like red and blue sparks, not travelling high at all. it reminds me of a sea dogs game breanne and I went to years ago in portland. it was her birthday and I knew they were having fireworks at hadlock field so I got us tickets. after the game they started shooting them off from the bullpen. maybe they weren't professionals but it was the shittiest fireworks show I've ever witnessed. most of the fireworks were either duds or only 20 or 30 feet off the ground. every time one went off successfully we could see men outlined in colored light through the bullpen door. I'm surprised someone didn't burn to death.

fireworks are strange anyway. I wonder if other countries are so enamored of fireworks. just loud explosions of color in the sky. cavemen would have loved fireworks. not to say I don't enjoy them for the first few minutes. I wonder if in 100 years they'll still look the same, or if they'll be able to display logos or names of sponsors.

4th of July was something to look forward to when I was little. I'd go with my family to visit my grandmother in ogunquit. we'd usually have roast beef, which was always excellent, then we'd all walk down the street, across the footbridge and over the dune and pick a spot on the beach to watch the fireworks. that was a long time ago though and fireworks just don't mean much to me anymore. besides, my favorite part was walking home in the dark. it's hard to find a dark place to walk now.

I think the main problem with the 4th is people don't know what they're supposed to do. on christmas you give presents and decorate a tree, thanksgiving you eat your turkey, easter and the eggs. but on the 4th people just dick around waiting for the light show. people usually have a barbeque and eat hot dogs but there should be a more standard practice. maybe everyone could fire guns into the sky or tear up lawbooks. something significant. maybe if I have a family someday I'll be more excited about the 4th of July but I doubt it.