4th of July Zaniness

I spent my fourth of July on the lawn of the national mall. It was great fun. Amon got to the mall with some guests she had in town and staked out a spot for us. I showed up about noon and hung out with Amon and others all day, anticipating the wonderful fireworks. Amon had packed a picnic lunch, brought blankets and sun umbrellas. It was grand. The only hitch in the plan was the massive storm that raged through the area bringing gale force winds, hail, and sheets of rain that were parallel to the ground.

How did we deal with this monstrosity of a storm you may ask? While others fled for cover we stacked all our stuff in the cart Amon had brought, put the tarp over the top and climbed underneath. We waited out the storm huddled in the shadow of the Washington Monument watching (it was a clear painters tarp) the storm approach, the gusts of wind almost tear the tarp out of our hands, the rain march across the reflecting pool towards us, and a branch get ripped off a tree. When it had reverted to sprinkling, we climbed out from beneath the tarp, set the area back up (blankets nice and dry sitting on top of the tarp) and enjoyed the rest of the evening in the newly cooled off air.

The fire works went off without a hitch and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. As a side note, Becky (Amon’s roommate) had her digital SLR with her and playing with it re-ignited my desire to purchase one for myself someday. Sooo nice. Sigh.

Hope your 4th was fantastic.