I do like a good holiday...

This one began with breakfast at the Waffle Shop up the street with Pam and Del (whom I typically refer to lovingly as "my landpeople"), followed by a loooong walk with them and their dog Dixie through the trails behind the house that I didn't even know existed. It was an invigorating way to begin a holiday, and good to spend time with them. I then came home and cleaned my apartment in preparation for the cookout I was hosting that evening.

Around 5.30 the guests began to arrive, bringing with them an assortment of delicious foods. Tracy took post at the grill, others sliced watermelon in my kitchen, and I wandered around from deck to apartment being practically useless. (Here's a tip: Invite competent people to your cookouts if you tend to get overwhelmed by large groups....)

Pam ogled over the baby in our midst,
and that baby didn't even blink an eye when Isaac shot off his potato gun (I, on the other hand, let out a small to mediumish "yelp", even though I was expecting it....)

After we'd gotten our fill of grilled meat, we split up to head toward the fireworks near the stadium. Some people drove. Some people did not like the thought of sitting in miles of traffic afterward, and so took off through the trails I'd learned about that morning. I joined this second group, and we walked through the beauteousness of nature, laughing and talking and getting to know each other better.

We arrived and found good seats on the lawn next to the baseball stadium. We waited in anticipation because we had been told that State College's 4th of July fireworks are the 3rd best in the country. We wanted to judge for ourselves.

We judged this to be accurate: I've never encountered fireworks quite like them. They were pretty incredible. I didn't know that fireworks could be expressive. Maybe I've been watching too much So You Think You Can Dance, but when the music was elegant, the fireworks appeared to be stretching their elegant arms the length of the phrase. When the music was boisterous, the explosions brought boisterousness to life. I sat there with a smile on my face for much of it. (I couldn't help it, they were just that enjoyable...)

When they were finished I looked to the field

below the hill where we were sitting, and realized that I was extraordinarily grateful that we had not decided to drive, because the clump of brake lights was nearly more impressive than the fireworks themselves.

As we walked back through the carnivalish atmosphere that had been set up in the parking lot around the football stadium, we were sucked in by the aroma of frying dough

(aka Funnel Cake).

Our fried goodness fortified us as we made the trek back home through the now dark and somewhat creepy nature we had reveled in before, guided by the light of the moon.

I returned to find that Pam and Del had finished cleaning up, and that all I had to do was go to bed. I was more than ready for it after such a long and good day. As I said--I do like a good holiday.