Independence Day
Jul. 5th, 2006 11:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
saavedra77The radio alarm woke me yesterday with a July Fourth music mix I might have programmed, myself: "One Time, One Night (in America)" by Los Lobos; "Fourth of July" by X; "American Girl" by Tom Petty; plus a number of other obvious but pretty cool choices by the likes of the Blasters and Dylan. Consequently, I spent the day with lines like "She couldn't help thinkin' there was/ Somethin' a little bit more/ To life somewhere else" and "On the stairs I smoke a cigarette alone/Mexican kids were shootin' fireworks below" ringing in my ears.
The Tom Petty song made me think about the wanderlust that took me from the right to the left coast, a few years ago, and that, as much as I love Seattle, continues to tug at my sleeve. I couldn't help thinking of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ryuusama, who's currently duplicating that cross-country itinerary: I remember wondering where she was spending the Fourth: Missoula? Couer d'Alene? Spokane? A few hours later, I was on the ferry with sarrabellum and sleepwhenimdead on our way to visit differedfrom and ladyavalon42 across the Sound, and sleepwhenimdead and I got to daydreaming about buying a boat and sailing off across the Pacific. (Never happen, in my case: I need a boat the size and stability of a ferry not to get seasick ...)
John Doe's nostalgic, mournful refrains came back to me later that night, while the Kitsap peninsula erupted into a cacophany of fireworks. In Seattle, I'm usually at a sufficient remove from the pyrotechnics to just appreciate the explosive display of color, and to resist the military metaphor--the latter not being generally what I most want to celebrate about my country. But when our friends' neighborhood over in the Kitsap suburbs started crackling with sounds like close-range small arms fire and mortar rounds a few hours before sunset, it was hard to resist the idea.
I had a great day: it was nice to get away from the City on the holiday, and spend time withdifferedfrom and ladyavalon42's family. Nice, once you got used to the explosions, right outside.
Coming back on the ferry right after sunset that night, I was impressed that Bremerton was simply boiling over with neighborhood fireworks--in absolutely every direction. And I could see the Seattle (Elliott Bay?) fireworks underlighting the clouds, over the darkened hump of Bainbridge Island--like lightning, actually. Rounding the island, we caught the finale of the Lake Union show bursting over the top of Queen Anne Hill--it was a beautiful way to end the evening--from a distance that took the mind away from matters martial.
The Tom Petty song made me think about the wanderlust that took me from the right to the left coast, a few years ago, and that, as much as I love Seattle, continues to tug at my sleeve. I couldn't help thinking of
ryuusama, who's currently duplicating that cross-country itinerary: I remember wondering where she was spending the Fourth: Missoula? Couer d'Alene? Spokane? A few hours later, I was on the ferry with sarrabellum and sleepwhenimdead on our way to visit differedfrom and ladyavalon42 across the Sound, and sleepwhenimdead and I got to daydreaming about buying a boat and sailing off across the Pacific. (Never happen, in my case: I need a boat the size and stability of a ferry not to get seasick ...)John Doe's nostalgic, mournful refrains came back to me later that night, while the Kitsap peninsula erupted into a cacophany of fireworks. In Seattle, I'm usually at a sufficient remove from the pyrotechnics to just appreciate the explosive display of color, and to resist the military metaphor--the latter not being generally what I most want to celebrate about my country. But when our friends' neighborhood over in the Kitsap suburbs started crackling with sounds like close-range small arms fire and mortar rounds a few hours before sunset, it was hard to resist the idea.
I had a great day: it was nice to get away from the City on the holiday, and spend time with
differedfrom and ladyavalon42's family. Nice, once you got used to the explosions, right outside. Coming back on the ferry right after sunset that night, I was impressed that Bremerton was simply boiling over with neighborhood fireworks--in absolutely every direction. And I could see the Seattle (Elliott Bay?) fireworks underlighting the clouds, over the darkened hump of Bainbridge Island--like lightning, actually. Rounding the island, we caught the finale of the Lake Union show bursting over the top of Queen Anne Hill--it was a beautiful way to end the evening--from a distance that took the mind away from matters martial.
