Being in the non-ritzy neighborhoods of Chicago on the Fourth of July is rather like being at a major fireworks event where they hand out all the goodies to the crowd. Fireworks displays of all kinds are happening everywhere around you. Many of them the professional kind.

This year I decided to do my part with a couple packages of sparklers. The intense heat backed off a bit by dark, and the night went crazy about nine o'clock. I sat on my porch steps and watched.

Last year the festivities were a bit subdued, I suppose because of the recent sad event. This year nobody had a problem with making the hood sound like a war zone. So I got a pretty good fireworks event in, didn't have to leave home or juggle crowds.


Books: Chapter 53 - a conversation between two young men. I've been trying to make it realistic, which means I'm learning all kinds of unusual things about how men communicate with each other. Apparently it really is all about who's bigger and how brave you're acting. (And apparently they all know when you're acting.)