Holidays

I don't DO holidays. All are grossly commercial and most are grossly sentimental. Yesterday, and the day before, the town was grossly crowded. I think 50% of Boston had come to Cape Cod for the holiday. It took my next door neighbor half an hour to make the five minute drive home from church yesterday because of traffic. I was unable to park in my usual little lot to go walking at 8:00 in the morning for two days - today was back to almost normal. More people on the beach early, sure, it's July, we're having a heat wave, of course a few others are early morning people like I am.

I admit to liking fireworks displays but I have always avoided the crowds and traffic to go see them. Last evening I was settled happily reading when, a little before 9:00, I heard booms! I looked out and saw fireworks from a northerly direction that made no sense. They were pretty and rather brief. I don't know where they were shot from since there is nothing but residential area and the mall and airport are in that direction. They had just subsided when noises from farther 30 degrees south and I realized the town's major fireworks display had begun over the harbor [about a mile and a half away] The displays blossomed above the trees, and the lesser ones somewhat behind the trees. I was able to watch for most of an hour from my little patio -- not crowd, no traffic, just me and the bursting displays of light in the sky. That is a holiday celebration to enjoy!