Fourth and Back

Recounting our personal tradition.

This July Fourth, just like the last six or seven July Fourths, we left the house 🏠 first thing to spend the day on the Manassas Museum lawn. It's got the best view of the fireworks 🎆 in the city.

Now, is it necessary for us to get there at 9 AM? Of course not. There would have been plenty of spots if we'd arrived at 6 PM. But by treating it like a day at the beach ⛱️ , we make a real holiday out of it 😎 . Otherwise, it's easy for it just to feel like another day with some explosions 🧨at the end of it.

Yesterday was also the 100th anniversary of Caesar salad 🥗. So Janice and I got some from a local restaurant and brought it back to where we'd set up our beach chairs. I spent the afternoon reading Caesar, a historical novel 📚 in Colleen McCullough's seven-book “Masters of Rome” series. It was a cheeky way to keep the Caesar salad theme going and a balm for my political anxieties—the Fourth is a day to put those aside and focus on ideals.

(I also spent some time on a text interview that'll be finished today and appear in the next Journal of Wordplay, but later for that.)

We've always felt the best way to celebrate the day is to get out and be among the people. In the end, the people are what the country is made of.

And the official fireworks show was everything we hoped for, played to Sousa marches and the 1812 Overture 🎶. Of course, the walk back home felt a little like strolling through a war zone—locals get real exuberant with the not-so-official celebrations 😀🤪—but we made it back in time to assure the cats 🐈 🐈‍⬛️ 😿🙀 that we were in fact alive and feedings would continue.

Next couple of days, I'll be delving into a couple of New York Times online games. Until then…