I biked to feed my brother's cats and stopped by a yard sale on the way home. An old printing business is selling off their old tractor-feed stickers for like 25 cents a case, very very tempting, but being on the bike saved me from myself again.
To get out of the blast zone in our neighborhood we went for a hike. My wife looked at her Gwoogwoo Photos and noted that we usually go hiking on the 4th... well, why not? It was nice to hike even if my kid made me run to the restroom from the top of the hill. No matter. We climbed it again.
We were hungry afterwards and looked for restaurants to eat at. Everyone was closed except for our beloved nearby Chinese cart. Eating their reliably tasty food inevitably makes me think of my formative Chinese food experiences at the Sea Dragon restaurant in Fort Dodge, IA. I did the inevitable search and found that (1) the restaurant closed in 1997, and (2) one of the owners died late last year after being hit by an SUV. I like this line from her obituary:
In sadly unsurprising news, there was at least one article blaming the person walking: something like "There are NO marked crosswalks at this location." Unbelievable. Not only should it be OK to, you know, cross the road, it doesn't look like there are any marked crosswalks anywhere remotely near that location.
It also may not surprise you to know that after the boy went to sleep, I rode around my neighborhood silently on the bicycle, taking in the scene. There were moments where I came across a firework going off in the middle of the street, and I paused to look at it and not spoil their moment. Then I rode off into the hazy night.
