'MERICA

//Summer birthdays

//Roadtripping

//Fireworks

One of the best things about the 4th of July are the fireworks. I love the roaring sounds- the ones that go KABOOM and the ones that whistle into the night sky. Ditto (our family golden retriever) is terribly afraid of them. She hastily shuffles the sliding door open with her nose, and walks in like a maniac, creeping under a bed or curling herself up in the corner of our kitchen. Then she trembles and whines like someone is getting murdered--eep!

And while most people aren't afraid of fireworks, I feel like they just don't think they're as amusing as when they were kids. I still marvel at such grandeur--what a spectacular show! And when the lights are coming at me, so close that sometimes I feel I could lift my hands and have some glittering sparks peck at my reaching fingertips, upon realizing that they are far away pasted on the clouded sky, I realize how far I  really am from that sky and how small I really am, and how big this world is. And that sort of recognition- that we're so small in this grand world- has always seemed beautiful to me. Fireworks, man. They get to me.

And America. Gosh, I'm incredibly blessed to live here, and I'm reminded of it often. I seriously take the freedom, safety, and opportunities for granted here sometimes.