The 4th

What is it about fireworks and marshmallows?

And flags, of course.

And Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture (even though it's about Russia and France and not us whoopin' the Brits in the War of 1812. Wiki can be very handy. Just saying.)

And hydrangeas bursting in fullness.

And our friends Dave and Karen in from Middletown, Ohio, for a wedding in Barrington. (The Sancerre 2008 is fabulous. Thank you.)

And sweet corn for 22 cents an ear.

And cats with new homes.

And barbequed chicken. And salmon. And steak. (Possibly all three.)

And karaoke at the neighbors' house.

And for our dog's inability to hear M80s bursting in air.

And yellow finches diving into the fountain and playing tag in the trees.

And abundant sunlight and negligible humidity.

And babies due in precisely 30 days.

And flags at every mailbox in the neighborhood.

And the freedom to do it and see it.

And write about it.

Happy Fourth of July, everyone.