I used to not have to work the day after Fourth of July. Alas those simple days of summer vacation are gone, and I along with my Proletariat comrades join the millions, in returning to work today. Shoot, maybe not even hundreds of thousands, probably more like a couple hundred. Based on the commute this morning I am guessing everyone took the rest of the week off.
I dreamt last night I was in a war zone. I was listening to artillery, machine gun fire, and mortars go off in my head. I dreamt I was in khakis and running for cover all night. Surprisingly I slept well, just not long enough. The shells stopped last night around 4:00 pm. I can remember hearing about a dozen go off all at once and then everything was silent after that.
Last night we went to see fireworks display in Commencement bay. Becca's sister lives in North Tacoma. So it was convenient to park the car and walked down to the bay together with her and her boyfriend. Last year we walked all the way down the hill. This year we were smarter and walked only half way down the hill. A much better view of the display and we could also see the hordes of people milling about up and down Ruston way. Nice to be out of that mess. The fireworks were beautiful as usual, and it being Wednesday night, traffic leaving was less than last year's tie ups. Of course we did not have to hike all the way up the hill again this year, and maybe that made all the difference. We still made it home before midnight, and thankfully Becca drove, my body had shut down the moment I sat down. Am I getting old or what? When I was a kid we would plan out the things we would buy from the fireworks stands in Iowa and Nebraska, where they still allowed the dangerous things. Roman candles, rockets, firecrackers. In civilized Michigan there were only sparklers, worms and fountains. We would head to the local high school football field and watch the city display and then stay up late at night and annoy the neighbors, listen and watch other peoples fireworks go off and collect shrapnel. I remember going to bed with visions of fountains and firecrackers going off in my head. I kind of wonder if these are the sounds that service men and women hear overseas, and what their reaction is when they see fireworks again for the first time after returning from action.
So I return to work today. The cul-du-sac is littered with paper and stained with black spots. I ran over a few whipper snappers and smiled as they popped. Harmless mini land mines. The police drove past, Tacoma police, maybe returning from a late night of handing out 275.00 fines all night. This is the first year there has been a ban on fireworks in the city. It is probably a huge windfall for the city. Right during the summer season when parking ticket violations are at a low point. (My solution, clean up the awful smell coming from the bay and downtown businesses will attract customers in the summer not just fine people for sparklers. I hear it's the combination of heat and stagnating water that keeps people on higher ground and the Tacoma mall.) I made it to the vanpool pickup, and surprisingly there were three other comrades, waiting patiently to help advance the motherland. No rest for us this July 5th. They looked as tired as I did as we made our way north. As I drove I thought to myself now why can't we just string together our three main summer holidays together and make it a five day weekend? One right after another. Because as civilians know, it's all about taking time off and enjoying our freedom to watch fireworks, eat burgers off the grill and sleep through a perfectly nice afternoon. I think it'd be a great idea. If anything it would get me out of going to work the next day.
