it must be the madness

Or not!

Don’t ask me why, but my family usually ignores the traditional, all-American Independence Day traditions that have been established in other families. For example, we do not:

• Barbecue
• Deck the halls with patriotic garb
• Attend any parties/celebrations

We usually make it to the fireworks display in Columbia, but that is the extent of our reveling. You may remember that I spent last Independence Day watching the Twilight Zone and fuming over Kathy Griffin’s pre-empted Larry King interview. Thrilling, huh?

This year, I spent most of the day working on my Sandbox Themes Contest entry and scraping wallpaper down. My mother paid me to de-wallpaper-ize the bathroom. It took me two hours and the little nails that I have, but now I have a bathroom sans wallpaper as well as some extra cash. Not a lot, but good enough.

We had planned on going out to Columbia to watch the fireworks tonight, but I’m not sure as to the current status of those plans. There were a bunch of really strong storms moving through the area recently. So bad were the storms that the National Mall in D.C. was evacuated. From Pennsylvania down to Virginia and out to Kentucky (probably beyond), there were tornado watches/warnings. There are also unconfirmed reports that there was a tornado (or at least a funnel) spotted about 15 miles away from Columbia. Scary!

Travel plans for this summer were also finalized! Next weekend, we’re taking an extended weekend and going to Ocean City, New Jersey for a few days, which I’m totally looking forward to! We haven’t been there in three years, and I love that place. I can’t wait to get back. The next weekend, we’re going out to the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania (a.k.a. the Land of Nothing To Do) for a family reunion. It’s going to be quite thrilling, I imagine. [/sarcasm] But the best part is that I don’t have to go to Indiana (a.k.a. the other Land of Nothing To Do) this year! My dad and sisters are going, but my mother and I are staying home so that I can do my Rep. Stage program! Although I will miss everybody out there, I’m thankful to be spared two weeks of hellish boredom.

As I write this, I can hear various illegal fireworks going off. I read an article in the Baltimore Sun recently about fireworks, and there was an interesting sidebar that outlined Maryland’s fireworks laws. Basically, the only thing that we’re legally alowed to lanzar (Spanish for fire off/turn on, you gringos!) is sparklers. Nothing else. Everything else must be done commercially/professionally. It also said that 20% a fireworks vendor in Pennsylvania’s sales in late June/early July are made to out-of-state customers. ;)

Happy Fourth of July!