Independence Days

dog and flag

balboa park carousel

Sit-in Closet

I’m hanging out with Quijote, who has decided the safest place to be is in our closet.

quijote the dog hiding

Initially, he played it cool – like the noise of the 4th of July fireworks wasn’t going to bother him. Then, all of the sudden, it was too much, and he began scampering wild-eyed around the house in a panicked search for the best hiding spot.

honeybears bbq sliders

Even before Quijote, we didn’t always go to see fireworks. In the middle of the sweltering Arizona summer, it’s a good day for brunch with friends or swimming or barbecue or staying inside and crafting.

 

Hawthorne Inn room

San Diego

Of course, we were way out of the house when we had our first Independence Day with Quijote on our San Diego trip a year ago.

San Diego - bankers hill

It was a similar story, where he started out unfazed, and then suddenly switched to terrified.

hawthorne historic inn

We were staying at the Hawthorne Historic Inn, which has a deck that’s great for watching fireworks. Phillip found us a couple chairs and brought up some wine and snacks. It was so sweet and lovely until we realized Quijote was not going to be able to deal with noise after all.

san diego fireworks

We gathered up our stuff and climbed back down the wooden steps.

quijote sleeping in san diego

Phillip and I propped up pillows and sat drinking wine and watching tv in bed, while Q burrowed under the comforter.

 

plane window sunset

Indiana

On the other hand, Phillip and I began one 4th of July on a red eye to Indianapolis.

fountain square

We arrived, caught a few hours sleep, stopped by a square where there was a music festival we were too early for, and then drove to Madison County to see my extended family.

fountain square music festival stage

We ended the day outside a different hotel, watching fireworks and fireflies and mysterious orange lights that were floating across the sky.

fireworks in indiana

When you’re with ones you love, you can have a good time whether you’re standing in an open field or hunkering down in a closet.

 

San Diego Sights Worth a Second Trip

palm trees in la jolla

While I’ve never spent more than a few days at a time in San Diego, it’s been part of some very memorable trips.

Windansea Beach San Diego

We camped at a State Park just outside of town on the final night of our trip down the coast in 2012.

Back when Phillip worked for an airline, we flew in just for an afternoon once, because we could go for free.

Another time, we took the San Diego Trolley south to the end of the line. Did you know it goes all the way to the U.S.-Mexico border? We crossed over to visit friends in Tijuana.

And, of course, there’s the trip I took with my grandma. We packed a lot of sightseeing into just a few days!

San Diego marina

Fast forward to this year.  When Phillip and I decided we’d join my brother, sister-in-law, their kids, and my parents on their San Diego trip in July, I started thinking about previous trips and what I’d want to see and do again.
Continue reading “San Diego Sights Worth a Second Trip”

The Cracks in the Liberty Bell

Liberty Bell Philadelphia

The Liberty Bell is cracked.

Whether it’s broken, I suppose, depends on your point of view.

Liberty Bell, Philadelphia

No one knows when the fissure first started to form.

We know there was an attempt to fix it by making the crack wider in 1846. But this ultimately caused another crack, making the Bell unringable and irreparable.

Independence Hall, Philadelphia

It remains on display at the Liberty Bell Center across from Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

While silent, it continues to reverberate as a symbol of a more free and just society.

Whether it’s broken depends on your point of view.




 

Microblog Mondays: Write in your own space

Orange Lights

Best western anderson indiana
The orange lights drifted across the night sky, while we watched with the rest of the crowd scattered across the lawn. They traveled almost single file at irregular intervals. We ruled out planes and fireflies and satellites, then jokingly settled on aliens, because it was Independence Day, and we had no other explanation.

Anderson indiana

One didn’t make the full arc. It was falling (crashing? landing?), down towards the earth. It was on fire. Some teenage boys ran out to catch it. No aliens, just the remains of a burnt sky lantern, probably being launched from the same site as the firework show that had drawn us all outside to this Anderson, Indiana lot.

Anderson indiana

With the mystery solved, they left it behind on the grass, and we all went back to watching fireworks explode.


Microblog Mondays: Write in your own space

Fountain Square Signs

We made it back from Indiana. The humidity wasn’t as bad as I’d worried it would be. The mosquitoes were surprisingly persistent, despite our super-strength deet. But the fireflies winked at us in the evenings, and we saw almost everyone we went out there to see.

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At one point, we had just a little extra time to kill in Indianapolis, so we went and checked out the historic Fountain Square. Not much was open yet, but we did see some interesting architecture and vintage-looking signs I wanted to share – in case you’re as geeky about this stuff as I am.

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Diamonds, anyone?


Microblog Mondays: Write in your own space