This was a very fun 4th of July. I started the day with birthday wishes from my mother-in-law. I was happy she called, but I was also very tired and realized that I was up, and that making it through the day would be no fun until I got more sleep. I met a friend of mine around 8:30. He had invited me out for some remote-controlled airplane flying. This is a very regular activity of his; he makes and flies his own planes, and does so with a group of other people who all seem to congregate at parks on weekend mornings to fly, fly, fly. I was a gorgeous morning, and I brought my camera. I thought it would be fun to snap lots of pictures in the hopes of maybe getting a few great images of planes zooming to and fro.
I wasn’t disappointed. Almost immediately after I started using my camera, two planes collided overhead in a shower of fiberglass and paint. I missed the collision with my camera by just half a second, and I was startled by the loud bang of the collision and the rain of debris. I then practiced tracking planes through the air, snapping photos. I even flew myself for a little.
I was exhausted after the morning, so I ran some errands and then went home to catch a nap. I forgot how nice napping is. I woke up 30 min. later feeling great, did some chores around the house, and then went out to meet friends for an evening of music and fireworks. We went to the Shoreline Amphitheater, where the San Francisco Symphony and guests entertained us for over and hour before the fireworks started. The highlight was a reading by George Takei, of Star Trek fame, while the Symphony performed a medley of themes from the Star Trek theme songs over the years. My favorite part of the night was a movie of the Mars rovers playing over Holst’s “Mars”.
The fireworks were fantastic. It was a great 4th of July. To all my fellow Americans, near and far, here’s to independence. Let’s make America a country worth defending.
Here are more photos from my morning at the park.
