God bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above.
From the mountains to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam,
God bless America, my home sweet home.

***

It doesn't matter how old you are or how many times you've seen them: fireworks are just so cool. Standing on top of the garages in J2's co-op complex, we ogled four sets of fireworks, ooh-ing and aah-ing and squealing with glee. It's not necessarily that we regressed back to our childhood days. It's just that sometimes, fireworks cause us to be in awe of something, something colorful and booming, something fiery and spectacular, something bright and illuminating. I stood there with my mouth agape and a huge smile adorning my face, shivering in the slight breeze, bouncing up and down in joyful anticipation. It was awesome.

***

Ironic that on Independence Day, I felt nostalgic for the days when I was not so independent. I spent such a busy weekend with friends, trekking to all sorts of faraway places, eating all sorts of non-home-cooking ... when I got in my car to come home tonight, it occurred to me that I hadn't spoken to my parents in two days, hadn't seen them in over a week, and when I came home ... there would be no one to ask my how my weekend was or if I was hungry and wanted something to eat. There would be no one to offer me aloe for my sunburn or a cup of tea for my sore throat. There would be no one to whom I could relay recent happy news or with whom I could share some juicily harmless gossip. There would be no one to persuade me to go to sleep and rest instead of watching old reruns of "Law & Order: SVU." Sigh. I want my mommy.

***

I done been burned.

I knew it would happen. I never tan so much as I burn, then have it fade INTO a tan. Saturday was no different. Seven of us hit the road at the near crack of dawn, at least for a weekend morning. We arrived at Robert Moses beach, with plenty of room to build a trench and moat to protect our perimeter. We were fully stocked with food and drink and baby toys to occupy the youngest members of our troupe. We slathered ourselves with sunscreen and settled back for a relaxing few hours of sun, surf and breeze.

I, of course, forgot to re-apply. Rather, I forgot to reapply around and under the edges of my bathing suit. As a result, I have lovely maroon-red outlines, delineating exactly where the straps and edges of my bikini lay. Red and white ... I look like a damn candy cane. Bathing is a chore, as is sitting on the toilet and lying on my back and wearing a bra and stretching and driving.

And naturally, I felt like a bigger dork when I went running outside this morning with J2 and the Famille Alien, only to return home with a knee brace tan around my right leg. The knee FEELS fine, but looks kind of stupid now. I swear, my dorkiness knows no bounds ...