(Updated my runs and will note I've now passed the blogmark of 20 years and a million visits. My running, due to health issues, has been reduced to walking. My weight has ballooned. But I've been there before. My writing is a series of short-story rejections. I've also been there before. More t/k.
I've been a slob, a loafer of the first rank in ignoring this blog.
And here I stand, on the brink of 20 years of continuous posts to a
select audience. Nevertheless, I present a sampling of past July 4s (and
a 5).
Memorable July 4th Events
Thanks to the Founding Fathers for sticking their necks out and
declaring independence when it was unclear they could back up such a
deed. (I recommend David McCullough's book
1776
if you wish to read how the British kicked the American army off Long
Island, chased George Washington from New York, and came very close to
mopping up his ragged little force.)
History aside, here are several recollections from July 4th past:
5Ks
Mark up another one today. (Only 3 miles.) Ran around the golf course at
Griffith Park along the soft dirt bridal trails where you rarely see a
horse while maneuvering past their rounded droppings. Felt good, no
injuries, taking it very slow. In the past, there have been runs and
walks in:
5th of July Party 1981
Close enough for a list. This epic bash saw an entire Hollywood
apartment building unite in pursuit of a drunken bash that began around
11:00 AM at the pool, spread from the building, down the block to a bar,
back to the building and inside an apartment where it continued until
the cops showed up at 3:00 AM. My recollections are fuzzy due to age and
staggering drunkenness.
1986
This year, repairs were finally completed on the Statue of Liberty and
there was to be a big televised event with more fireworks than Saturday
night in the barrio. An old improv friend invited me to a party down
near the beach. I'd once had a crush on Lisa. She reluctantly informed
me of her gayness. But I still didn't give up, as I'd met women before
who were "gay for a day." In any case, Lisa's party was lesbian central.
Out of 22 women, only three were straight. One was ill and left early,
the other nursed a bad sunburn, and I didn't hit it off with the third.
No matter. We all had a grand time watching fireworks over the ocean off
Santa Monica. The following year, Lisa moved to Sedona, Arizona with a
girlfriend, bought a house, and waited for UFOs to circle Coffee Pot
Rock. (I could be wrong about the last part.)
1976
Bi-centennial. A big deal. My sister was attending Western Illinois
University. Out in the cornfields, near the Mississippi River, not far
from Iowa, stood the little town of
Basco.
There they made their own fireworks and put on a patriotic pageant
every 4th. My girlfriend and I, my sister, and her friends attended. We
ended up trashed in some field drinking Grain Belt Beer and watching the
fireworks crackle. We all bought tee-shirts that said "Basco 1976." I
drove back to the farmhouse my sister was renting, hunched over the
wheel, barely able to see.
Horror Book Discount Continues
That's
about all the July 4th memories I can salvage for the day , but there's
always time to flog a book. Through today and ending Tue. July 5th, Hallow Mass continues to be available in Kindle form for under three dollars. Cool off with a nice chilling horror tale of old grudges, new terrors, and unadorned sorcery. A pleasant weekend to all!
