dirka dirka dirka

that's Team American talk for "I'm 4th of July-ed Out!" Just a little. I think my mom just overdid the decorations a little bit. In all seriousness, I am glad to have the freedoms and protections afforded to me as a citizen of the US, though I often worry that these are being threatened and not afforded equally.
This is my first Independence Day in the US for awhile. My last one was three years ago and I was in Tacoma, WA housesitting for someone with a view over Puget Sound, so I had the perfect view of fireworks all the way from there to Seattle. It was fantastic.
Selling fireworks in stores is illegal in Iowa. Apparently, in 1931 a kid in a small town in Iowa set off a huge table full of fireworks and ended up burning down the entire downtown of this small hamlet. It was only in the 1960s that sparklers were allowed. People drive down to Missouri and buy fireworks there, but I guess that they set up roadblocks and stuff to catch people. The upside of this is that there are tons of public fireworks displays on and around the holiday. It's pretty cool, since Iowa is so flat, you can see all of them. but it makes for loud evenings and nawa gets scared.
anyway, happy fourth of july!
(i am finishing celebrations by watching Team America: World Police)