Fireworks and Fun

Joyous. Carefree. Camaraderie. Radiant. Fellowship. Celebratory. Togetherness.

Those are just some of the words that come to mind to describe our 4th of July evening.



We joined a fellow Orthodox church community for an amazing evening of fun. It was the relaxed, comfortable kind of gathering that makes you feel contented deep down in your soul. The kind that makes you smile, relax the tension in your shoulders, and think "this is the way life is supposed to be. Life is good." Ahhhh.



There was a wonderful buffet of potluck foods (homemade veggie chips? GOOD!), and an even more wonderful musical ensemble playing rollicking Irish tunes that got everyones' feet a-tappin'.



There were little girls, barefoot and fancy free, dancing away with grins stretching from ear to ear.



As the music went on, the band of miniature dancers grew....and so did their laughter.



Is there any sound on earth more precious than laughing children? Any site more precious than a gathering of little people dancing away in the rosy dusk of a summer evening?



As the twilight deepened, we passed around the glowsicks (15 for $1, minus my 25% Michaels discount. What a deal!). As you can see below, they were a hit with the young and old alike and before long the grassy field was dotted with bright spots of color.



Isolated fireworks began early in the evening, and each explosion was met with cries of eager delight from the kids (especially my kid, who loves fireworks in a big way and was antsy with anticipation for the big show!) At long last, we spread out the blankets and settled down to watch the evening's big fireworks display.

Full disclosure - all the fireworks below weren't really captured in just one exposure. I just slapped several images together to consolidate.



The City show was being held at a park just a couple miles down the road from the church, so we were close enough to see (most of) it all but also far enough away to avoid (most of) the crazy crowds. In all honesty the fireworks lost some of their majestic boom from there, but it still was a pretty good deal.



Fireworks, food, fun, fellowship. Oh, and dirty little bare feet. Yep, a pretty good deal indeed.