red 4th

so being that loved ones are a little farther away than i care to have them (and that they care to have me) the 4th was spent in a reclusive manner, and only in the last few moments of daylight did i decide to borrow my roommates rear bicycle light, throw the camera in a camel pack bag and mount the tripod on the back to take a couple photos of the evening. the initial thought was to ride lazily toward old town, hoping to make it before the larger fireworks were set-off in the surrounding areas, but shortly after a left turn on wadswort, the better part of a version of laziness took hold of me legs and my steering and the local high school cinder track became base for the evening. the view from the track was wonderfully underwhelming. no breath-taking firework could come even close to filling the camera lens. i took one series after another of the horizon, just letting the multitude take its small place as a temporary portion of the skyline of aging suburbia. (i will later post ta "stop-action" video as a stand alone post).

before i continue, it seems best to tell a brief narrative of the 4ths of my youth, especially those on glenroy. the venue (not the space) changed over the years: a metal shed that smelled of oil, grass and the occasional cat "shit"; the above-ground pool that one day with a monstrous effort from my mother suddenly disappeared; a wooden shed that slowly gained all the same smells of the previous but for the cat's (not part of the family) since it was successfully closed out by the properly latching door; the 10' by 10' concrete slab that served as our backyard basketball court, and the small path of cement steps that year after year served as the launching pad. the pyrotechnition was -of course- my father and the family and neighbors were the viewers. for my family and i at that point, the 4th was not clearly the birth of american freedom. in fact, it would take the war that followed that original date to gain liberation from a distant monarch. instead, it was about the cake my mother decorated with blueberries, strawberries and white icing (delicious if i may), both sides of the family arriving to our house to eat while sitting in the humidity and sun, having beers and jtms until the summer sun gave way to artificial flares.

my father would buy fireworks, and slowly, one-by-one, set them off. we all watched, giving oohhhhs and ahhhhhhs, depending upon the previous muttering. until a few brief moments afterwords a dark and silence would come over the family. the end of the fireworks meant a quick clean-up and time for bed. with hindsight, they were extraordinarily small displays. in my youthful mind, and in my memory today, they were a meaningful presentation for the family.

it will come to no surprise to anyone who had similar youth experience that the following photograph has a double meaning: it looks back on those family celebrations as well as gives some subliminal message as to the meaning of the festivities these days. the family display hit me in one way, and the red glow in another. a family just out of the strength of the flames and a airy sea of red in its immediate surroundings.

the reader can gleam from the image what he or she likes. and i will find myself writing an email and then sleeping. thanks.

lest i forget the sparkler...*