Today is my birthday, and I have taken 60 spins around old Sol.
That I have made it this far is an accomplishment in itself, and my lovely wife is likewise amazed that she has made it to 64. I guess teamwork and synergy have helped.
So, let's go below the orange intercooler while it's available, and I'll bore you with some observations.
While I was born on July 4th, I've never really gotten into DIY fireworks. While I was growing up, we didn't do the "drive to Indiana" or "drive to Wisconsin" thing, buying fireworks where they are legal. And I never felt that people were celebrating my birthday, it just so happened that my birthday fell on July 4th.
The topper to this was an incident that happened to me when I was 12 years old, and walking through Marquette Park on Chicago's Sout' West side. There was a small catch basin that was missing a grill, and some ijit tossed a lit firecracker into it just before I came close. The resulting explosion didn't hurt me, except that my ears were ringing for hours afterward. I never did catch up with the guy to "thank" him...
I usually try to stay in on my birthday, if only to preserve my hearing. And since I'm retired, I've gotten into the habit of taking it easy. Since it was warm enough to switch on the air conditioning, we've spared Moishe much of the noise from our neighborhood "independent fireworks operators". I expect things may be a lot quieter on the farm after we move out there, since we are at least a half mile from our closest neighbor.
Of course, I do enjoy professional fireworks displays, but getting to a good vantage point here in Chicago would require running the gauntlet to the L, and back again, and of course dealing with crowds. Better to stay in, but with our new house we may be able to watch from the cupola. The dome seems to be a lot quieter than our house in Chicago.
Well, enjoy the rest of your 4th. I'm looking forward to some quieter days in the coming week.