one has to keep an open mind about things like fireworks, though because i have dogs i'm kind of inclined against them. the dogs have pure open hearts and they sound to dogs like gunshots, and you notice whatever ptsd they might have, it'll be right on their sleeve so to speak. you can't blame them for being a little jumpy and you have no idea what experiences they had with guns in their last lives.

the question is really more what to do on the evening of the fourth, when the town no doubt puts on some kind of show probably out at the lake where there's no danger of burning down the place. do you take a teenage daughter? against her will? or other kids? does everyone want to go?

i read about forest fires popping up in california randomly and, suddenly, 25,000 acres are ablaze uncontained. same where we came from in new mexico. it's all dry as a bone, drought for twenty or thirty years, a single bolt of lightning takes out a whole valley. in ruidoso, one of my favorite places, whole valleys were scorched and many businesses lost.

Drought, scorching heat, hurricanes in the caribbean, and this country prepares to vote in a guy who doesn't even believe in climate change, much less have a clue how to deal with it. he thinks windmills are something you tilt at. and he's the saner, more coherent of the two. his opponent has one foot inn the grave, the only part of him not declining being his stubbornness. which is as strong as ever. the rest of us are victims, because one of them will win. there could be some surprises in the time ahead but somehow i think we're headed for trouble.

it's steamy with the chance of rain. reminds me of this time when i was a kid, i lived in a town about the size of galesburg, toledo ohio. we went out to see the fireworks because what the heck. but the rain started and then came down in torrents. on the way home a power line had fallen right in the street we were using to get home. my father got out and was scraming in the pouring rain at people who didn't seem to recognize the gravity of the power line situation. we children were worried because we so rarely saw our father get truly worked up about something. it was about saving their lives, though.

now of course i'm at the age where i'd just as soon stay at home and let others do all the running around, but i did somewhat obliviously sign up for a 7-9:30 dash or something like that, so if i do nothing about it i will be out there working at the peak of the fireworks. these days i relate to the town as a doordasher. i've gotten to know a lot of restaurant proprietors and share working with them. that is my town, really, all the people i know out there, who recognize me a little when i show up.

tonight i was dashing and i saw some firworks off in the distance. someone couldn't wait to get started. the country's going to hell, but they're blowing off stuff. another night, and the summer gets a little steamier.