A Patriotic Smorgasbord

Yesterday we celebrated our nation's birthday and these random "patriotic" thoughts are a result of the past 24hrs (and though some might question the patriotism of the word 'smorgasbord' I simply say that this word has been nothing but kind to the American people)...

Fireworks
We watched the fireworks in downtown Indianapolis last night from Victory Field, the home of the Indianapolis Indians Triple A baseball team, after they finished losing to the Louisville Bats 2-4. On Friday nights the Indians put on a firework show of their own and so last night, we got 2 shows for the price of 1 and honestly, I think the Indians show was better than the city of Indianapolis'.

We ended up having to park in the zoo parking lot, which isn't too far away but trying to get out of there last night was like walking the fine line between hilarity and insanity. There had to have been hundreds of cars in this parking lot with no visible signs of any sort of organization, consideration or courtesy. I bet I sat there for at least an hour waiting for someone to let me in "the line" while other cars would come from other aisles to cut in front of me as if I didn't actually exist or even worse, had no desire to ever leave that parking lot. And so I turned it into a little experiment to see if someone would actually let me in or if I would eventually have to weasel my way into the line. Needless to say I eventually got out of the parking lot as countless people looked right at me as they rode the bumper of the car in front of them making sure I couldn't somehow sneak in front of them when they weren't paying attention. It made me so proud to be an American...

"I call them 'Little Rascals'"
This is the name my wife gave to the fireworks that when shot up in the air, start spinning around all crazy while they make the zipping noise as they spin. This is the name I just gave to the kid walking around my neighborhood, by himself, lighting firecrackers and throwing them in the street as if attempting to spread the holiday cheer evenly throughout the neighborhood. Even now I can hear him blocks away spreading his cheer throughout the land. What a patriotic little rascal.

Phone
I've been sitting on my porch all day so far and noticed a neighbor of mine come walking out of her house on the phone, proceed to walk around her yard/house as she talked. Then I realized that I had just taken a call not too much earlier and paced almost the entire square footage of my house. Why is it that so many of us feel this need or urge to walk around while we talk on the phone, to the point that some of us will answer the phone while sitting on our couch in the living room and end the conversation standing on a street corner blocks away from our house? Maybe walking or pacing while we talk on the phone helps us stay focused or maybe we have become so accustomed to multi-tasking that simply sitting down talking on the phone is boring or not being efficient with our time when I could also be doing dishes, walking the dog, hanging drywall, playing video games, etc.