Had a pretty good Fourth of July weekend. The Wimbledon ladies' final between Venus and Serena Williams left something to be desired in terms of competitiveness and crowd appeal. It was weird how how quiet it was in the stands, and when Serena broke Venus midway through the second set, you could see the match was over. The men's final on Sunday, though, gave last year's "best tennis match ever" a run for the money. It was a slug fest between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick. Roddick showed up on the court with more force in the first three sets, even though he dropped the second and third in a tie-break. Federer did not break Roddick's serve until the very end in the fifth-set bonus. It really must have been a heartbreaker for Roddick to have such a great match end that way. Federer is now the owner of the most Open-era Slam titles ever, with 15. It was good to see the match end without an incident like the French Open final fan who was able to run right up to Federer and try to put a hat on him. Watching that live brought back flashes of Monica Seles being stabbed in Germany. The Wimbledon officials put together a very nice tournament, the weather there was freakishly dry (even as we've been uncharacteristically deluged here in the northeast) and the Centre Court retractable roof will wait until next year.
On Sunday afternoon, I ended up preparing some fare for our nuclear family --- rib eye steak and hot dogs on the grill, along with pasta salad and green beans. Later on as the fireworks started at about 9 p.m., we sat on some folding canvas chairs down by the lakefront. Bundled up my niece, M----, in a few blankets to ward off the night chill and help muffle the sounds.
This community has always had decent displays of fireworks for the Fourth. There is no public entity behind it, it has always been from a few to several people around the lake who buy privately and, with our Puritan Connecticut laws, probably illegally. Nonetheless, we are just observers. This year there were about seven camps sprinkled around the lake that were setting off a full display, and we have a very good vantage point... probably one of the the best views on the lake. I managed to take the above photo in my camera's 'Fireworks' mode, and it didn't come out too badly even though it was not steadied on a tripod as suggested.
About midway through, M---- was asleep even with the bangs, whistles, booms and pops, her little hand resting on her cheek. For the last 15 years or more, the Fourth was not exactly my favorite holiday. The fireworks would make the dogs severely agitated, and at every blast they would try to hide under furniture or skittishly hang around the humans. The Fourth was something more to be drowned out by turning the television's sound way up and trying to calm the wanton canine fears with cheap palliative words. Well, we don't have that situation anymore, and the Fourth is a stark reminder of that with memories and the anniversary of their departing. But we try to come up with some new rituals and move forward step after step.
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