4th of July in San Jose

It used to be a big thing.

When we were home for the 4th, we would all pile into the car in the evening and travel the 101 to San Jose. The big event was at Spartan Stadium. I remember it being considerably hotter then South City, and more windy. We got there in time to see the drum and bugle groups play. We got there in time to hear all of the politician's speeches. We got there in time to run up and down the grassy endzones. It was sooo cool.

It was a time that the fireworks seemingly exploded over our heads. We were very impressed by the show on the ground floor. There were spinners that spun and exploded to one another. There were American Flags set up in fireworks. There was even a Nigara Falls of fireworks on the floor of the stadium. It was a great event. We never bought our own fireworks except for a black worm or two and some boxes of sparklers. If we could go to that show we were not disappointed.

Nothing can be like that now. The liability of ground shows makes that hard. In Atwater they used to have the Miss Atwater contest just before. That has shifted to a separate event with a paid admission... with budget cuts.

One year the big deal was honoring the anniversary of the statue of Liberty. Everyone bought foam Statue of Liberty visors at the Atwater show.

This is a really tough time for Heather. She freaks out with the ka booms. We try to be indoors at Disneyland when the firworks go off. Last year we didn't make it, but we were far enough away that it was okay... well sort of.

Happy 4th Pat