4th of July
by Eli
last year’s 4th of July was my first ever in seattle. since i didn’t really know what was the cool thing to do, i watched the seattle fireworks at gasworks. there were a shit load of people there when we showed up (9pm, about 30 minutes before the fireworks started). the fireworks were amazing. we were crammed in as tight and as close as we could get, but i was still left wanting to be closer.
this year i decided that i would avoid all this by going down to gasworks really early and bringing blankets. meredith and i arrived around noon and set up camp in a pretty sweet spot, front and center. perfecto.
meredith and i chilled there until about 4pm by ourselves. we read books, walked around, took pictures, got sunburned, and drank some lemonade. i also got suckered into a 3 month subscription to the Seattle Times (about $30 total), but i got some cool stuff: a Misty Mate Cool Blast Mister, a fold up chair, and a fleece blanket.
a little after 4pm i went out of the park to meet brandon and brophy and swap cars in our parking spot. from there i drove to the steig’s house, took spot on a walk, hung out for a bit, petted spot, drove to the HotBox to meet up with britt, and walked down to gasworks.
with all of us there (me, mere, britt, brophy, brandon, (brophy’s) brandon, drew, morgen, and cedar [did i forget anyone?]), we were ready for the action.
it was at this point that 3 or 4 HUGE beach balls started getting tossed around. at first things were calm, but it quickly grew to a fever pitch, almost to the point of histeria. i was afraid someone was going to get hurt in a “rock concert” sorta way. i saw quite few people falling and stepping in places they shouldn’t, and just about everyone there (at least a few thousand) were freaking out. it was an amazing thing to witness.
the fireworks were AMAZING like they always are. i said it last year and i’ll say it again this year: seattle has the best fireworks i have every seen.
check out all my photos here:
it’s still totally cool for you to come visit whenever. life will be crazy until august 20th. then i think i’m going to the biodynamic gardening national conference in sacramento for august 24th-26th. but you should definitely come for as long as you want. it might be boring, but you can probably borrow a car and explore the surrounds when i have to work. i dunno – it’ll be fun.
cool. i’m still thinking how to fit in all my travels before i leave for antarctica. in the end, things might be too busy for it to be worth heading all the way down there; i’d probably only be able stay for a few days. i’ll let you know more when i know it.