Morons on the Loose

What is the connection between Independence Day and pyromaniac morons? The idiots on our block seemed determined to repeat last year's stellar performance in which their amateur pyrotechnics incinerated the arborvitae hedge across the street, leaving us with this splendid sight every morning:

There's nothing like waking up in Mordor to start your day right.

We've been preparing food to take along tomorrow for a day of picnicking and hanging out at Blue Lake Park, my new favorite July 4th destination. We used to stay home and avoid the crowds but I am happier not being home while the morons set the neighborhood on fire.

We visited Blue Lake Park last year on the 4th and found it delightful. Yes, there are thousands of holiday visitors, but the park is huge and there's room for everyone. There's a vibrant multicultural mix of folks who show up on the 4th and last year we shared the park with Russians, Somalis, Latinos, African-Americans, Southeast Asians and more. The ESL teacher in me loved spending the 4th of July with so many new Americans and the kids had all kinds of fun so back we go tomorrow.

I taught my students about the 4th of July tonight. It was tough finding a reading that was simple enough for them to understand but we worked through a good introductory piece. I admit to getting a bit choked up discussing the word "freedom" when one of my Russian girls suddenly got it and explained that that was why they came to America and there were nods of agreement from many. I know there are a lot of creepy, flag waving, God-Bless-America types out there who've taken over words like freedom, but that young woman's face gave me a new understanding of an idea I thought I'd thoroughly considered.

Now if only we could be free of the incendiary morons on our block....