Fourth of July Tradition

My family comes up with traditions pretty fast. For instance, we seem to have developed a new Fourth of July tradition. Each year we go down town to see the municipal fireworks display. Each time I bring my camera with the intention of getting some bloggable photos. And every year I fail. Miserably. Sadly, I’m going to impose my lousy pictures on you anyway. 🙂

It generally starts with the best of intentions, but too many distractions. By the time we have to go, I will have discovered the battery on however many cameras I choose to take are ALL on their last legs. This year I brought two. Both were barely holding on. The backup batteries I always try to keep on hind were no where to be seen. I many have been running short on memory too, but the batteries didn’t last long enough to know for sure.

Anyway, the show was supposed to start at 9pm. Around here, that’s a ridiculous time. The sun doesn’t even begin to set until around 10pm. I should have known there would be over an hour of brass band music. John Phillips Sousa, anyone?

Parking was already dear. We ended up hiking about a mile and a half. Along the way The Girl spotted friends. In true teenage fashion she told us to pretend we didn’t know her and that we’d meet up at the end.

I said, “Such a teenager” as she sprinted ahead.

She said, “I heard that!” over her shoulder.

So when she stopped with her friends, we kept right on going. We passed a LOT of tailgaters with their lawn chairs taking up good parking spots. A little girl twirled and danced to the brass band. All in all it was a little too precious. I wondered if I’d get in trouble for taking pictures, but kept my lenses holstered. After all, I didn’t have much battery left.

Mr. Al and I ended up in prime seats with only telephone wires and a fence of red tape between us and the fireworks. We brought a blanket but not chairs. I’m getting gimpy enough that in the future I’ll insist on the chairs.

About that time The Boy texted me from Oregon. He was concerned about his van, but otherwise fine. Why do I always hear from him when I’m at a movie, concert, or fireworks?

When the show began, a woman next to me took pictures right in time with mine. Only she was apparently smart enough to make sure her battery was recharged.

Sure enough I ran out of battery on the DSLR in about ten minutes. I tried to switch to the Kodak – which is a point and shoot digital – but the adapter for the tripod seemed to have welded itself to the DSLR. I ended up bracing the Kodak on the tripod and hoping for the best. It took by far the best pictures, but again ran out of battery in about ten minutes. So I snapped a few pathetic attempts with my cell phone. Then I gave up and simply enjoyed the show.

If only The Girl had remembered her cell phone. She got turned around and couldn’t figure out where we were parked until the parking lot had just about emptied out. It sure was good to see her come around the corner.

I’m hoping to get better pictures next year. For sure I’ll go with full batteries. Wait. That’s what I said last years.