Four for the Fourth Minus Two
Yesterday, Gabriel and I celebrated the 4th of July with friends, and Hannah and Janette watched fireworks from the hospital room: our split-decision-management-system.
Hosptial 4th: Janette can probably detail the experience better, but she did tell me she could see some of the Portland fireworks from Hannah's window.
Hannah has a great view room this stay. Her room sits right over the Emergency ambulance and helicopter pad area. We can see and hear the helicopter taking off and landing and watch the ambulances, well, kind of sit there. I never see them come or go, offload, or the like. I've seen empty gurneys go into the back. I've seen multicolor stretcher boards leaning against the brick hospital wall like wayward surfboards, poked with holes, hopelessly sinkable. But no deliveries.
While Janette and I were switching roles yesterday, I did see that the emergency room team was barbequing burgers and such on the island between the emergency ambulance drive-thru and the main auto emergency entrance. Kind of funny to see the grill there, but a good city hospital-M*A*S*H moment.
Hillsboro 4th: Gabriel and I enjoyed our own barbeque with friends, ice cream, video games, and our own firework show. We bought and brought sparklers and a few fountains to help pitch in, and our friends had done the same (but more of both). As the light started to fade (keep in mind that our dusk starts around 9pm, it seems, this time of year), we lit sparklers for the kids.
Gabriel's favorite trick was to grab a sparkler, run around the street with it, yelling, "Fire! Fire!" and "I'm on fire." Good thing I know panicked-Gabriel-screaming from playing-Gabriel screaming.
Afterwards, my friend and I lit fountains in a show for the kids. We were essentially competing with neighbors and local, illegal, airborne fireworks. Needless to say, Gabriel w as up and down from his chair to run and point at the cooler airborne fireworks. That said, a couple of the fountains were pretty good. My friend's kids picked out something called a Jack in The Box fountain that spit out twirling Flowers at the end. We also had a couple of larger, nice fountains with multiple effects. At ages five to eight, I think our collective kids were still impressed.
I'll skip (deliberately) over how hard it was for us to keep things burning.... not the most talented firework showmen to be sure. But we still had our kids oohs and aahs here and there (and the "Oh gross!" for the many snakes we had unfurling like, well, poop on the asphault).
Hope you all (our readers) also had a good 4th of July.
-- Dad
