What a day!
Jul. 4th, 2015 11:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eve_primeWe started our holiday with an honest to goodness earthquake, magnitude 4.2! This would be only the third earthquake I’ve ever experienced in Eugene, the first being from the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. It felt like someone was shaking the far corner of the bed.
In the afternoon, I watched three episodes of Aerial America, with ancestors mentioned by name during the episodes on Massachusetts and Virginia, and J. came over for the North Carolina episode and showed me places in Chapel Hill and Greensboro. For Greensboro, we could even see the spire of a church two blocks from his house, and I think he was able to point out![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
the_eleven’s former house too!
Susan had invited us to a party at her house; she’s the mom of D’s best friend DH. There was barbecue, and I brought my Martha Stewart napa cabbage and peanut salad, and J. brought brownies, and there was also cole slaw, watermelon, and two pies. Unlike other parties at their house, this one did not have a big crowd! There were seven kids, I think, around D’s age, and most of their parents, and DH’s grandma – maybe 13 adults in all? Bill (DH’s dad), who had done fancy smoke bombs at the last summer party I went to at their house, this time had a potato gun, his non-flammable alternative to fireworks, since those weren’t legal this year. They shot off multiple potatoes and a corn cob, sending each about 200 feet into the air, which (not being one of the neighbors who would have to find such debris in their yard the next day) I found reasonably entertaining. And much better for my respiratory system than smoke bombs, however colorful those had been.
The awesome part was that there was live music, performed by the guests! First, Erin and Stella sang two of the songs they’re performing at a community festival tomorrow; Stella accompanied them on electric ukulele. Then Susan sang a song I recognized but don’t know the name of but now can’t recall, accompanied by DH on guitar, Stella on bass guitar, and D. on drums. Then D. sang “We’re Going to Be Friends” from the White Stripes, accompanied by DH and Stella. Wendy (Stella’s mom) read a very personal story about an incident from her childhood, then Bill read aloud an extremely funny poem DH had written about their pug dog Violet; tears were streaming from my eyes and I couldn’t breathe (but I got over it more quickly than smoke bombs!). Erin and Stella sang more, and a girl whose name I didn’t know sang and accompanied herself on acoustic guitar. Later we all sang the “Star Spangled Banner.” J. took gorgeous sunset photos and posted them to Facebook.
We left around 10:30 p.m., but when we got back to our driveway, I could hear the booming of the fireworks downtown (where they were still legal), and I could _not_ resist, so we drove in a rush downtown. We could see some from the road, but I wanted to get close, so we went all the way to the riverfront park. If we’d been there even five minutes earlier we’d have had a great view of the finale, but as it was, we saw bits here and there. We could also see some several miles to the north.
Now we’re at our respective houses, unwinding before tonight’s anime. What a fun holiday!
In the afternoon, I watched three episodes of Aerial America, with ancestors mentioned by name during the episodes on Massachusetts and Virginia, and J. came over for the North Carolina episode and showed me places in Chapel Hill and Greensboro. For Greensboro, we could even see the spire of a church two blocks from his house, and I think he was able to point out
the_eleven’s former house too!Susan had invited us to a party at her house; she’s the mom of D’s best friend DH. There was barbecue, and I brought my Martha Stewart napa cabbage and peanut salad, and J. brought brownies, and there was also cole slaw, watermelon, and two pies. Unlike other parties at their house, this one did not have a big crowd! There were seven kids, I think, around D’s age, and most of their parents, and DH’s grandma – maybe 13 adults in all? Bill (DH’s dad), who had done fancy smoke bombs at the last summer party I went to at their house, this time had a potato gun, his non-flammable alternative to fireworks, since those weren’t legal this year. They shot off multiple potatoes and a corn cob, sending each about 200 feet into the air, which (not being one of the neighbors who would have to find such debris in their yard the next day) I found reasonably entertaining. And much better for my respiratory system than smoke bombs, however colorful those had been.
The awesome part was that there was live music, performed by the guests! First, Erin and Stella sang two of the songs they’re performing at a community festival tomorrow; Stella accompanied them on electric ukulele. Then Susan sang a song I recognized but don’t know the name of but now can’t recall, accompanied by DH on guitar, Stella on bass guitar, and D. on drums. Then D. sang “We’re Going to Be Friends” from the White Stripes, accompanied by DH and Stella. Wendy (Stella’s mom) read a very personal story about an incident from her childhood, then Bill read aloud an extremely funny poem DH had written about their pug dog Violet; tears were streaming from my eyes and I couldn’t breathe (but I got over it more quickly than smoke bombs!). Erin and Stella sang more, and a girl whose name I didn’t know sang and accompanied herself on acoustic guitar. Later we all sang the “Star Spangled Banner.” J. took gorgeous sunset photos and posted them to Facebook.
We left around 10:30 p.m., but when we got back to our driveway, I could hear the booming of the fireworks downtown (where they were still legal), and I could _not_ resist, so we drove in a rush downtown. We could see some from the road, but I wanted to get close, so we went all the way to the riverfront park. If we’d been there even five minutes earlier we’d have had a great view of the finale, but as it was, we saw bits here and there. We could also see some several miles to the north.
Now we’re at our respective houses, unwinding before tonight’s anime. What a fun holiday!