HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA
BRIDGES ARE NICE, BUT TODAY IS THE 250 TH BIRTHDAY OF THE U.S.A. SO . . . H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y A M E R I C A ! When I was growing up, the big 4 th of July thing was getting to go out on the front lawn when it got dark and twirl sparklers around. Of course we were given the rules: keep the sparklers away from your face and don’t get them near anybody else’s face, etc. etc. etc. A few times I remember driving to Oakland to watch the fireworks explode over Lake Merritt. One time we were so close to where they were shooting them off we had to lie on our backs on the lawn and look straight up to see them. And each time they were shot off, it shook the ground under us. Rather exciting! When I married and had my own family, we lived near Crescent City, CA from July 1968 to July 1976 – the year of America’s 200 th birthday. Over those years we watched the fireworks from the ocean’s edge in Crescent City a few times. Always fun. The ki...