04 July 2008

The 4th in Wyoming

Or at least where I prefer to spend my 4th of July holiday ... In the middle of nowhere.

Upside - Not many people. I saw two eagles, or they saw me. We watched each other for quite a while.
Downside - It was hot. The green shriveled as I watched.
Upside - The dogs could run themselves ragged,
Downside - It was hot. After 30 minutes, the dogs preferred the air conditioned vehicle to roaming the countryside.
Additional Downside - Panting, drooling dogs with dog breath wanting to be right next to me the whole trip home. Panting and drooling. And licking the top of my ice tea bottle. And hogging the air conditioning vents.
Upside - They'll sleep good tonight. At least they will after the neighborhood fireworks quit, around 2am or so.

Now off to the cool of the basement to work on a woodblock print. I'll venture out later to watch the fireworks. I can see the big, city-wide display from the comfort of my own front porch on the backside of the city limits, because I know the four thousand citizens + who descended on the park for the parade/hot dog feed/road race/mud tug will be out there at the events center. If I'm very lucky, the mosquitoes will have snacked on them all day, and will ignore me this evening.

So you other Americans out there, what did you do for the 4th? Go anywhere special? See anything interesting?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful place!
I participated in a great American tradition today,I mowed the lawn.

Saw two goldfinches at the new feeder,they didn't frequent the other one.

Saw two kayaks go by me as I was mowing.

Cooked on the grill with meat from my friends store.

All in all,a good day!

Gabriele Campbell said...

There's nothing better for mosquitoes than sweaty, hot dog fed Americans. :)

Didn't you have your own waterfilled moat only two weeks ago? And now it's a desert. Weird Wyoming.

But I love in the middle of nowhere places. Better than towns.

Constance Brewer said...

And why weren't YOU kayaking, Anon? Too hot here to mow the lawn. Too hot to do much of anything, but it cools down nicely at night. Wish I was there for your grilling!

Constance Brewer said...

Gabriele - mosquitoes don't seem well fed for some reason. And we have to be wary of West Nile virus. :(
My moat is now hard packed clay. If it stays dry, I will concrete parts of my moat in. This nowhere place is only 12 miles from my house. Good for stargazing, too.

Anonymous said...

Had to mow while it was nice,we've been getting a lot of rain.
Kayak and/or motorcycle ride today.
Walk at the Whitney Pt. dam later too.
When your friend owns a meat market you have a happy grill!

Constance Brewer said...

Anon - so do you borrow a dog to walk the dam? If you had a corgi, you wouldn't have to you know. Frankie could train him... :)
Is this the same meat market friend from way back? I'm on the verge of having Lupo's spiedies flown out FedEx, that's how much I miss them!

Anonymous said...

I wish I had a close dog to borrow for walks.
If I had a corgi,there would be few walks,just endless photo op's.
Yes,it's the same friend you visited.
If you need an emergency Lupo's or Nirchi's fix,let me know.
But it will cost you............!

Constance Brewer said...

Anon - Lupos has a mail order section... Nirchi's is another story. Figure out how to get me a Nirchi's fix, and I will indeed owe you. Big time. The kids still wax poetic about Nirchi's.(I know, I know, come visit for pizza, spiedies and beer. I'm working on it.)

Scott Oden said...

I partook of the grilled flesh at the home of my friend, Josh, and his wife. Later, I watched the mother of all fireworks shows with approx half-a-million sweaty Alabamians, then spent the next hour and a half trying to get my truck extricated from its parking space.

Constance Brewer said...

Scott - "half-a-million sweaty Alabamians" That would have been the deal breaker right there. Only half a million people in all of Wyoming. Odds are, they won't all be in one place at the same time.
Except maybe Cheyenne Frontier Days...