Instead of sticking around home for fireworks this year, we headed out to Ken & Kate’s place in Parkesburg. We hadn’t been to their house since they moved there, and we really wanted to check it out.
It turns out that they live in a neat old house. You can see the wooden supports for the floor above in the ceiling in many of the rooms. Ken showed me where the fireplace is in the kitchen. It looks like there will be a whole lot of work involved to remove the wall from in front of it. They’ve got a nice big back yard and even a game room. I didn’t think the green in that room was too bad, but I can understand that they’d want to repaint.
Ken manned the grill and charred some meat, and Kate put out a good spread. Beer. Dave showed up eventually, as did Ken’s friend Jen and her S.O., Rich. Abby ran around in their yard collecting lightning bugs. It was just the right amount of people for a nice Independence Day fete.
Before the Parkesburg fireworks started, Ken lit off a couple of his own. The first was loaded backwards and exploded the launcher, which needed to be rebuilt with duct-tape before the second launch. The second was a bit more successful, with a nice green canopy. From the porch we watched the professional fireworks, and although there were a couple of trees, we had a pretty decent view. There sure were a lot. Do they add more every year because they want to out-do themselves from the year before, or does my memory of the length of the show fade each year? Hmm.
After the show, we all had a little dessert, and then wrapped up the night. Even among friends it’s rare to have so nice a relaxed evening.
