Ohhhhhhhh! Awwwwwww!

Last night, we had the pleasure of watching fireworks shot off all along the Blue Ridge, from McIntire Park in Charlottesville to what seemed like Ivy, Earlysville, and Orange, or maybe just from people's backyards all throughout the valley. Our porch, as I predicted, was a great viewing station. The pesky building directly in front of us obscured some blasts, but otherwise we had a front-row vantage.

Ohhhhh! Awwwww!

Don patiently took over my camera, which has a "fireworks" mode, to catch some shots. We were worried none of them would come out, but I think the results are pretty great considering.

Can't you imagine ants crawling over slices of watermelon? It just seems like the 4th of July!

Boom!

Here's a Blackberry shot of the cake makers, one of whom has his fork poised and ready, fingers pinched to pick it up in a split second.

Notice, also, the preamble sitting within easy grasp of Ben's philosophically-minded hand; as is tradition, he read it aloud with enough vigor to make the former residents of the Constitution Route proud.

We can't close out mentions of the 4th without a shout-out to our intrepid Best Blog Commenter and his happy bride (who shall not be referred to as a Hal-Kar). They're wandering through Hawaiian jungles to celebrate their tenth anniversary on the most magical of island chains. The blog's just not the same without your trusty comments, Dave.

And now, without further ado, allow Birthday Month (tm) to commence! ;-) I've got presents wrapped and taunting me in this very apartment, and I'm not afraid to let the partying begin.