Ka-Boom!

Holidays are a tough time to be in the city away from my family. I spent this past Christmas in New York, and while I was with my family - Brent and Chloe - it wasn't the same as being with my WHOLE family back in Toledo.

The 4th of July is yet another holiday where I desperately miss home. It's not a big holiday for some families, but it's a HUGE one in mine.

The reason I love it is because it's always in the middle of the summer, and it's always on the combined several acres of my parents' house AND at my aunt and uncle's house. (They live right next door to each other.)


When I'm there, I can hang out in shorts and bare feet surrounded by tons of kids (my dad has 10 brothers and sisters - most of whom are married and have up to six kids each - and some of THEM have kids of their own!) and choose between playing volleyball, horseshoes, or corn hole; swimming; eating, or just hanging out in the shade talking.


The relaxation is punctuated with breaks of watching my family blow up a Christmas tree (seriously, check it out on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjaLmL95umQ) and, of course, an amazing fireworks show put on by my Uncle Chris in his backyard that draws a huge crowd every year.


It's just a nice, relaxing, fun day to spend with the people I love.


The 4th of July in New York is a whole different ball game. On one hand, the fireworks display put on by Macy's over the East River is nothing short of spectacular - at least that's what I hear.


Since this was the first year I've been in New York for the 4th of July, of course I wanted to see the fireworks, and dragged Brent along with me.

So, we met up with Brent's former boss from Toledo, who was in town with his wife and their three college-age kids, in Little Italy for dinner. (Their son, Jake, is the college kid who has stayed with us a few weekends while interviewing for jobs in the city.)

Afterward, we started walking toward the East River thinking that we'd find some place to sit down and enjoy the show. W-R-O-N-G!

At first, we followed a few groups of people who we presumed were also heading toward the river to watch the show. And the closer we got, the more groups we saw. As we turned a corner to go down 20th Street, as instructed by the Web, it was like the floodgates opened. People were pouring down every street leading to the river as the entire New York police force were attempting to corral them away from the streets that were open.

So instead of going down 20th Street, we decided to head down 24th Street. Four blocks away from where we were "supposed" to go for the best view of the fireworks would make a difference, right? W-R-O-N-G!

No matter what street we tried, we couldn't even get within TWO BLOCKS of the East River. There were so many people that we physically couldn't get any closer than standing with thousands of other people in the middle of 24th Street, which police had closed off, in the rain.

The photo I included shows my view of the fireworks - between two buildings, behind a huge tree, a "no parking" sign, a "don't walk" sign, and thousands of people's heads.

I think we heard more fireworks than we actually saw. But what we saw was awesome - fireworks in the shape of boxes, smiley faces, and ones that stayed glowing and suspended in the air.

But by the time it was over, I was soaked to the core, more than 40 blocks away from home, and, judging from the crowd, had about a negative 500 percent chance of making it on a subway train or a taxi anytime soon. Sigh.

Needless to say, being at the New York City fireworks was something I felt like I had to do once. Next year, though, I'll be happier to watch it on TV.