Well, it was a near perfect 4th, and I shan't go into the sordid details, but I say near perfect because we watched fireworks on the tv, which is an insult to fireworks everywhere.

Actually, no, we caught a glimpse of a firework or two from the upstairs office window, out across the street, between the two neighbor houses, past the trees, beyond the hill, and off in the distance. It was unsatisfying. But it was a swell time at the neighbor's, as it was last year, with the kids running on the grass with cupcakes and strangers chatting over beers about simple, uncontroversial things; kid's names, local water temperatures, the lack of storage space in these old tract homes...

And yesterday we had church. It's a nice church, with nice people, and nearly everyone in Hawaiian shirts. No one thinks twice about it, though I imagine if you'd abruptly joined from the Bible Belt, you might find it off-putting, and perhaps mildly cultish. Communion was passed and I didn't screw it up this time, thank the Lord. Though I admit I was tempted to pass the Holy Host to my wife and say, This gluten-free wafer is the body of Christ, broken for you... This thimble of bland grape drink is the blood of Christ, shed for you... But I didn't, and asked forgiveness at the thought. Sometimes I just can't help myself.

Oh, but the Lord made me this way, so shame on Him! After church we went on a spending spree of wild abandon, like the good capitalist American Christians that we are, purchasing electronic goods for the family business and stopping in at Costco to drop a couple hundred for whatever; cases, vats, pallets... You'd never know the economy was on the downturn by going in that store. Consumption! It's a good thing!

Today leads me, like riding bareback without reigns. I've felt confused all morning, and I fear it's just the early pangs of mid-life -fleeting moments of nonsense and madness inserted into a busy Monday schedule to keep you on your toes. Let's try and get something done today, in spite of it all.


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