Happy birthday, America!

[Umaril Has Returned]

Just another day at the office for the Northeast...it rained all day yesterday and it's raining now. I Guess the saying "rain on the parade" was invented in Northeast.     But yeah, Happy 4th to everyone and may those of you whose cookouts weren't ruined by the rain enjoy the food and the fun   

It rained all day but stopped a while ago and the sun came out about 2 hours ago. 
It was hot and muggy yesterday and grew threatening late in the day... but now it's cool and clear. 
We have lots of reasons to be glad.  I am very happy to be in New Jersey. 

Yeah but I was looking forward to using the grill today! Oh well, maybe tomorrow...

[indianasmith]

It was a beautiful day here in North Texas.  My wife is in the middle of a summer mini-term of her graduate work, and has a 10 page paper and a final exam due Monday - so we didn't have our usual 25 guest blowout party and cookout this year.  But my daughters had their boyfriends over, and we blew up a fair number of fireworks and lit a small bonfire in our yard (on purpose) so it was kinda fun, if a bit more low key than usual.

[Umaril Has Returned]

It was a beautiful day here in North Texas.  My wife is in the middle of a summer mini-term of her graduate work, and has a 10 page paper and a final exam due Monday - so we didn't have our usual 25 guest blowout party and cookout this year.  But my daughters had their boyfriends over, and we blew up a fair number of fireworks and lit a small bonfire in our yard (on purpose) so it was kinda fun, if a bit more low key than usual.

Sounds like fun 

[VenomX73]

Hot dogs and stuffed hamburgers today!

We had a little rain yesterday...

[BoyScoutKevin]

I was going to post this some place else, but I think here is a better place to post what I am going to say.

While the stupidity of some American people some of the time absolutely drives me nuts, we are yet the greatest people in the greatest country in the world. And why are we the greatest. It is because of . . .

the wine 'n' dine
the twilight zone tower of terror
(one of the few ran at night)
the tinker belle
the star wars
the expedition everest
the princesses
the avengers super heroes

most of these are half marathons. There is one full marathon, but that was not enough for some people, so a 4-race, 4-day event, the Dopey Challenge was initiated.

Thu. 5K
Fri. 10k
Sat. half marathon
Sun. full marathon
total 48.6 miles

And all race spots are sold out 6 months before the race begins.

And for the little ones . . .

under 1s= diaper dash
1-3 = 100m dash
4-6 = 200m dash
7-8 = 400m dash
Under 14s = 1 mile

(1) Give kids something healthy to do, and they may do it for the rest of their lives.
(2) Parents. Race with your kids, and you'll have something to do together, when you get home.
(3) And, yes. Some of the kids wear costumes.

But, that is just the races.
As for the racers . . .
there are (is) the . . .

ballerinas
firefighters in full protective gear
Green Berets in full combat gear
majorettes
man who juggles
man who carries a pizza
and the man who carries the American flag to honor his fellow veterans

and the partial costumes . . .

t-shirts: batman, etc.
(They took a wrong turn at Warner Bros.)
hats: goofy, sorcerer's apprentice, sombreros, etc.
caps: donald, goofy, etc.
misc.: ad-visors, reindeer antlers, tiaras, etc.

Families . . .

the incredibles
snow white and the 7 dwarfs
101 dalmatians

and the full costumes . . .

Was that Elvis I saw run past?

Maybe he was chasing the bunch of grapes I saw earlier.

aladdin -- buzz -- captain america -- cruella de vil -- daisy -- dee and dum -- donald -- the fairy godmothers (all 3) -- goofy -- mary poppins' bert -- mickey -- minnie -- the nephews (all 3) -- olaf -- peter pan -- piglet -- pooh -- prince charming -- superman (boy! is he lost?) -- tarzan -- vanelope -- the white rabbit -- and woody.

It's your princesses . . .

anna and elsa -- aurora and ariel -- belle and jasmine -- pocahontas and tiana -- rapunzel and merida -- and cinderella.

But, the wedding cake topper has to be the young couple that ran as . . .
darth vader and princess leia.

Amind all the divorces, there is one marriage that will survive.
(1) They share a common interest.
(2) And they have a similar sense of humor.

It is that sense of imagination and sense of fun, from all the runners, that makes Americans the greatest people on earth. And anybody that thinks to crush it, should be crushed themselves. S-s-l-l-o-o-w-w-l-l-y-y!!

And it is that country that allows its people to differentiate themselves and to show such diversity that makes it the greatest country on earth.

Happy birthday! America!