The rocket's red glare, the rain bursting in air

Happy Soggy Day...er Fourth of July.

Last night we hiked up onto the cliffs behind our house to see if we could see the fireworks. We brought sparklers to keep Sam entertained while we waited. We brought headlamps so we could see the rocks.

I brought an umbrella.

It sprinkled the second we walked out our front door. It sprinkled while we climbed up the rocks. It sprinkled while I lit a candle to be used to like the sparklers.

Then it started to pour.

We huddled under the umbrella hoping it would stop but we weren't alone. There was an army of cat-sized mosquitoes happy to be out of the rain with three tasty targets.

We fled the scene before we were bloody wet masses of wildly scratching goo.

We watched what we could see from our windows - very little.

This morning we headed out to the Hinesburg parade. As we drove there, you guessed it, it started to rain. It stopped as we parked the car. It started again as we waited for the parade to begin. We'd forgotten our umbrellas of course.

Luckily, it slowed sufficiently for the parade to go on. Check out the clouds!

And a perfect small-town parade it was. Balloons accidentally set loose by small crying children, horses,

firetrucks,

kids on bikes,

kids without driving licenses driving miscellaneous motorized vehicles,

people handing out tomato plants,

karate showdowns,

pizza delivery,


bleeding signs,

stuffed animals and motorcycles,

Hummers,

goats,

a Master of Ceremony I didn't recognize, etc. The crowd was friendly and big, such a nice change from last year at a different parade.

But then, as the parade ended, it started to rain yet again....

We're all a little water shy at the moment and don't want to go out to do all the wonderful things scheduled for this soggy unpredictable weekend.