The 4th of July at my old home zone of Mount Vernon, in the Skagit Valley of Washington, was like being in a war zone. I would sit out on my deck, ready to put out anything burning, landing on my building. The East Thunderbird neighborhood is hilly, hence fireworks going skyward from various elevations.
Such was kind of fun, but also a bit tiresome.
It is easy to buy all sorts of explosive fireworks in Washington, due to there being so many Indian Reservations, where selling such it totally legal.
When I moved to Texas, what with it being known as such a free-spirited gun toting cowboy themed part of America I assumed the 4th of July would be way noisier than I was used to in Washington.
Well, I was wrong. My first 4th in Texas I heard nary a boom from my location in the far north Fort Worth suburb of Haslet. I did see fireworks way in the distance, but so distant I heard no booming.
Each 4th of July since then has been similar. An occasional firecracker, but no actual fireworks of the light up the sky sort, except at official fireworks shows.
Such must be the case because Texas has only a couple Indian Reservations. I do not know if those are allowed to sell fireworks.
Oklahoma has multiple Indian Reservations. Being just a few miles south of Oklahoma may explain why I hear more 4th of July noise in Wichita Falls than I used to in the Fort Worth zone.
And then last night, it was like I was back in Mount Vernon. Someone nearby, as in real close, was launching the type fireworks that light up the sky. With a lot of booming.
That photo at the top is my only attempt which sort of caught the fireworks, as viewed from my bedroom window.
And now the day after the 4th of July.
Overnight the temperature plummeted.
Friday morning of the day after the 4th, I headed to Lucy Park, intending to commune with nature before going to a nearby pharmacy for an inoculation and to pick up a prescription.
But, as I arrived at the Lucy Park entry, rain began to drip. I'd been seeing lightning strikes in the southwest direction. The sky looked threatening.
So, I aborted going to Lucy Park, drove on to the pharmacy, completed that task and then continued on to the nearest Walmart to do my nature communing.
On the way to Walmart the rain switched to downpour mode, then added hail to the mix. The photo documentation you see above is the wet view from my vehicle's window as I sat pondering if I really wanted to make a run for it through the downpour.
I opted to go for it. Running as fast as I can run, the water puddled several inches deep. By the time I got the short distance to entering Walmart I was soaking wet.
But, not too cold. I was glad Walmart had turned off the air conditioning.
Hours later rain continues to drip. Such a nice change from the recent multi-day heat wave. My A/C has not cycled on today, not once....
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