My holiday excursion was shorter than planned

but I'm home now, cool and dry, and ready to relax at home. The original plan was to go down to the festival, enjoy the sights and sounds, peruse the vendors, and then watch the parade. I woke up a little later than planned and thought seriously of not going. Once I got downtown a little after 11:30 I perused the vendors in about a half hour, didn't really see anything that appealed to me greatly, indulged myself in some fish and chips whilst carefully avoiding the traditional sugar-laden confection of death known as the funnel cake, and then headed back up to the bus station because I didn't feel like hanging out for two hours. Oh, the petting zoo was there again, with lots of goats, and they had pony and train rides for the kids and a Viking ship ride for them as well. And the belly dancers were doing their thing. But the food vendors outnumbered crafts vendors by about ten to one again this year, and there wasn't much else other than a few groups like Fairness, both political parties, Right to Life. In other words, the usual. The festival used to have a lot more arts and crafts, I think. Or maybe I just wasn't as enthused as in past years.

The parade promised to be interesting, despite the threat of rain, but I had a choice to make: get a medicine I need that was ready at Kroger that I have been without for four days, or watch the parade, because the pharmacy would close in the interim. Since the medicine can cause a horrible skin-sloughing side effect if stopped and restarted after too much time has passed, I erred on the side of getting the medicine. I did treat myself to a cup of fresh raspberries they had on sale at Kroger. Then I came on home, and got here just a little while after the parade would have started downtown.

At least it's sunny now. No one's at the pool, and I'm tempted to go, but I'm happy to be indoors at the moment. I may just rest and then work on the house. I'm not going over to the Idle Hour fireworks tonight...too much trouble on the bus--but I have a few sparklers to play with.

I hope all of you who celebrate the Fourth have a happy and safe holiday. Please remember that we're celebrating the freedoms we often take for granted in this country, and remember those who died defending them. Take care.