Sounds of War

What would it sound like on the other side of the ocean? What is it like when there is a war going on in your back yard?

Ask your pets. Over the past couple of days, animals all across the nation have been scared senseless by explosives of every kind detonating in the streets of our neighborhoods. That's right, America was celebrating its independence once again, and we created the illusion of a little war within our country.

I don't mean to sounds cynical, I love explosives and fire, and would have it no other way. But all the same, it occurred to me last night, as I sat in the back yard and admired the onslaught of the senses taking place all around my abode. It sounded like a war. Random spurts of fire, the occasion thump followed by a loud crack up in the air. It is wild. A peacetime war, where few get hurt but many take part.

The dogs were displeased last night. Well, of the three in our house right now, one hated the show. One was not interested. The other was quite excited and wanted to grab on to one of those flashy things flying around. She tried to grab a sparkler, which could have been a quick buzzkill. Lucky for my lighting fast tequila reflexes, she never got to taste the fire end of the rocket.

The cats took it all right. They just stayed where they could not be seen, and didn't complain much. I can never tell just what the cats think. They're little perma-trippers, if you ask me. They just think "whoa.... man". That's it.

So it's now almost time to call it a day. Amazing how fast a day of work can go by when you are busy, eh? Would we rather work our asses off and have our lives fly by painlessly, or have long, slow days of work, that seem like every second is hours. The second option seems to me to be the experience of a much longer life. Do we want that experience, or would it be better if our lives just flew by? I hate those options. We should all quit and own a small farm, get by on the land. Life would be much less copmplicated. I, for one, would have less to manage.