July 4

Hope you all had a delightful 4th of July. As you can see, it rained here for much of the day. Nonetheless, we managed to have a good time. My bandmember T and his wife had invited us to their neighborhood block party. They live in Jefferson Park, an area heavily populated with civil servants. (Policemen and firemen mostly) I knew it would be an opportunity for a real "Chicago" experience, and we couldn't pass it up!

When we arrived, the light sprinkling that had been falling much of the afternoon turned into full-fledged downpour. Which cancelled the fire truck visitation and band that was scheduled to end the night. Everybody was still out in their yards BBQing under tents and umbrellas. The street was full of kids running around wearing trash bags or just getting wet. The T.'s have a roomy covered porch so we were able to enjoy the view and ambiance without too much discomfort. And when the sun finally came out, their house turned out to have an excellent view of the forthcoming activities.

First up, a water balloon toss. Kids and adults both participated in two huge lines that stretched down the block. That was followed by an egg toss for adults only. Then there was a raffle that everyone on the block had donated a prize to- and there were some pretty good prizes! Including a weber grill, wine basket, kids bicycle and a grand prize of $250 cash. (sadly, we didn't win anything) After that was bingo, which we chose to skip, in favor of sitting on the lawn and watching the neighborhood fireworks show. Miss D had been saying for days how she wanted to see fireworks. I was slightly concerned that she would miss the big organized fireworks display we went to last year- but for nothing. Fireworks is fireworks to kids, whether it is a big show with music, or your neighbor setting them off in the alley.

Which was exactly what our neighbor two doors down was doing when we got home.


Miss D and Little T enjoying the raffle