It was a perfect holiday today. We had eight family members over at noon and they stayed until nearly 8. The weather was beautiful and we had every window and door in the house thrown open, so our guests moved freely in and out. Our house is very quirky. It has a distinct personality and almost feels like a fourth family member at times. But one of the things I like most about it is that when people come over, the house seems to encourage them to explore. They wander around and everyone finds their own little comfy spot in which to relax. When we had the big family Fourth of July shindig a couple of years ago � 50 people or so � at one point in the afternoon I took a walk around and saw people sitting in all corners of the garden, deck and house. It was very satisfying and it makes it very easy to host.

The entire clan trooped down the street for the parade, which lasted all of 5 minutes and in which the audience was outnumbered by the participants by at least 5 to 1. There were no horses this year, alas, but many kids on decorated bikes, dogs with spangled bandanas, and one teeny boy driving a miniature electric car decked out with flags. As the parade continued down to the riverfront for a party, we turned and headed up the hill to the pool and had the place pretty much to ourselves. AJ loved having his uncles and cousins playing in the pool with him. Once everyone was thoroughly drenched, we returned home for lunch, which included four kinds of meat, three kinds of salad, and two kinds of cake, all very satisfactory. After we were thoroughly stuffed, AJ�s uncle and one of his cousins joined AJ and I for a brief tour of the neighborhood party, where AJ got his first ever bloody nose and an enormous goose-egg of a bump on his forehead when he careened into another boy on the Moon Walk jump. As I stood trying to stanch the flow of blood, some helpful snowcone sellers gave us a big cup of ice, which, as I tried to apply it to AJ�s face, he grabbed and ate instead. Nevertheless, it seemed to do the trick and AJ was up and running again shortly afterwards, and was cheered up immensely by knocking the father of one of his friends into a tank of water in the dunking booth.

We left before the dinner-dance part of the party started and spent the evening eating and talking and lounging around. I am now sitting on my bed listening to the firecrackers going off in the street and remembering Fourth of Julys past � the fireworks displays we used to attend at a local high school when I was a kid, the Fourth I spent with rs536on a Brooklyn rooftop from which we could see at least 7 different displays and the Statue of Liberty, the holidays spent in our place downtown where the fireworks from the Chicago celebration would echo through the city streets, loud and hollow.

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