Sherds from a jar of clay

We spent most of our Philadelphia 4th of July off the beaten historical and big event path. The closest we came was parking in center city to join friends at their condo for some hamburgers and pool time. While we were unloading the care one of the double Decker buses used for tours of the historic sites and other nearby areas of interest came down the street. My 4 year old son started jumping up and down (while holding a long wiggly blue pool noodle under each arm) and yelling "Happy 4th of July" to all the tourists on the upper deck. To their credit many of them waved back which made his day.

After some fun time with our friends we headed for the fireworks in the nearby suburb of Narberth. The main gathering is in a ballfield/playgound area there but we set up on a small hill at the end of a park a bit back from the field. You can see the fireworks, except for the ground show, over the tree tops and can avoid the crowds. There is the added attraction of being in this nice park with a stream, trees, birds, fish, insect etc. All of this makes waiting easier as the kids can run around and explore. The biggest hits are always the fireflies and the bats that come out after dark. The fireworks were good and it was fun to watch Andrew alternate between fear of the loud noise and fascination with and questions about the fireworks.

The best light show though was that put on by Gods hand in nature last night. As we walked back to the car the whole area of the park was just twinkling with hundreds/thousands of fireflies. It was magical looking, I half expected centaurs or a princess or Aslan to appear it just had a glorious quiet beauty that is hard to capture in words.

When we got home and tucked all ready sleeping kids into bed I turned on the TV and caught the end of Philadelphia's big party/concert on the parkway. It takes place right in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (the same place the Live 8 concert was two days ago). Elton John was performing but the performance seemed a bit lack luster to me and the whole thing was really a big ad for his Aids research/assistance foundation. Now don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with helping those with HIV and AIDS and as a Christian I think we have a duty to minister to and help combat this epidemic. I am just not comfortable with the degree to which the city's celebration of the 4th of July was coopted by this cause. Philadelphia is the city where our country started and the celebration here of all places should be about the country, our history etc. and should be done for the whole country, not be for rent by the cause of the day. My other annual problem with watching the city's fireworks display, which I will grant is always long and lovely and fun to watch, is location. It is done right at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The museum professional in me just shudders at the potential for harm to the collections from smoke, ash, vibration, accidental fire, etc. This year there were more devices exploded from the plaza at the top of the "Rocky Steps" that lead up to the museum then usual and it just gives me pause. I suppose the museum wouldn't let them do it if it were causing too much risk, but then since most of their budget comes from the city I wonder how much choice/say they really have. I know that when I worked for a University Museum across town we often had little choice when the University wanted to use the galleries for events we felt could compromise object safety.