Reflections on the Fourth

On Friday evening, I continued my Fourth of July tradition of cringing at the cheesiness of "A Capitol Fourth" on WETA, watching the official fireworks from afar, and then seeing the neighborhood show from the Wonderland's beer garden. This year, I watched the Mall fireworks from Cardozo High School, a first, and there was a much bigger crowd than I expected. Like myself, the amount of people seemed to surprise MPD, too, as they did little to stop traffic on 13^th or Clifton streets until after the fireworks ended. However, any driver who thought taking 13^th Street north- or south-bound would be a good idea during the fireworks clearly does not know the area. The neighborhood fireworks were not as plentiful as previous years, but I think the rain played a role in that. However, there were still "oohs and aahs" late into the evening. So much that at one point I couldn't see across the Kenyon and 11^th intersection for a good 5 minutes.