Orange County plays it cool in the park
Byrd's Eye View: Personal essay on this year's independence celebration
Last night, Orange County’s “Playin’ in the Park” Independence Celebration drew hundreds of people, including many families with young children. The evening was warm (of course) but not as horribly hot and humid as it might have been. And though the lines at the food trucks were dauntingly long, what’s a fireworks show without a snack to enjoy along with it?
While it was still light, dozens of darting, scrambling children made full use of Booster Park’s playground and showed the rest of us what real fun looks like. Elsewhere, many a ball sailed through the air as the sky’s blue gave way to indigo.
Most of the grownups got settled in their lawn chairs well before the show began around 9:15 p.m. They were waiting, watching and generally not chatting with the people beyond their own staked-out spaces. With the pandemic not that far gone in our rear-view mirrors, a touch of inwardness still haunts large gatherings.
Surveying the scene, I wondered how many in this assemblage had closely followed the Supreme Court’s recent decisions and the presidential debate and what they thought about it all. To be candid, I didn’t detect a whole lot of joy last night. I wish I could say otherwise. It’s been a long wearying summer already, and when the fireworks finally began, I didn’t hear the full-throated oohs and ahhs that flaming pops of red, blue and gold used to inspire.
The November elections are both far away and stomach-churningly near.
We look to the heavens, absorb the booms and screeches, the splashy colors rising high then showering down and vanishing before our eyes. The vanishing stirs something within us, but who would want to say exactly what that is?
We lick the last of the ice cream, head for our cars. For another night, we endure.
Thanks Hilary!