Far From Refuge

Today was the 4th of July, one of my favorite holidays. BBQ, warm weather, and explosives. What's not to like? Bill was throwing an enormous party out at his place on the peninsula in Newport Beach. Unfortunately I didn't decide to go until this morning, so by the time I made it out there at about 11:30, it was already pure craziness. I literally think that half of Riverside decided to show up in Newport for the occasion. Traffic was insane and I had to park around 5 to 7 miles away from Bill's place. Luckily, I had my longboard (its a long skateboard, not a surfboard fyi) with me. 45 minutes, a 1 dollar ferry ride, and a few "almost" blisters later I arrived, covered in sweat. Bill was nice enough to let me shower up at his place.

The day was a blast, filled with music, mingling, ping pong, and carne asada grilled on the BBQ. We also took a dip in the ocean, which was the coldest thing ever. Its so nice to be home and have the opportunity to go the beach. That is definitely one thing I missed in Utah.

I think the highlight of the day may have been when Bill's neighbor Joey cut his foot wide open on the spokes of a bike when he tripped on it, spilling blood everywhere. Guess who got to drive him to Hoag Hospital? You guessed it, the only sober guy in the place. I being the generous person that I am, took Bill's car and drove him and a friend to Hoag to the ER. He ended up getting 10 stitches and got back into time to "party" more. Some people never cease to amaze me in their utter stupidity and negligence of their own safety.

Once it started to get dark we got hungry again and decided to take a bike ride down the boardwalk and got pizza at Rubino's. It was a bit pricey but good nonetheless. Bill lives on the top floor condo and has a big balcony which was prime area for watching a few different firework shows. While watching the different shows Newport had to offer our conversation turned the point of the entire day. An excuse for a BBQ? An excuse for a party? An excuse to drink? While plenty of this goes on the 4th, its a chance for everyone to celebrate the fact that we live in such a great country. We all felt a bit cheesy talking about it, it was nice to actually take a few minutes and reflect upon why we have the holiday in the first place. The reason I love the 4th is because no matter how much you dislike, or like, the current administration, everyone can come together and talk about what a great country we live in. I think that has become kind of faux pas to talk about our country in a positive way. Everyone likes to complain about whats wrong with it and the current administration. Its nice to have a day like the 4th where we can come together as country regardless of our race, religion, political affiliation or whatever and just say,"Its great to live here and be American," and somewhat give thanks for the sacrifices made by others in the past and present. Im done.

By the way, did I mention the Dodgers also rallied to come back and beat the rival Giants today? Truly a good day.