The grass was long overdue for a cut, but made a perfect cold pillow of blades assuaging my bare tired feet. The food had been prepared meticulously, and the beer and cigars were full flavored and premium quality. I stood only twenty feet away from the table we used as our staging area, and as the beer buzz thickened, the effect of the fusillade, the concussion and flames, staggered me into a state of euphoria that can only be invoked on this very occasion. Any and all family differences, struggles, and judgments of character or decisions were pushed from the table in lieu of simply enjoying explosions. Not a soul was thinking of the battle for our nation’s independence, or whether 233 years later our country was anything like what our founders had envisioned. Our eyes were fixated on the stark contrast of burning magnesium, phosphorus, and sulfur against the black sky. Our noses sifted through the burnt gunpowder scent to find comfort in the sweet Virginia summer air, thick with vegetation. Our minds were clumsily focused on appreciating the people sharing this spectacle with us and the show that was before us in that flash, for at that time everyone can stop the world and live to appreciate that moment for what it is, and what all other moments in life are, and could be interpreted as being… a fleeting glimpse of beauty and a show for us to enjoy.