Happy 4th of July!!
This holiday morning we went over to the apartment to pack up the kitchen and also deliver our bed, sofa and industrial kitchen rack to Carrie and Kathy. They came over around 10:30 and we set about breaking down the king and loading up the truck.
It took two trips, but we got everything over there. Thankfully, they only live a few miles down the road with just a few turns because we didn’t have anything to tie down with. Kathy drove behind me and said she only had one heart stopping moment when her eyes confused the couch shifting to the right, with the couch looking like it sliding backward off the truck. It took them removing their front door from the hinges and a little maneuvering to get the couch in, but otherwise, easy peasy.
We stayed at the apartment long enough to get a washer load into the dryer and headed off again with more stuff for the kitchen and the remainder of my clothes.
Stephanie, the young neighborhood girl, came by as we were unpacking our cars and helped us drag in more Rubbermaid totes full of our clothes, dishes, pots and pans. She then set about showering Otis with attention, which he soaked up for all it was worth.
When I finished putting away the last of my clothes, we went out to dinner, hopefully for the last time in a long while as it’s getting far too expensive, and on the way there saw the spectacle that is Merritt Boulevard on a July 4th evening. The sun was still about an hour off from setting completely but the street was packed on both sides. People were out in their lawn chairs on the embankments, in parking lots, in any bare spot of grass. Having never ventured to this side of town on the 4th we had no idea this sort of thing went on. Apparently the Dundalk fireworks are quite a sight to see.
We found an Applebee’s that was nearly deserted, so the evening of the 4th is an opportune time to eat out. Sadly, the bartender was new and my margarita was full of alcohol but lacking on mix/lime flavor, but the steak was wonderful.
And it turns out that from our new location we can see fireworks from all around town (which also seems to contribute to high volume of traffic), and as we drove home the back way to avoid traffic, some of the fireworks went off so close that we reflexively ducked. It was probably the worst night of the year for us to leave Otis alone, he hates thunderstorms and loud noises. And sure enough, when we got home he was all panting and underfoot as what sounded like the bombing of Dundalk continued outside.
