The one with the fireworks

What can I say, except that one of our party suffered facial injuries as a result of the fireworks, and yet we learned nothing. And he wasn't the one who launched a bottle rocket out of his mouth.

Yes, it was a crazy time on the shores of the Puget Sound, as Monica drove us to the ferry, which we got across to Bainbridge Island to celebrate Independence Day in her friend Gabe's house - a large residence near a beach, from which you could see the skyscrapers of Seattle just over the hills and across the bay.

There were fireworks, but first there was a party in a nearby house, surrounded by tall trees, where three rappers strutted their stuff as a DJ mixed behind them. On large screens there were films being played throughout. At one point a film made in Sarajevo was screened. It was quite surreal.

Later on now, after we walked past a house that had a fire engine, an ambulance and the police parked outside, we went down to the beach, started a bonfire and lit a huge amount of fireworks. Much talk was made, and occasionally, security men would turn up and snoop around (it was a private beach) before heading off into the darkness again.

Firecrackers got thrown into the fire. It was a recurring motif. At one stage, a guy got hit in the cheek with flaming gunpowder. He was all right, everyone. In the distance, you could see fireworks explode over Seattle. Fireworks were goig off all over the place. Today on the news: in the Seattle area, a house burned down as a result of fireworks. July 4th: we lived through it.