ITA 2:0 GER

Baltimore, Maryland

My first 4th of July in the US. Sama's mamma invited me to come with them to Sama's uncle Dave's boat in Rock Hall, Maryland, for a fireworks display. Truth be told, a poor entry in the Montreal Fireworks competition would make this one pale by comparison, but this one had something Montreal's fireworks don't: rednecks! Good, old-fashioned Kentucky fried rednecks! The fireworks originated from a jettee which formed the outer bounds of a boat-filled marina. All these weekend vessels, piloted by beer-fueled specimens of redneckness, would simultaneously erupt in a swell of horn-blaring appreciation after the explosion of a particularly impressive bomb.

Simply amazing.

But, as with all things, it's not so much the setting as it is the company, and I was grateful to have been invited to participate. Sama's family is a tight-knit group, and they play well off one another. There's just one more person to meet, and it seems the forces at work are both inexorable, and inevitable. More on that later.

Nic