The World-Famous West Orange Fireworks Display

Last Wednesday, I decided on a whim to get the heck out of town. I just needed to get out. My friend, Jen, who lives in New Jersey, kindly offered a place to stay for a brief visit. AND, in a great confluence of events, it turns out my family was going to be in Pennsylvania on Friday. So I spent the 4th of July with Jen and her beautiful family, then I drove down to PA on Friday to eat lunch with my family at the Shady Maple Smorgasbigasafootballfieldbord. I spent Friday night with Jen again and drove back to Massachusetts on Saturday. I shoulda stayed an additional night since I don't have air conditioning! 

For a last minute plan, it turned out beautifully. Firstly it was great fun to hang out with Jen, her family, and her friends on Independence Day. We went to a bbq; I ate an inordinate amount of deviled eggs
(the secret is Italian dressing);
and then we went to the WORLD FAMOUS WEST ORANGE FIREWORKS. I asked why they are world famous, and apparently the answer is that people in other parts of the world know about them. Which both answered my question and ... well ... did not. I tell you now that it is an INTERACTIVE experience because you can actually FEEL the fireworks exploding! And by that I mean, that little bits of exploded fireworks casings with fall on you while you watch. That's how close we were!!!

Actually as fireworks displays go, it's pretty darn good. They had heart-shaped ones.

Hanging out with Jen (and/or Leanne for that matter) is always fun. It's not only great to catch up on each other's lives, but somehow reassuring. It's like this feeling that the passage of time is happening equally and to all of us, and there's a kind of camaraderie to it. Maybe it's because Jen, Leanne, and I have made a tradition of doing something annually for our birthdays, which would really drive the point of aging home. It's nice to see that I'm not growing old alone (even though it's happening to me against my will).

On Friday, I saw my family. The Shady Maple SmorgasbigasRhodeIslandbord is a buffet style restaurant that my father discovered on a trip to/from Ohio. It's near Amish country. The seating area is huge and the buffet runs the entire length of the building. The line to get in is long, but the advantage of such a big place is that it doesn't take long at all. The food isn't really that great. It's your standard buffet-style food. (Although they did have these rolls made from pretzel dough - yum!) Anyway, my father calls it his "happy place." Something to remember if ever my father is in pain and not long for this life.

The gift shop was outrageous! Filled to the brim with bric-a-brac and runs underneath the entire length of the restaurant portion! Figurines, toys, tshirts, merchandising from every major franchise and film in the last 50 years. Disney, comics, animals, and AMISH. That's right. There was merchandising for the AMISH. Tshirts, figurines, food, lunchboxes, you know, that sort of thing. Including costumes and hats. Which brought about one of the funniest things that I'd seen in a long time.

Upon being given a traditional Amish men's straw hat to try on, my brother placed it on his head, put his hands on his hips, paused, and then with a disdainful look in his eye whispered, "This barn ain't going up fast enough." I began to laugh hysterically because suddenly I had a vision of an Amish man watching a barn-raising and thinking to himself, "This no-technology crap sucks!"

I laughed so hard that I cried.

It's always good to see my family. And my mother and sister, Kim, didn't know I was coming so it was a surprise to them! Good times. By the time we were done at Shady Maple Smorgasbigasacontinentbord, I decided that I shouldn't try to head straight for MA. So back to Jen's for another night. Hung out a little more; played some games. And then a leisurely start on Saturday.

It was a great weekend, and I'm grateful for friends and family and, most of all, the freedom to be able to get up and get out whenever I want. Because sometimes, you really just need to go see some world famous fireworks.

P.S. Jen and Giovanna, you just lost the game.