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Happy day where we celebrate the beauty of bombs from afar! (Sorry, this is just... one of those things that has always struck me as odd).

For real, though, happy 4th o' July. And, happy random day of the year if we have any non-American lurkers (I don't think we have any current posters, but maybe this will you make you come out to play?)

That said, I WILL be in an amazing location, as far as views go. As much as I may complain about Florida (and, however much it may be, it is not enough), my sister has this stunning place in Miami, with about a 240-degree view over the ocean. You can go out on the balconies, think, oooh, pretty fireworks, and then run back inside to the air-conditioned niceness. (She claims that last year, it was too miserably hot to even allow people outside and that I must not have been there or I'd remember the misery, but I neither recall this nor being anywhere else.). You can see the sailboats below (which is always rather bittersweet for me, as sailing's something I miss a lot, but, still, nice to see). Of course, I could see fireworks over the East River from my apartment in NY, too, but, that involved some serious window-leaning, and it was very NOT pretty. If it defies all odds and somehow does not rain tomorrow, it should be gorgeous. Of course, as for the chances of no rain, I figure there is an equal chance we could be treated to a trained pegasus show, followed up by a flag-weaving contest sponsored by Arachne herself.

Have a safe holiday, everyone!

I actually almost mentioned the irony that I think can see Shake-a-Leg from my sister's apartment. (Yes, you're right: It's called "Shake-a-Leg Miami.")

The problem (I think) lies more in that it adds to my vertigo. I do have one [presumably final] follow-up with Dr. Green next month, and if he can remember to stay in the room long enough, I did plan to ask him about the program, but I really don't think it will work for me. If he says I can, though, I'll definitely give it a try. If the boats are more stable, I guess they might work for me, but then, I doubt I'd enjoy it (I was a dinghy sailor and preferred the type where I had much more control, threw my body weight about to control the boat, etc.)

The last time I tried keelboat sailing--far more stable--was on the Bay in San Francisco, and it was soon after I got sick but before I'd found any treatment, and it was bad news (and I didn't enjoy that type of sailing much even before I got sick (not because it made me ill but because I found it kind of boring), except that it was cool 'cause the boat was co-owned by one of colleagues and his friend, another teacher in our district, who was blind; having spent years trying to teach girls that, yes, if you knew what you were doing, you COULD sail with your eyes closed, it was pretty neat to see someone really do it).

Recently, I went out with my family on a larger sailboat on a tourist-y dolphin-seeing deal in Naples (FL), and I pretty much couldn't budge or I had no sense of balance at all, spin spin spin, fall, spin. It was beautiful, but ... it wasn't a lot of fun for me :-( Still, if there was a way to parlay it into something where I could teach sailing safety and theory with the program without having to actually go out on the water, maybe that could be kind of cool. Otoh, just as people get more seasick on a cruiseship than on a rowboat, maybe a smaller dinghy would actually work better. I just wouldn't be able to hike out, leaning all the way out upside down... (well, I could, but it probably wouldn't be funny when I, like, broke). It is all karmic payback for the many years in which I just assumed that anyone with motion sickness was a wuss. I'm sorry, motion sickness people. I didn't know! All the canoe trips and years of running sailing programs and kayaking, and being one tough chick, and the five-hour ship ride from Caen to Calais via hell, where FIVE of us ran around the ferry, having a blast, while everyone else threw up... I apologize, dear universe. I didn't know.

(Much more to the Green connection that I also can't really state publicly right now. But, let's just say TCI is one smooth-running office, comparatively).

P.S. - You can come here for fireworks! But, you're probably better off saving the trip for winter! And you'd have to leave in like eight hours.