Bill,
Yeah all us Yanks whopped it up yesterday....parades, fireworks, cookouts, etc. If the election this fall doesn't reverse the CHANGE we got four years ago, we may not have to bother with celebrating much in the future.
On another note, we're having a severe drought here in Indiana and most communities canceled their public fireworks displays because of the high danger of fires. It's unfortunate for the holiday, but it really a question about public safety and personal responsibility for one's actions that driving this ban.
We have had an unbelievably dry winter with little snow/rain, an abnormally warm and unseasonably dry spring, and now its summer and we're in a world of hurt here. Indianapolis only had .09 of an inch of rain in June.....an all time record low. A normal year would be 5-6 inches in June. The corn is tassling here right now, and if we don't get rain within a week or so, there are the makings of a huge crop disaster in Indiana.
Today forecast here in central Indiana:
Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 101 (38.3 Celsius). Heat index values as high as 107 (41.6 Celsius). West wind 5 to 10 mph.
Fine tuning the proper daily ratio of Maxwell House to Bacardi 151.........
* Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia !