Another Fourth

The prickly plastic of summer nights spent poolside, dreaming with muggy stars of concepts far from understood - indeed, beautifully misunderstood - evolved, naturally, into the intimate sharing of vanilla evenings and the clarity that lies in honest, beautifully flawed human connection. Through the glass and smoke came the intoxicating spell of community, of shared understanding and the holy comfort of an unbreakable foundation. And now here we are. The glass is here, as is the aluminum and the smoke and the evidence of lives dedicated to the steadfast preservation of days like today. Happy Birthday, America.