One never needs a reminder that "Independence Day" is occurring where I live...the fire crackers, bottle rockets, *whizzers*, AND M-80's have been going off for the past few days...all day, any day, day or night! And the less experienced might have great difficulty distinguishing between what are fire crackers and which sounds are gun shots...but not where I live. I live "in da hood".Yes, it is NOT unusual to hear an automatic weapon firing several blocks away from my front deck...actually, it is oddly quite common. I live on the *cusp* of one of the wealthier communities in Seattle, but not far enough away from an area where a lot of police action is seen on a nightly basis. Just last week (for example), I was standing on my deck at 1:00AM after coming home from work, when I heard a series of 6 "pops" several blocks away. At first, I thought it COULD have been fire crackers...it IS the 4th of July week, after all.
But as my mind processed the sound, I realized the "pops" were evenly timed apart in quick succession...yep...it was an automatic weapon! In only a few short minutes, the sounds of police cars racing down the street could be heard...there was action once again "in da hood".
Now don't get me wrong...I LOVE where I live. I am only 2 miles from the heart of downtown Seattle and a half a mile from the beautiful Lake Washington. I enjoy the diversity of the neighborhood, which has not been totally gentrified by other pasty-white people. I have some great neighbors and it's not an unusual event to stand talking over a fence or at the end of a driveway. In my little section of "da hood", neighbors look out for one another and their property...it's a generally safe place to live.
But the one thing I have found both annoying AND entertaining about my "hood" is the 4th of July celebrating that can cover a few days to a week of celebration. It's almost 1:00AM right now, and "someone" is shooting off Roman Candles on the street...that IS annoying! And by tomorrow afternoon, the scent of barbecued beef, chicken, pork ribs, and hot dogs will be wafting around in the air...THAT is entertaining and just a tradition "in da hood". Some homes will have as many as 4 grills fired up at once...just not something you see in *other* parts of the city. LOL
There will be food grilling, music blasting from houses and car stereos, alcohol drinking, and fireworks cracking in the next 12 hours...and hopefully the alcohol AND the fireworks won't be mixed together (but it IS pretty much tradition!).
Some time around 2:00 or 3:00AM tomorrow, in the wee hours of the 5th of July, "da hood" will begin to wind up it's Independence Day festivities...AND, if I have survived yet another July 4th in "da hood", I may be able to once again sleep in peace...LOL...
10 comments:
Happy 4th, enjoy some fireworks for me, as we know I won't be seeing any this year :(
Happy 4th Cheesy one ;)
It's 6:28am here and I already have Tejano (sp?) music playing, lawn chairs being set up in preparation of company as well as the old street parking shuffle going on next door!
I just KNOW they're going to cause me to kill my diet once they fire up those grills. :) :)
Oh yes... and my dogs will be closer to me than skin once the fireworks start. Such BRAVE puppies I have... sigh
Hugs!
Peej
Sounds like the central district. As an alumni of dear old Garfield HS, I used to know that neighborhood pretty well.
Out here in South King County, it's not uncommon to have neighbors spend thousands of dollars on fireworks.
SARA:
You'll have to watch some "Merican" TV on the Internet to get your fill of fireworks...since we have nothing else to spend millions of dollars on in this country!
LD
PEEJ:
Well YOU may have me beat then! Mostly, I get jazz, hip-hop, or rap music playing here...but the smell of the food? Oo la la!!!
My cat doesn't seem bothered at all by the noise of the fireworks...go figure...she's probably plotting how to get her paws on some M-80's for herself!
LD
STEVE:
Ah ha! Brilliantly detected...yes, I live on the "cusp" of Madrona (technically IN Madrona), but certainly NOT on the lakeside down the hill to the water. I work in Social Services and I think I'd have to work at MICROSOFT to afford one of THOSE homes! (But I'm only about 10 blocks or so from your alma mater--Madrona side, not Leschi)
LD
Phew! I thought Sara had recently become blind after i read her comment that she won't be seeing the fireworks this year. Then with my new computer savy, i pulled up her sight and realized she lives in London! I am happy you are ok Sara-lol
HARKOO/JOYCE:
I don't THINK Sara is blind, but what do I know?!? The Internet can be deceiving...LOL
LD
yes, yes, yes, I'm fine & not blind :) but thanks for your concern, it can be difficult to figure out since I am American just not living there at the mo!
Ahh, the sounds of firecrackers and the smell of bbq's. I used to love the 4th but not here in Phoenix. It was 117 degrees yesterday and needless to say, way too hot to go outside and enjoy any of that fun stuff. What a ripoff.
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