The Fourth

For the record, the temperature in Southwest at the Bank was 18.8 all day on the 4th of July 2010. The temperature at the House on the Cove varied - cool in the morning, warmer in the afternoon, cool again in the evening.

Mama Bear went to church at St. John's again. The Reverend Vesta Kowalski gave the sermon. She talked on 2 Kings 5:1-14, and how the humans in the passage, being humans, saw what was happening as if as if they were the most important beings in the story, when, in fact, in the Bible, the most important being is usually God. She talked about how the founding fathers centered this country on the common good of all citizens. She shared her understanding of the passage from Luke 10 that we have work to do and need to do it, caring not if some of the work seems to fall on those who cannot use it: those who can use it will, others will not; we simply need to be doing the work of caring for our communities and everyone in them. We need to operate not from a me-first perspective but from a love of God and service to community perspective. A lesson well-shared (much better than I have done here) and it made me a bit less hungry for a sermon from the pastor at the church I attend at House on the Creek (Wesley Memorial United Methodist). I really like the practice of this congregation of weekly reading the names of those serving in the armed forces of the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan who have died in recent weeks. It is a wonderful way to honor the service of these people, to remember their families and to remind us of cost of our freedom and why we need to find ways to live in peace and harmony.

The words about this lesson are my interpretation of what was said. The actual words said and ideas presented belong to Rev. Kowalski and were delivered in a manner that was more interesting and likely clearer than what I have shared here.

We had our "big" meal of the day early and after a bit went to Bar Harbor for the festivities there. Papa Bear, of course, found the perfect parking place easily. He has always told me that his ability to find these spaces is linked to his relationship with the Parking Daemon - the Parking Daemon finds the spot and guides Papa Bear to it. I know not how it works, but it does seem to work.


We took a short walk to the Village Green and joined others as we awaited the beginning of the concert from the Bar Harbor Town Band. The Band was established in 1898 and offers outdoor concerts twice a week during July and August. The bandstand in which they perform was rebuilt recently through a donation from a generous patron and is looking lovely.


Papa Bear and I had taken a blanket on which we could sit. There were more than a few people our age there with those chairs you carry in a bag, and we are contemplating whether or not we should invest in two of those. The people sitting in them did look comfortable.


The bandstand was packed with musicians of a variety of ages - so packed that some of the musicians were outside the railing of the bandstand. After the band began to play, some of the younger children began to walk and run around the bandstand. They were moving with complete abandonment and utter joy. It was a delight to behold. It was not long before they were joined by older children and then parents with some even younger children and then some teens joined the dance and I even saw two grey-headed children walking around the bandstand, arms linked, smiles blazing.


Most of the songs were marches and the band sounded really great. There were also medleys of military songs. In one, The Caisson Song, The Marines Hymn, The Air Force Song, and Anchors Away were linked together. There were two trumpeters that were amazing as well as a woman who played flute and piccolo really well. The band played for about an hour and concluded with The Star Spangled Banner. Everyone stood and many sang in the gathering twilight.


We then strolled down Main Street to Agamont Park where we joined a throng of others awaiting the fireworks display. Agamont Park slopes down to the dock, and in doing so provides a natural amphitheater. Guesses were made by those around us as to crowd size and they were putting the crowd at over 10,000 people. We found a place to park ourselves and stood while we waited for the show to begin. The boats in the harbor had been moved away from the dock. There were, on some of the visible islands, lights that seemed to indicate that some had made their way to the islands to watch the festivities from there. Occasionally someone would fire a flare into the gathering darkness.


The night was cloudy (we had had a few soft drops during the concert) and just before the fireworks began, the street lights around the park went dark. A rocket went up and burst into a dandelion puff of white and gold. And then nothing for several minutes. We (the entire crowd), who had been eagerly anticipating the onset of the display and now having had our appetites now tantalizingly titilated, again waited, this time a bit more impatiently. Before long, it began. It was, I think perhaps the best display I have ever seen. Papa Bear noted that because we were seated near the top of the hill and the launching of the fireworks seemed to be from on or near the dock, we were almost directly beneath the high explosives when they burst, so it seemed more that we were a part of them instead of just viewing them. Rockets that burst into dandelion puffs of green that turned red, white star bursts that faded to gold asters, red, white and blues that twinkled on for just a moment and were gone; all soared into the darkness that enveloped us, flashed their glory ever so briefly and left us again in the dark or sometimes immediately beholding the next display. At times, the rockets climbed from the ground only half to the sky, a blazing wall of star diamonds of champagne bubbles and white tadpoles climbing and popping, sometimes ending in a short red or blue or white line. We cycled from the ground-based bubbles to the sky overhead and back several times. And just when we thought it could not possibly get any better the finale happened. Both ground-based and overhead displays so rapid and beautiful that it seemed impossible to take it all in - reds, greens, blues, whites, golds in banging star bursts and puffy dandelion shapes with a few oddly horizontal (yet lovely) flashes combined with a bubbling champagne fountain in whites, golds and other colors. There simply are not words to convey the experience.

Main Street again became a pedestrian walkway as we departed. The gentle crowd proceeded, each to their next destination. We made our way to our car and were soon traveling to the House on the Cove. It had been a lovely day, and we found that we were happy that the celebration had happened over two days: it meant we did not have to become too tired (and we wondered what families with children would have done had they had had to do it all in one day: we suspected that there would have been tired parents and even tireder children.) The Cat was glad to see us upon our return.

Papa Bear is the photographer of our pictures in this post, taking the pictures without a tripod. Quite a feat to get so many pictures in the dark that are so lovely! Know that after a few photos at the beginning of the fireworks display, Papa Bear, too, settled down to just enjoy the event. (Tip: I find if I click on a picture, it appears enlarged with a bit more detail ... you may want to try it to see what, if anything, happens for you. My browser's Back button takes me back to the blog if the picture happens to open in the same window as the blog.)