Fourth of July (1 of 3): Fogey-dom.

I'm really getting to be an old fogey.

Not one but actually both of my friends who usually throw a big cookout were out of town this year, and I had had a tiring few weeks, so I decided to stay in.

I could have sought out plans, but it seems more and more that the fireworks are getting bigger and more out-of-control every year, where people set them off near crowds or there's huge ones going off as you bike home.

I'm a bit afraid of one going out of control and burning me or harming my eyesight, so I figure, why not just stay in.

When I took a walk in the quarry park in late afternoon / very early evening, already bottle rockets were going off.

When I was home that evening, from a few blocks away on a couple of side of my apartment, it was like mortar shells going off.

I mean, what the heck.

Part of me wonders, too, if people are spending more money on bigger fireworks as income inequality gets worse, since because you can't get ahead anyway, why not?