RSS Oh, say can you see…
Filed in BlogThe Fourth of July has been and gone, and there are no fireworks for us tonight. There is, however, a lovely and fitting gift from Mother Nature–freedom from smoke to the extent where today we had blue skies for the parade and stars out at night. I can’t tell you how wonderful that is. :)
We’re not off the hook, though. Yesterday I went down to Redding and fires were burning right beside highway 299. I mean fires with Actual Real Flames, so I can no longer say that I’ve never seen a forest fire. They’re at the top of Buckhorn Mountain, which is the pass which separates Trinity and Shasta Counties. The smoke wasn’t too bad but I kept my helmet firmly closed.
The parade was great fun, with some very unusual floats. The U.S. Army decided to bring its own helicopter. No, I’m not kidding you. And then there was the bekilted bagpipe band who played God Save The Queen(!)
I’ll be posting pictures on Raven’s Roads in the next day or two. It’s too bad I didn’t make it to the anvil firing–where gunpowder is placed between two anvils and ignited–but I wasn’t up for attending an event at six this morning. ;)
And in other (fire) news, the Iron Complex fire is 19% contained (the abovementioned fire is only 5% contained), the Lime Complex fire is 65% contained, and the Alps Complex is at 15%. It’s slow, hard going, but they are definitely getting there.
Yay!
Subscription links
-
If you enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to the Raven's Roads RSS feed! Click here for the raw feed or links to feed readers.
7 Comments, Comment or Ping
mojosmom
” And then there was the bekilted bagpipe band who played God Save The Queen(!)”
Well, I expect they were really playing “My Country, ’tis of Thee”, which has the same tune.
I never heard of anvil firing! Sounds exciting, so I went and Googled it. Pics! http://www.cannon-mania.com/anvil.htm
Jul 5th, 2008
FancyHorse
I was thinking the same thing mojosmom said.
“My country ’tis of thee
Sweet land of liberty
Of thee I sing
Land where my fathers died
Land of the Pilgrim’s pride
From every mountainside,
Let freedom ring!”
Jul 5th, 2008
katster (11 comments.)
Yeah, welcome to America, where we’re good at appropriating other’s tunes for our patriotic songs. (The Star Spangled Banner? The tune’s liberated from a drinking song.)
-kat
Jul 5th, 2008
Linda R. Moore
* giggle * No wonder the lady next to me gave me a funny look when I commented “Wrong country. ” ;)
The anvil thing is definitely…something born of boys with too much time/beer, I think. ;)
Aug 2nd, 2008
Linda R. Moore
Yeah, that fits. But darnit…why not compose their own tune?!
Aug 2nd, 2008
Linda R. Moore
:: rolls eyes ::
Aug 2nd, 2008
FancyHorse
Well, the early American revolutionaries were British subjects before, so British tunes and songs were all they knew. Maybe they weren’t talented in the composing field. And, they didn’t know that our countries would become so chummy later! ;-)
Aug 2nd, 2008
Reply to “Oh, say can you see…”