A quiet Independence Day

We had the kind of July 4th we usually do. Pretty quiet.

I had to work (from home) because of Justice O'Connor's announcement. Most of what I had prepared in advance ended up on the Web site Friday. Today I fed some more material for the paper tomorrow. I also wrote an update on the "missing persons" story, which I hope appears later this week.

C spent much of the day reading and working around the house. E has been hanging out at Pat's. M is working at Target.

M got a new acoustic guitar this week. A very nice Martin. He paid for one-third and will pay us back the rest as he gets paid for his gigs at Potbellys (where he appeared again this weekend).

Some of our neighbors like to shoot off fireworks every year, which bothers Aspen a lot. She usually ends up hiding in the laundry room or basement. And we can't get her to go outside after dusk. Fenix isn't bothered as much, but also doesn't like the noise. Hopefully, everybody will get the fun out of their systems tonight.

We took a bike ride in the evening, which was nice. Not too hot. Maybe only 80 degrees at the time.