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For the 4th or July I went and spent the day with family and friends. Since I stayed for fireworks, I didn't get home until late, hence the lack of a photo yesterday. Today I have two to make up for it.

This is from my first, and so far only, attempt to use the fireworks setting on my digital camera. I think the woobly line effect is kind of cool looking, but a google image search turns up well over two million pictures of fireworks that do not look like something went horribly wrong at the silly string factory. That makes me think that maybe my fire-picture-taking-fu could use a little work. I don't think I'm really going to bother with it. This picture is not actually of the 4th of July anyway. It's of the opening party for the World Cup on Strasse der 17 Juni last year in Berlin.
I was happy to be in the States on the 4th this year. Last year, I was overseas at this time. It is such the strange feeling, because outside of this country no one cares. I don't know why that should seem so odd to me, I mean it's not their national holiday, why should people in other countries care? Americans living abroad typically go out of their way to make a party, but for the locals it's just another day.
The picture above was taken on 10-day, and shows the American Embassy in Prague. Especially given how long I was away from home, it was always comforting to find the embassy and know that home wasn't so very far away after all.