We were taking heavy fire. The sky above us was lit up like daylight by the explosions happening overhead. I took a hit by a shell casing in the lower abdomen, but shook off deserting my comrades for medical treatment, so that I could stay and see things through to the very end. When the bombardment was over, a melee broke out on the high ground as people tried to move heavy equipment to strategic locations.

In other words, it was the 4th of July fireworks show in Washington, DC. :)

Some friends of mine had staked out ground just west of the Washington Monument on the National Mall, only a few hundred yards from where the fireworks were being shot off from. Literally, the display was right over our heads at times, which made it one of the most impressive fireworks shows I've ever seen. The main drawback to our otherwise wonderful location though was that we actually were in the debris path, and had lots of soot and fireworks remnants fall on us. I really did get hit by a square-inch shell casing from a firework, although it was light enough that it was only surprising rather than harmful. Once the 20-minute show was over, people who'd watched the show from the monument hillside around us, packed up their lawn chairs, coolers, and in a few cases, tents, and stampeded out to get to various metro stations to get home.

It was a nice Independence Day weekend. Wednesday evening, a group of friends and I had a dinner party and saw Men in Black II (nothing says 4th of July, like watching Will Smith battle aliens; it's a minor tradition, with the two MIBs and Independence Day!) Thursday was a bear of a day, temperature-wise, with a brutal heat wave gripping our nation's capital. I'd gone into the city to watch the parade down Constitution Ave., and just during that, I downed a pair of 32oz Gatorade jugs. I spent most of the afternoon recovering in air-conditioning in Union Station, watching festivities sponsored by the National Archives, including a reading of the Declaration and some concert music. By the end of the day though, I'd say I consumed 200oz of water, easy. Eventually, I met up with my friends on the mall, and we watched the fireworks.

Fears of more Al Qaeda activity in Washington proved groundless (or so I say til everyone breaks out in a week as a result of the bio-terror attack!), although September 11th still casts a shadow over the city. A _lot_ of new security was in place from last year, and fences restricted entry to the National Mall to just a few key points that were heavily manned by security forces. The 9/11 theme was also reflected in the parade floats, recalling things like the firefighters' raising the flag in NYC. Otherwise though, a lot seems to be as it was, and even the Pentagon seems to be almost completely rebuilt. Driving past, the exterior is almost finished (although I'm told by someone who recently flew through DCA that the roof still needs some work!) and most of the heavy construction equipment has been removed. Banner headlines relating to Enron and WorldCom scandals and the upcoming mid-term Congressional elections have taken prominence in the Washington Post over the war on terrorism. How long that will last, with the upcoming terrorist trial here in Alexandria, just down the street from my apt., I don't know. But it is something.

Anyway, that's the bulletin from your capital correspondent. Hope Independence Day was a positive experience for you.