I thought this photo taken this morning of my bee balm looked like a burst of fireworks, so here it is. New Jersey likes its fireworks, obviously, since for the past several nights that’s all we’ve heard. First one little town will have their fireworks display, then the next town will have theirs the following night. Plus the neighbors have been setting off illegal fireworks on and off during the day and night. It’s getting a bit old since none of us are fans of loud noises. The dogs have held up well though and I’m proud of them.

Rick’s Dad came through the surgery, but it was much worse than they had thought so the surgery was a long and difficult one. We hope his recovery goes smoothly.

It’s cloudy and cool here today so far. We were hoping to spend the day lolling around the pool but it’s not really pool weather. We have a pork shoulder smoking on the BBQ for our pulled pork sandwiches later today. Of course,  now it looks like we have some rain on the way… Freshly made coleslaw and sweet corn on the cob will round out our 4th of July barbecue. Yum! Hope you all have a great holiday!

Happy Fourth of July to you, Lynne. Your bee balm is reminiscent of fireworks. We have those illegal fireworks here too. Strangely, they are sold everywhere in Indiana. It used to be if you bought these fireworks, you had to sign a paper not to use them in Indiana. Give me a break.

The flower is a perfect fireworks display - minus the noise, which makes it even more perfect. Our little village of Capitol Hill was a war zone last night. But otherwise the day was just perfect.

Much healing energy headed to Rick and his dad. So sorry it was a complicated surgery. Hope he’s soon on the mend.

Thanks for the healing energy Reya. Right now he is stable, but it’s still very critical.