The 4th of July

Every year, our neighborhood in Little Rock has a little parade for Independence Day. It's nothing too fancy, but it's quaint. There's a firetruck from the local fire station. Sometimes the police department will send out a few officers on motorcycles. And there's the old guys who drive old antique cars who seem to exist just to be in little parades like this. Of course the residents of the neighborhood are invited to participate in the parade, so people will decorate their cars and throw out candy. The neighborhood kids will ride their bikes, or people will walk with their dogs.

The parade route crosses the path of the March tornado, which devastated and destroyed many homes in the neighborhood. Some of those houses have already been torn down, leaving nothing but flattened patches of dirt or a concrete foundation. But there are also several homes that are standing in limbo, almost entirely destroyed but barely still standing. The owners waiting for the insurance company to decide something, apparently.

This year, Jonah wanted to participate in the parade so we haphazardly put some streamers on the car and got some candy to toss out the window. He is leaning out the window here, as we pass by some of the houses that were hit by the tornado.



That evening we headed downtown to watch the big fireworks show over the Arkansas River. We found a spot along the shore at Riverfront Park in North Little Rock near the Broadway Bridge.



It was an ideal place, with a nice view of the fireworks. And there was a nice breeze coming off of the river, which helped to blow away some of the heat and humidity.