4th of July

This 4th of July (and yes, I realize this posting is seriously delayed!) I ventured back to my old hometown, Vallejo, California. AKA "the model city for Bankruptcy in the USA." That's where I lived until the age of 17 (which was a long while ago, if you must know).

It seems that my dearest friends, the ones who I grew up with in Vallejo, and I are forming a tradition. This is the second year that we've gathered around this time of year for BBQ, games and general goofiness. These gatherings never disappoint.

Friends are good.

I showed up late. By the time I arrived the food was ready and the charcoal was on it's way to becoming cooled cinders. Problem. I brought Pineapple to grill. So, as I laid the brown-sugar coated pineapple on the grill to try and soak up the last of the coal heat I joked with my friend Nelia "You woulnd't happen to have a blow torch, would you?" Her eyes lit up and she ran inside, coming back out with a Creme Brulee torch.  

Score!!!

I only got so far as to grill about three pieces of fruit before the inevitable happened. (I wondered how long it would take as I stood there playing with fire.) One of the guys hopped out of his chair, wandered over and said as casually as a kid in a candy store to me: "Whatcha doin?"

Really, what he was asking was: "CAN I PLAY WITH THE FIRE? CAN I? CAN I? Please, oh please, oh please!!!"

So I let him. He finished off the entire grill full of pineapple and then handed the torch back to me with a grin. Typical.

But that wasn't the end of the torch use for the day. Most fireworks are illegal these days in California. So all we had were little poppers to throw around and some bottle rockets.
Kinda tame.
So, you guessed it, Creme Brulee Torch + poppers + Bottle rockets = Way more fun!!

I love my friends. They're pretty much the awesomest.

As the hour grew later we moved the party inside and played endless rounds of Phase 10 and "Mormon" quarters (with water... the object of the game is to not pee!)