I just got back from the beach. It’s about midnight right now. My clothes reek of smoke, I felt like I was going to go blind with bright flashing lights, while my ears drums were shocked every couple seconds with booms coming out of the usual commotion and my fingertips became singed after trying to light one of the rockets too quickly. The air itself was so polluted that you could see the particles floating around with the dying embers.

I sat there in the sand. The cold wind blew against my back and with only a wood-burning fire to keep my body warm. There were many colorful explosions and blazing fires around me, but none of them could compare to the shine of the moon over the sand and water nor could the booms take over the calming sound of the waves even as they seemed to slowly fade in the background, but if you listened in the split seconds of silence it was still there.

I was able to eat and laugh while my toes buried themselves in the sand. I watched all the people celebrate under the night sky. At that time, I wish I was there on the year 1776 and wondered how the people had felt. I wondered how it felt in their hearts. I looked again and I knew I didn’t need to know. Everything I needed to know was right there. We were free. On that night I knew what it was like to live in America, and I loved every second of it.

-written last night before I went to bed- Happy 4th of July *will update later*