Sure they boomed, but I didn't really ahh that much

By the time I got home last night, it was raining. Not just a sprinkle here or a drop there. Not even a steady light rain.

No, it was coming down in sheets. As in, raining so hard it was hard to see 5 feet in front of me.

Needless to say I didn't go running. There's something about running in a sheet of rain that isn't so appealing.

But the sheets of rain didn't stop me from hopping in my car and heading up to Appleton to catch the fireworks with my Mom.

See, it was my one chance to enjoy a little bit of that Fourth of July hoopla that everyone else gets to experience today. Because, me? I get to sit at my desk at work. Oh well.

So that's why, even though it was raining in sheets, I was determined to catch some fireworks. Mom and I headed out to the north side of Appleton and secured a good spot in the parking lot of the grocery store across the street from the park where the fireworks were being shot off. And then we waited. And waited. In all, I think we waited for almost two hours. At times it looked like the rain was letting up. But as soon as it started to lightly sprinkle, the sheets returned, turning the parking lot into a lake with rapids.

Miraculously, the rain stopped and it started to clear up a bit at 9:15 p.m., precisely when the big booms went off that signaled the start of the fireworks. Somebody must've wanted me to enjoy my one shot at fireworks this year.

Although it had stopped raining, I still chose to watch the fireworks from the comfort, and dryness, of my car. And I don't want to sound whiny, but...they just weren't that good. I mean, the colors weren't very vibrant. There seemed to be a lot of lag time between fireworks. And there must have been one heck of a deal on ground displays, because I swear there were like 6 of them!

Maybe I'm spoiled. I usually catch the fireworks in Neenah on the Fourth of July. From the water. In a boat. You can't get any better than that. And my Ford Focus? A boat it surely isn't.

But at least I got the chance to see some fireworks. Even if they were from my car and even if they weren't all that spectacular. And who knows, I might even be able to catch a glimpse of the fireworks here in the City on the Water from my work window tonight.