Independence

As we all know, the 4th of July is a day to celebrate our freedom, to spend time with family and friends, to dine on hot dogs and potato salad, and to decorate your new apartment.

It's amazing how much you can get done when both people living in the apartment have the day off - thank you national holidays!

For those who don't know, I've moved to Brooklyn for one reason and one reason only: my fiance.  He graduated from medical school a few months ago and moved here to do his residency at a local hospital.  Since he has to be here for at least the next five years, I figured I'd join him because let's face it, long distance sucks.  For the purposes of this blog, let's call him "Tomm." (It's a thing he came up with. Just go with it.)

So Tomm, by some glorious and miraculous flash of good fortune, was granted off for the 4th of July.  This made me excited for two reasons:  One, I got to see him during daylight hours.  Two, he got to help me finish setting up the apartment.  There's a lot I can do on my own, but I felt he should be around to help pick out an air conditioner and window treatments.

So we shopped.  We got that air conditioner, the curtain rods and curtains, and all the miscellaneous things our apartment was lacking.  We also went on a massive grocery shopping spree to fill our barren kitchen because nothing says "welcome home" like a fully-stocked fridge.

Early in the day we had talked about what we wanted to do to celebrate the Fourth.  We agreed that a fireworks show was the way to go, but in researching the various options it looked like the only fireworks show going on was the Macy's show on the west side of Manhattan along the Hudson.  Discussion wasn't even necessary to decide that we weren't going to travel into and out of Manhattan that late at night to be pushed around by a million people, so I looked into alternative options.  As it turns out, there's a park not too far away that happens to be the highest natural point in Brooklyn which, according to the website, made it a wonderful place to watch the Manhattan fireworks show.  Sure, it'd be a little far away, but it would also be significantly less chaotic and easier to get home afterward.

Well, all the errands took longer than expected and by 8:00, only an hour before the show, we realized it just wasn't going to happen.  That's when Tomm was struck by a brilliant idea: why don't we go to the 10-story apartment building next door and try to watch the fireworks from there?

We ate our lox and bagel on the way (happy birthday, America!) and found an open window near the entrance to the roof.  We were cautious about going onto the roof for fear that it might get us in trouble, especially since it wasn't our building, so we resolved to stay at the window.  We weren't facing Manhattan, but we did have a beautiful view of Coney Island, the Verrazano Bridge, and at least three separate fireworks shows going on within our view.  It was lovely.

After a few minutes a man who may have been the super came up the stairs and asked if we had been on the roof.  We dutifully said no.  "Did you see anyone else?"  "Nope, nada, no one, sir."  "Alright then.  Come with me," he said as he opened the door to the roof.

Wow.

From every point on the top of the building, walking around in a full circle, we could see fireworks.  Staten Island, Coney Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan....there were fireworks going off in every direction.  We didn't know where to focus our attention!  Some were close enough to really enjoy, others were further in the distance and provided just a hint of colorful light on the skyline.  Around 9:30 we saw some finales beginning with unstoppable streams of fireworks, one after the other in robust, glowing grandeur.  From what looked like the heart of Manhattan we saw a glorious display of red, white, and blue explosions that were probably perfectly timed with music, blaring over the voices of a million spectators.  We didn't hear the music; instead I heard a soft breeze and the occasional sweet nothing whispered into my ear.

We tried to count how many shows we could see and figured that 20 was probably a low estimate.  Neither of us had ever seen anything like it, and we both agreed that it was way better than anything we would have witnessed from the park.  What's more, since we could see so many we were there for a full hour and left while some shows were still going - much longer than the 25 minute performance Macy's would have given us.

While watching the fireworks, I thought about this Independence Day.  Quite honestly, this may be the most independent Independence Day I have ever celebrated.  Installing an air conditioner and putting up curtains may not be quite what the Founding Fathers thought of as statements of freedom, but it certainly is for me.  And as Tomm and I stood upon that rooftop with fireworks lighting up the sky in every direction, I felt assured that we can make it work in this big, scary city with so much to offer.  I just need to right vantage point to see it.