ang tao and i got off the subway at central square around 7pm, grabbed some takeout from the falafel palace (to sample some middle eastern cuisine), then walked down to the charles river, where we found a spot on the bridge so we could watch the fireworks that would begin in 3 more hours. we sat next to some other chinese folks, one of them armed with a canon rebel as well, but with an L-series sense ($$$). they had also staked out a spot near the railing, an empty tripod for a placeholder. later a noisy chinese family (bourgeois) muscled into our territory, but being that everyone involved was chinese, nobody said anything.

ang tao and i chatted while waiting, talking about things like what is a real american, global over-population, china's one child policy, and other places he's traveled to, including amsterdam and parts of italy.

since i've seen the fireworks a few times already, i was more interested in getting photos of the faces of the spectators watching the pyrotechnics. this confused the hell out of the people standing behind me, who kept on looking where i was pointing the camera, trying to figure out what i was so interested in.

12 more days

unfortunately i ran out of batteries 5 minutes into the fireworks! but it gave me a chance to just sit back and enjoy the show without seeing it through the viewfinder of a camera. afterwards we walked back home (figuring the free subways would be too crowded anyway), shoulder to shoulder with other fellow americans.

walden pond was closed: apparently we weren't the only ones who thought it'd be a great place to be on this particularly hot and humid independence day. with people parked around the periphery for it to re-open again and rangers guarding all access points, we (bruce and jack and i) decided to visit nearby great meadows national wildlife refuge instead after a lengthy search for the well-hidden entrance. highlights included spotting a woodcock (who ran away like a scared chicken), a monarch butterfly, and an out-of-season american coot. we also saw a large garter snake but i wasn't quick enough to get a photo. returning to cambridge we stopped off at the fresh pond whole foods to get some groceries. healthy, wealthy, pretty people shop there, so i felt very out of place. coming out i bumped into my aunt and uncle in the parking lot just as soon as it started to rain around 2pm - the exact time i predicted it'd rain (with the help of my local meteorologist of course).