THERE WILL BE NO FOURTH OF JULY THIS YEAR

Well, how about that: Thunder, lighting, rain, all together, in pairs and solo -- all afternoon. Some official events downtown were canceled. The rain has subsided in the past half hour, but I just heard another thunder clap roll across the sky, and tonight's forecast calls for more T-storms. The annual fireworks display on the mall is now highly tentative, and I'm not sure what's happening with the rooftop party I'd been planning on. But I think I can probably guess.

Blog thinks he's having a crappy Independence Day because he's stuck at work. At this rate, I might as well be.

P.S. From the web-only Washington Post story linked above:

The main musical event, the National Symphony Orchestra's free "Capitol Fourth" concert, was scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. The concert, hosted by actor Barry Bostwick, was to feature a medley of John Philip Sousa marches and Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture," punctuated by cannons firing from the Reflecting Pool. Country-music star couple Vince Gill and Amy Grant, gospel singer Yolanda Adams, Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees and American Idol singer Clay Aiken were slated to join the orchestra for performances.

I certainly understand that many people will be disappointed and inconvenienced by this -- think of the Post intern who had to search-and-replace "will" for "was to" -- but given the lineup, perhaps this is a blessing in disguise.

UPDATE: The local Fox affiliate is reporting fireworks shows in College Park and somewhere else have been canceled or postponed. Doesn't sound good for D.C.

UPDATE 2: The Washington Post seems to have moved the pictures off its servers later here in the evening, but apparently water was ankle-deep down on Constitution this afternoon. Like we need another reminder that this town was built on a swamp. Aren't the awful smell and partisan ugliness enough?

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posted by WWB at 3:23 PM |