Independence day

I spent my Fourth at a barbecue with my friend Sarah, her family and some other mutual friends of ours.

We did all the traditional Forth of July things, like play games, eat hot dogs and hamburgers and have three desserts. The only thing missing were fireworks, sadly.

Before that, we played soccer in the yard. None of us had really come prepared for the all-out battle that ensued between the girls and the boys' teams, so we had to play in flip flops. The grass was a little too prickly to go it bare foot. The girls were demolishing the boys, until they got a few more players so we didn't outnumber them two to one. In the end, we tied.

The Fourth of July miracle was that I made a goal and two assists. Sarah's cousin also should get mention for his gazelle-like leap to head butt the ball that had just traveled almost the length of the field, after it had been head-butted twice already.

Lessons learned: I play better in flip flops than I did for an intramural college team.