Exodus & Discovery

Last night Eric, Dawn, Jamie and I all walked to a nearby lake where there would be a fireworks presentation.
I could not believe how many people were there - apparently 150,000 were gathered for this early celebration of Independance Day!
Well, I was not disappointed. The fireworks were probably the best I've ever seen - in my life.
I heard Americans know how to do fireworks and it's true.
And after all was said and done and we all had a bit of patriotism infused into our very being we made our way back to our hotel.
Jamie remarked that it made him think of the Exodus of the Israelites.
As we all crowded down the streets that went up and down hills you could see the "mass of humanity" all walking to their cars. It was pretty incredible to think that what we experienced was similar to what the Israelites went through.
Well...minus the paved roads.
And the lights.
And the bikes.
And electricity.
And plus a few animals.
More dust.
Well, more or less the same thing.

Another thought that was discussed by the four of us was how much money the US pours into things exactly like the 4th of July fireworks (I would guess millions - country-wide), and all the space exploration (easily billions of dollars) that NASA does...it's pretty crazy.
Speaking of NASA, we were actually able to see the Discovery shuttle launch today. It was from a distance and through some clouds, but still...to see that little rocket with a blaze of bright orange fire behind it was something. Even if it's just to say that I was there for the shuttle launch.
Ok. So those are my thoughts.
I would post pictures (there are some great ones of the fireworks) but unfortunately we forgot the USB cable for our digital camera at home and so I will have to post some pics in a few weeks I think. Stay tuned for a link to my photo blog when I get the pics up.