4th of July 2020

          I’m sure a lot of people had a bit of a strange Independence Day this year.  I did too.  I normally go to the beach or on a boat and see a big fireworks display, but not this year.  All of the beaches in Southern California were closed because of Covid.  It was a real struggle finding ways to celebrate and have fun.  Since I don’t really have friends or family in California to celebrate with it was just me, my husband, and puppy.  In other words, no back yard cook-outs for us.  Honestly, that’s probably for the best.  I wouldn’t want to get sick or get anybody else sick.          

          We decided to have a picnic.  Picnics are fun and special, feel summer-y, and not too social.  The next challenge was finding a place to go.  I wasn’t sure what parks are open and allow dogs.  We also wanted to go someplace new.  We found out about a place in Malibu called Tuna Canyon Park that has free entrance and allows dogs.  It has trails on top of a mountain that overlooks the ocean.  Perfect for a picnic.  We left to go there but
couldn’t find it.  The map took us to a neighborhood and just ended there.  I still want to find it someday but we had to find a backup spot.  We ended up going to a park further north that also overlooks the ocean and has some trails.  It was a perfect back up spot.  We had been before so it all worked out.  Afterwards, we went home to hang out for a bit.  We had some ice cream and took our puppy to the dog park.  Then we saw fireworks out over our city and Los Angeles from the second floor of our apartment.  Basically every neighbor was lighting them so they were literally all around us.  I though it would be difficult to see fireworks this year because all of the major shows were canceled but we could actually see huge ones right from the front door.  It was really cool to walk outside and just see fireworks going off all around you.  I had never experienced so many at one time.  This year ended up being better than I thought it would.  

          This year I wanted to be a bit more casual with my clothing because I wasn’t sure what we would end up doing and I wanted to be comfortable.  I also knew we would probably be outside, possibly hiking. I wore these cute shorts from Target paired with my new top from T.J. Maxx.   I bought it just before everything started to shut down for Covid.  I am wearing my star necklace to add a bit of patriotic flair.