How Are You Celebrating the 4th of July?

We're going to Virginia the weekend leading into July 4th for extended cookouts, walkabouts, and downtime with friends. On July 4th we'll be back in Brooklyn, enjoying the view of fireworks over the Verrazano Bridge from our city rooftop!

Actually, my mind changed. I'm going to the Bay Islands in Honduras. Sun, cerulean seas, cute, young traveling men and a great girlfriend to discover it all with...after a morning nap in a hammock swaying from a palm tree.

We have a neighborhood party in our court every year. Our highlight activities this year will be a table with paper, pens and a mock mailbox so everyone can write letters to our soliders abroad and a scavenger hunt. Later we'll play a chalk-drawn version of the board game Sorry with candy and "adult drink" stands in the colored corners as we are the human board pieces. We make a day of it with swimming, a potluck dinner and then fireworks for hours, set off a tall ladder by our resident fireman. It's a great time to enjoy friends, family and community.

My Grandma Zelda will turn 92 on the fourth of July. When we were kids she would tell us the whole country celebrates her birthday.

We have a HUGE race in Atlanta (more than 50,000 people run each year). I am not planning to participate (that would involve real exercise!) but I like to walk up to Peachtree and watch all the runners go by. After that, we have a party in our neighborhood park, which involves fried chicken, and then we'll take the kids to the pool to cool off.

Well, my family will have the luxury of being on vacation in Seattle. So we will probably have a BBQ at the house we'll be renting and then on my Brother-in-law's boat on Lake Union (or is it Union Lake?) and watch the fireworks. Should be alot of fun & we're looking forward to it.

However, if we were not on vacation we would've had a BBQ in our backyard, gone swimming in the pool and then gone downtown to view the fireworks. I think 4th of July is fun where ever you are...Enjoy!

I'll be having a low-key day swimming in the Croton River, going to a cookout, and watching fireworks in my town.

We used to go to our friends lake house on a private lake in the Pacific Northwest. The rich neighbors float a mini barge out to the middle of the lake and put on the most amazing fireworks show. You could sit on the dock and watch, or if you were one of the lucky sober ones you could take the paddle boat out to the middle and watch from there. But last year they got divorced and had to sell the house...it's such a bummer; I'm really going to miss that house.

I am sleeping in. Then I'm cleaning my house and trying to catch up on all of my neglected personal projects and paperwork. If I have time, I will wash my hair and go for a bike ride. The end. By Midori Nakamura

You know, Ben, for the same price as a lot of frozen chicken, you could get a good sized salmon to put on the grill. Nothing beats bbq'd fish, in my opinion. Throw on some veggies and corn on the cob on there and you've got yourself a 4th of july fit for kings.