Fourth Fun

This weekend, when I wasn't cheering the fireworks displays, I was putting a serious dent in the world's hot dog population.

I was also talking to a friend as we reminisced over the joys of bologna sandwiches we ate as children.

"The thing about bologna," Beth told me, "is that there's no creature called 'bologna.' You can eat chicken and beef, but where's the bologna creature?"

I confessed to a profound ignorance on the subject.

Beth's husband Tim had constructed a miniature canon for the holiday. Tim runs a construction business, so he was able to craft a professional-quality device that let out a ferocious roar when you fired it off. Naturally there was no grapeshot involved -- it was all gunpowder and wadding; because we were up in the north Georgia foothills, however, the echo of the canon's boom went on for several seconds.