July 4, 2009, downtown Nashville (TN), 5:04 p.m., D.S.T.~

Dear Journal~

A very sunburnt, but happy Wayne Wright here; hope this finds y'all well!  Just wanted to get on here briefly to wish all my co-workers and friends a very happy Fourth of July full of family, fun, festivities, food, and most of all, fireworks!  :)

It is a beautiful day here in Nashville:  we are currently downtown, where my family (and just about everyone else, it seems) is attending the annual "Red, White, And BOOM!" Festival; it started two days ago, and tonight is the big fireworks display; it promises to be one of the largest ones here in the southland; it is supposed to last a good forty five minutes!

Just saw some wonderful cloggers ranging in age from three on up to sixty five; they were marvelous!  Earlier, we saw my co-worker's daughter, Ronee' Le-Anne Reaux, sixteen, and her band, "Cajun Spice", who entertained the crowd with some invigorating Cajun and country music; she did a marvelous job!  We also saw "Hat Trick", a band of young teenagers who know how to rock with the best of 'em.  They were wonderful, too!

In just under an hour and a half from now, the evening's patriotic program will get underway; that stars the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Toby Keith, Kellie Pickler, Josh Turner, and Loretta Lynn, as well as some of the local talent we saw earlier in the day.  There will be a B-52 flyover, accompanied by a B2-Spirit bomber after the National Anthem is sung (by Kellie Pickler).  After the concert will be the fireworks extravaganza; it promises to be even better than last year, according to the festival officials, if that's possible!

My wife, Sarah, is with the children as she takes them to the rides; they will meet back with me probably around six or so; then we will enjoy the evening concert and fireworks together.  So many wonderful families, people of all ages, people of all colors, nationalities, religious backgrounds, celebrating our nation's birthday!  It is so gratifying to see our young military heroes/heroines as well as our Veterans also being recognized; if it weren't for them, we wouldn't be able to enjoy the freedoms today as citizens of this great country of ours!

We went to the city's parade this morning; that started at nine o'clock sharp; it was over an hour and a half long, with over 100 floats and several marching units represented.  They had special seating for our Veterans, who were honored by all who came.  It was a challenge to try to keep our younger children from running out in the street to grab the beads, toy footballs, or candy being thrown off the floats by the parade participants!

After the parade, we went to eat at Dairy Queen; after that, we came downtown, where we've been since.

Well, I am getting thirsty again, so I will go now.  I will then enjoy the next act, ten-year-old Trevor Coles, who is a young gospel artist.  He is blind, but that has never stopped him from wanting to persue his dream as a young singer.  He is fantastic!  Take care, and may God bless all of us as we celebrate the nation we call home!  Happy Birthday, America!

~Wayne.  :)