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Letter from Boston

Fourth of July

By MASAKO YAMADA


独立記念日

7月4日はアメリカの独立記念日で祝日になっています。今年は4日が土曜日のため3日が振替休日となり、雅子さんは3連休の週末を楽しみました。そんな雅子さんが、ボストンのエスプラネード公園で開催された、独立記念日のイベントの様子を紹介してくれます。

There is a little joke: "When did the War of 1812 occur?"

The answer is, of course, "1812." Likewise, the Fourth of July is held on July 4. But when July 4 falls on a Saturday, as it did this year, the holiday is magically extended to include July 3. It is an excuse to have another three-day weekend, and it is an excuse I gladly used. The official name of the holiday is Independence Day. While it's supposed to commemorate America's independence from Britain, I think many people also think of it as a day of independence from work.

I knew that most of my colleagues would follow my advisor's lead and be at work on July 3 — if not July 4 and 5 — but I took off the entire long weekend. One of my best friends from college was coming up from Pittsburg for the weekend, and she could only spend one day with me. I didn't want to waste this opportunity. She has become good friends with many of my new friends in Boston, and seven of us went out for dinner as soon as she arrived, July 2. The following day, we wandered around our old haunts.

After she left that afternoon, I met up for dinner with one friend, and then went out to see a movie with another. This leisurely pace continued into the next day. My roommates and three friends had a small barbecue in our backyard (a small square of grass behind our apartment building) for Fourth of July lunch, and that evening my boyfriend and I decided to brave the crowds and take part in the action on the Esplanade along the Charles River.

We walked along the Charles for about an hour, from his place in Cambridge to the Esplanade in Boston. The Esplanade is the site of the annual Fourth of July concert and fireworks show. After we got there, we realized that it was the 25th anniversary concert. There were over 500,000 people on the Esplanade. Many of the groups had ice coolers and picnic baskets and lawn chairs spread out over their blankets; some of them had even pitched tents on the grass!

We couldn't even get to the outdoor stage where the Boston Pops was playing. However, since there were only two of us, and neither of us had any luggage, we were able to find a small patch of grass fairly easily. It was right in front of the large-screen outdoor TV with industrial speakers. We couldn't experience the onstage sounds and sights firsthand, but the secondhand experience was good. It was fun to watch TV with so many people. One person next to us was recording the TV action using his own camcorder.

The Pops played an interesting mix of show tunes, cabaret and sing-along patriotic songs, but the finale was the same as it has been for the past 25 years: Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture." Tchaikovsky specified the inclusion of cannon, guns and church bells in his score, and this festival has always taken those specifications seriously. We saw the 25-year history of this finale on the large-screen TV. The cannons are fired by actual soldiers using U.S. Army cannons. Fireworks are launched at the right moments as well.

The "1812" fireworks lead straight into the fireworks show. These fireworks are synchronized to prerecorded music. In one of the pieces, there was a burst of fireworks in the shape of the planet Saturn every time the word "Satellite" appeared in the lyrics. It was the most lavish display of fireworks I've ever seen.

After the fireworks were over, we decided to take a walk to the North End to get some pizza. Near the river, the crowds were so thick that we could hardly move. However, as soon as we got onto the street, the foot traffic became much lighter. We were walking along briskly when I noticed a familiar figure pass right in front of me. It was none other than Keith Lockhart, the conductor of the Boston Pops!! I recognized him right away. He had on the same distinctive blue shirt and red suspenders that he had had on TV.


Shukan ST: July 17, 1998

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