Thursday, April 19, 2018 1:33 AM

The first of the Independence Day fireworks appear just after dark, reflected in an upstairs window. Until I hear popping sounds coming from the wrong direction, I think they are an electronic display. Turning to see the highest of them above a building, I almost collide with one of many young girls chasing each other with cans of spray foam and of something like Silly String. The boys joust with giant inflated hammers. Both the spray cans and the hammers are emblazoned with the Israeli flag. Most of the downtown streets are blocked off for the giant fair. I watch dance troupes on the main stage, but the headliners don't engage me. I prefer the high school rock bands a few streets over, playing songs by Leonard Cohen and Queen. I get what I guess is a candied apple from a stand. After an hour, I give up on ever getting through the shell and carefully place it in an overflowing trash can. My path home is lined with discarded spray cans and the varied detritus of street food. I expect that by dawn it will all be clean.