The sight and smell of gunpowder smoke in the air… The constant cracking and popping… The loud booms… all coming from all directions… Overwhelming… For the first time in my post-military service life, the July 4th fireworks bothered me. Yesterday, as I played doubles with my friends under the twilight and eventual nighttime sky… as I struggled to focus on playing the points, all while trying to steel my nerves, I constantly had to remind myself that I was neither on a military installation, nor deployed to a combat…
The July 4th Effect
