An exploding smorgasbord of history

Yearly, America goes spasming into its glorious past on the Fourth of July. Fort Snelling in St. Paul, MN, is as good a place as any to catch vignettes of military life in the early 19th century on this very day. Here's a glimpse:



Costumed soldiers reconstruct life at the barracks at Fort Snelling, unmindful of strange looking aliens who randomly pop flashbulbs:



The soldiers work their guns in answer to the aliens popping flashbulbs:



Come evening on the Fourth, and my appetite for history gives way to the more mundane, more here-and-now desires...food. A short walk down Wabasha St. over the Mississippi leads to the Taste of Minnesota, a food and music fest, that lasts five days to conclude on July 4 every year.



And of course, no July 4 video is complete without footage of the pyrotechnics. So here I am at the St. Paul riverfront aiming skyward - the last few moments of my day out on the Fourth: