Return of the airplanes

It was July 4th, and Claire and I were heading out to the lake by Shoreline Amphitheater to watch the fireworks. It was crowded, we were late, and I found it quite unlikely that we would find any decent lakeside seating.

A plane buzzed overhead, tailed by two military planes. Two more planes roared by soon afterward. I'm not sure how word got out, but we soon learned that London had sent three planes to drop nuclear bombs on US cities, but they didn't disclose which ones. We had watched the planes fly by without incident, so apparently they didn't consider Shoreline a target (a relief, as it is the site of so many rock concerts of my youth--R.E.M., The Grateful Dead, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, but I digress.)

We stood frozen, staring at the sky, wondering what would be destroyed and when. The fireworks never went off.