....By The Dawn's Early Light

I went to West Point for the fourth of July celebration, a mixture of musical performance, army academy ceremonies and of course, fireworks. We have attended several of these celebrations in the past so we thought we knew what we were in for.

We arrived an hour early for the 8PM performance, but the extra time was quickly eaten up by waiting in long traffic lines and then trying to find a parking spot. On a conventional Sunday afternoon, trophy point looks like this. The flat lower portion directly in front of the bandshell contains rows of long benches which are usually never full. The meadow usually contains a sprinkling of folding chairs and blankets with dogs running on long leashes. The hills leading up to the monument at the summit is usually dotted with people, coolers at their sides filled with drinks and sandwiches and other easily consumed comestibles. It is reminiscent of a lazy late afternoon, people doing their thing while listening to the band play marches and other lively tunes, including a vocal soloist and, more often than not, an instrument soloist as well.

July 4th is a bit different. It is more crowded, the hillsides are packed with people, the program is different. They usually begin by introducing the cadets who march into trophy point. Each class is introduced and that takes a while. Then cadets, representing the 50 states, are introduced, each one carrying his state flag and upon introduction, a cannon is fired.

Then the program begins. It is usually a medley of american marches and other favorites, culminating in Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture with cannon and fireworks as the piece reaches its peroration.

Since it was so crowded we found seats just across the roadway from the monument. The road was closed to vehicular traffic so there was no one close in front of us as we contemplated the monument, the crowd, and a beautiful evening sky. We couldn't see the stage nor could we hear too much. We did hear the Star Spangled Banner which, I was glad to know, was still on the program, especially in light of what occured afterwards.

I had trudged up from a parking space about a mile away from the action and arrived on the scene just after the cadets had made their procession. The places that my good companion had reserved for us were indeed front row and center but to the road, not the stage. Our chairs were on grass and we were surrounded on the sides and back by other people, likewise having misjudged the crowd although one of our neighbors assured us that they had been there since four in the afternoon. The musical program began, but for a variety of reasons we didn't really get much out of it.

First of all, we couldn't hear that well since the sound needed to travel over the hill and through a mass of people. Secondly, it occurred to us that most of the audience was completely uninterested in the program having come solely for the fireworks and were engaged in socializing on a grand scale. Right behind us, sat a group of three couples and their families, the leader of which was a loudmouth know-it-all with a particularly penetrating voice. He didn't shut up for a moment making it difficult to appreciate even the music we did hear. At the end of one piece for solo baritone which we could hardly make out, he remarked without drawing breath from his unending soliloquy, "Hey that guy has a pretty good voice." This sent us and some of the neighbors around us into paroxysms of laughter. The guy behind us continued on as before, oblivious to all but himself. The good companion finally asked him to speak a bit lower which he did (or maybe just ran out of steam [hot air]).

The sky slowly darkened and the young people, flitting from place to place formed a moving tableau of glowing reds, greens and blues worn in their hair, on their wrists and on their ankles or just waving the flexible glow wands in the air. It was a lovely sight. Meanwhile, an entertainment group took over the stage. The MC spoke in a language that I didn't understand but was assured it was English. The crowd went wild with his jokes and sang along with the songs the group performed cheering wildly most of the time. It was a festive evening, one of the loveliest of this season. As it became dark, the excitement was palpable as the hour approached for the start of the main event. It did not disappoint. For 15 minutes the sky was lit and the atmosphere percussed with the reds,greens browns, golds, whites and yellows of the explosive charges. Some particularly beautiful displays were of a kind I had seen before. The reds and greens did not immediately fade as they usually do in conventional fireworks. They remained lambent with solid colors almost like holiday tinsel, suspended in the air. They eventually dropped and were extinguished as they fell to the ground.

The walk back to the car among thousands of others, orderly and mannerly reminds me that there can be calm in crowds. Overall, it was an enjoyable evening but I doubt we will do it again in the near future.

As a clever saying attributed to Yogi Berra says, "That place is so crowded, no one goes there anymore."