2012, Day 186 - Flash of agony

The 4th of July is a holiday whose celebrations I cannot fathom.  I understand celebrating our independence but the way we do it is riddled with contradiction.  All week I've been reading stories about people losing fingers, being blinded, taking trips to the emergency room all to blow up a little bit of our country.  And then there are the people responsible for fighting to protect our interests.  It doesn't matter what your political beliefs are, there can be no doubt that we should honor the people who risk their lives to protect ours and some come back bearing emotional scars that are ripped open again by fireworks .  While I love the sight of fireworks I could live without them to protect the young, the scarred and the stupid.

Canon 1Ds Mark III, Canon 16-35/f2.8L Mark II
27mm, f5.6, 1.6 sec @ 250 ISO