When I was young, you would only see fireworks on the Fourth of July. Now we commonly see them on New Years Day, at baseball games, and on what seem to be random occasions. Today I saw fireworks outside of my window, and had to check to determine the occasion. It turns out that it’s the Macy’s Holiday Festival of Lights. I suppose it’s yet another excuse to roll back the Christmas buying season. Whatever . . . I did enjoy this display of surprise fireworks; I snapped this photo from my 17th floor office: