Happy Fourth of July!

To those of you who give a rat's ass: Happy 4th of July! Don't Pittsburgh look loverly all lit up like that? It's like a magic faerie land covered with sprinkles and explosives, threatened not by an evil witch, but by a city government mired in a malaise of cronyism and graft.
Today MK and I are hosting the annual gathering of friends and family. I had been looking forward to this...that is, until yesterday when my brother freaked out because his 110lb flat coat retriever decided to bite our 17lb beagle puppy in the face and injure her eye. We rushed Bela to the vet and she's going to be ok, and really, that wasn't the major problem yesterday. No, the major event happened when Riechter Von Sanchez yelled at the big dog that he hated him, and my brother, Riechter's uncle, threw him through the screen door and then physically attacked him. See, this is why we don't carry guns around like they're lollipops or cigarette lighters because I would have committed fratricide yesterday. And, i dare say, felt no guilt whatsoever - not that answering violence with ever escalating violence is the answer, but that is how scared I was at the level of aggression and brutality which my brother was exhibiting. And soon he and others will be here for the big party, and I have no idea what's going to happen. Hee-freaking-haw.