im going to get the flag shaved into my hair

after relaxing in chicago and seeing explosions in the sky play to a near sold out crowd in some ancient hall, i made my way to the heart of america. good bye ellen and joe! the best couchsurfers yet.
i took a double decker bus through the midwest, stopping at really interesting gas stations; it was kinda like coney island : bearded woman, men without teeth, knarled hands; entertaining and educational! Went through saint louis at 5am, not able to see anything and slept the rest of the way to kansas city. I stepped out of the bus into a suburban rainforest, where the humid moisture soaked everything instantly and felt like i had bronchitis and was breathing with a humidifier.
I was sitting in the lobby of a museum that boasts to have americas oldest and largest water wheels, off steamships that went around the lakes. I sat here and waited for caitlin to pick me up after work.
if my high school all grew up and lived in one city this may be it.
i have two dollars in my wallet.
I have already been approached by the police for reading on the sidewalk.
There was a farmers market i checked out. lots of artifical psychedelic pharaphenelia, amish cheese, and red necked workers selling barbequed legs of various animals.
After caitlin picked me up, along with her roomate we snuck into a swimming pool at a near by apartment complex and swam hearing tnt blowing off in the background a few hours early.
after dinner we went to quality hill to watch the fireworks. I can't believe how much shit gets blown off here, even babies are grasping onto sparklers. I cant imagine how much sulphur gets drained into the american skies on the fourth of july. god bless.
there are fire flies everywhere at night, or they could just be roman candles that went haywire.
woke up today and walked down main street to the liberty memorial. maybe i am not patriotic enough to fully enjoy it. i enjoyed observing the types of people who did enjoy it rather.
locals seem nice, i went back to the market where i got off the bus the first day and apparently i made quite the scene because several people recognized me from the day before, asking what i was doing there again.
whenever i tell people i am from canada they instantly talk about health care.
i bought the largest apricots i have ever seen, they are nearly the size of grapefruits.
walked down to the misouri river and saw vasts lots of empty chairs and tents set up from the previous night. there are left over fireworks everywhere.
one of caitlins roomate bought sticky fly tape to trap flies and other bugs, after one night the two foot strip was vibrating with black shapes and had to be changed.