Happy July 5th! Despite last night’s brazillions of bottlerockets, piccolo petes, firecrackers, M-80s, gunfire and assorted other things that went snapcrackypopratatatblam last night on the streets where I live and basically scared the stank out of all the skunks around here, I’m pleased to report this morning that all creatures in the war zone neighborhood seem to have emerged relatively unscathed — especially this firey work o’ nature perched in our backyard who allowed me and my cam to get all up in its grill early this a.m. (click to triplify):

Commonly known as a red skimmer, I think I’ll call it Alfalfa owing to the cowlick it’s proudly displaying.

Related posts:

1. Oh what a beautiful morning!
2. Happy Fourth!
3. Dragon Boat Challenge!
4. Mighty Morning Replacement
5. LA Morning Coffee Ritual #2