After a rainy July 4th afternoon, skies were still cloudy around 8 PM when Bill and I walked over to watch the H-E-B Austin Symphony July 4th Concert and Fireworks. We brought our raincoats just in case.

When we arrived at The Long Center, Austin Mayor Steve Adler was honoring area veterans and reading a city proclamation about Independence Day.

The event’s sponsor, Texas grocer H-E-B, is celebrating their 80th anniversary this year. Free ice cream for everyone!

The Austin Symphony Orchestra began their program promptly at 8:30 PM. A light rain started about 35 minutes later. The concert was halted, but conductor Peter Bay promised that the fireworks would start soon. Too bad. My favorite pieces were coming up: Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and three John Philip Sousa marches.

Bill and I checked the weather radar on our phones. No storms were in sight, and we had our raincoats, so we decided to stay. Even so, we were glad that the fireworks started about 15 minutes early. For a while, we watched from the south shore of Lady Bird Lake, with the downtown city lights as a backdrop.

For a different view over the water, we moved to the middle of the First Street Bridge. In spite of the rain, a good crowd had gathered downtown, but probably not as many as in previous years.

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