After landing in Milwaukee yesterday and finishing out the work day with Bobby Schindler over dinner at the Old German Bier Hall downtown, I went for what turned out to be a great run through town.

Summerfest is happening this week, which is Milwaukee’s big summertime festival and cause for togetherness in and around Lake Michigan. As I ran along the lake at twilight, an enormous number of parents with their children lounged along the park grass of the lake. Vendors sold little light sabers and other glow-in-the-dark toys, and friends and others milled around. It was a world apart from my experience of this same stretch of lakefront earlier this spring.

As I came closer to the Summerfest grounds I came to the end of a jetty. I was about to turn around to finish the run, but everyone sitting on the rocks seemed to be holding their breath. I waited a few moments, and the fireworks began.