My wife and I attended a spectacular Fourth of July fireworks celebration last night. In this part of the world the Fourth comes on June 29 or the last Friday before the real Fourth. The show was put on by the Palisades Parkway Commission at the Bear Mountain Park, just below the Bear Mountan bridge. What made it memorable was not only the beautiful background of the Hudson Valley but the way the surrounding mountains magnified the event. We anchored, along with a gathering flotilla, near the west bank of the river in a narrow gorge between Bear Mountain and Anthony's Nose (that's the real name) on the east. The hills bounced the sound of the fireworks explosions back and forth. It took at least ten seconds, by my wrist chronometer, for the sound of a single bang to die away. While not as pretentious as the Macy's fireworks extravaganza in New York harbor, it was far more exciting. We anchored for the night and by morning the fleet had shrunk from 100+ to 3. For those of you traveling up the Hudson this week, fireworks are scheduled for Kingston on July 1, Haverstraw on July 3, and Tarrytown on July 4. Anchoring is easy at all locations and all have marinas and fuel. Of course the big celebration is the Macy's display on July 4 in New York. Come early and anchor well out of traffic. It's a madhouse in the waters off the Big Apple. Larry Zeitlin PUFFIN Cortlandt Manor, NY