No, not the club from back in the day… my wife can tell you all about that. Yes, the sound of fireworks popping off across the city on July 4th… Kaboom!
Remember, fireworks are illegal; that’s one big joke. The city absolutely lights up; it’s the most difficult night of the year deciphering between fireworks and gun shots. I’ve participated in the festivities ever since I was a kid. It started off slow, with those little snaps that we’d throw on the sidewalk. It progressed to sparklers and those little snakes that we lit, that inched along the sidewalk. Eventually, I was able to light my own firecrackers; I’ll never forget the first time. I had to be around my son’s age now, maybe a little younger, and I couldn’t wait. Really? I can light these by myself… oh boy. I grabbed a pack and put them in a paint can; this would sound extra loud. I lit them, and they went off… instantly; no time for me to walk away. My ears were ringing; I thought I lost my hearing, as I ran inside to tell my parents… haha. It was like that Red Rider bb gun from Christmas Story… haha. It may have slowed me down for a minute, but I was back at it. Our backyard was center stage, with neighbors on both sides popping them off too. We’d all take turns, cheering on each other after each fountain, spinner, or loud boom. It was great.
There were some other “incidents”. One time a spinner from my neighbor went out of control and landed in the chair my aunt was sitting in only a minute earlier; my uncle wasn’t too happy. Then there was the time we decided to walk through the neighborhood, can’t recall why. Guys were shooting bottle rockets horizontally down the sidewalk; one of us got nicked in the leg… cooler heads prevailed. Then there was the time I was by my friend’s house when I got a little older, and somebody blew up one of those blue mailboxes… we ran our asses off. This year, we got back at it.
We ended up at my good friend’s house for the 4th and he had a stash. My son was loving lighting the big boomers. I like the ones you light and shake, as you fire sparks into the sky. We had the parachute guys which coasted down to the ground after popping in the sky; I caught one right in the air. It was a lot of fun. You do have to be careful though; sometimes they can be unpredictable. Not sure all of the details, but not too far from our house, somebody got decapitated by one of the big ones… Can’t think of a worse outcome then that. We all walked away with our lives and all of our extremities after the evening of explosions.
Driving home, the city was still live; there have been years in the city that it feels like Beirut, as if I really know what that means. Our dog absolutely hated this holiday… poor pup. Me? I guess it’s OK; I come and go with it, but this year was definitely a good one. The 4th sort of symbolizes the middle of summer; all down hill from here back to the start of school…
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