After the parade shooting, many firework displays were cancelled throughout the area, including after the Sox game that evening. This did not apply to the Chicago neighborhoods, including mine. After being surprised with how light things were on the 3rd, the 4th certainly didn’t disappoint. We had about 5 different competing firework displays within our view from our back porch. One was in the alley a few houses down; they had some good stuff. I wonder how much they spent on all of that… Another was down the block the other way; they had the loud boomers, which set off the car alarms each and every time. I’ve described 4th of July in the city as Beirut, as if I really know what that means, but… you get the idea right? Here comes the boom!!!
My son wasn’t a big fan. We had some sparklers that we lit… woo hoo! I talked to him about potentially buying some next year for us to set off together; he wasn’t interested. I’m OK with that. Growing up, we had our own competing shows, with the neighbor on each side of us. It was memorable, with each house taking turns setting off a couple. There was that one memorable year, when a spinner went out of control, and landed in the chair my aunt had just been sitting in; my uncle wanted to kick somebody’s ass. Cooler heads prevailed though, but… that’s the thing with fireworks; they are a bit unpredictable. I remember when I was young, probably just a few years older than my son today, lighting up firecrackers. I lit a bunch off in a paint can, and it was one of those fuses that went instantly, giving me no time to back away; I thought I had lost my hearing… went crying to my mama… blowing any chance of setting more off THAT year… I remember another year, it may not have even been the 4th, but by my one buddy’s house, and his cousin throwing a cherry bomb inside a mail box; I’m pretty sure that’s a federal offense. Sucker blew a hole in it, as we ran down the block. The one time we walked around the neighborhood was fun on the 4th. Guys were shooting bottle rockets parallel to the sidewalk. Thankfully, I have all my extremities, and most of my hearing still. Made it through another year…
I said I was going to ramble on. I know I’ve been dipping a little bit away from Chicago sports lately. Besides fighting to stay current, just kind of been feeling that way. Don’t get me wrong; I know what’s happening with each of my teams, even the Sox… still can’t believe they can’t get their shit together. But yeah, we’ll get back to that soon. I’m just savoring this a bit… all this writing that I do, and the enjoyment it brings me. It’s worth the price of admission as they say. Although nobody is paying to get into this game, it is priceless in the mental health area for yours truly. And that’s what it’s all about… next…
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