Today in addition to celebrating our independence and thinking of those who keep us safe and free, we will be watering the lawn. And the house. I thought the people in my town would have grown a brain cell, saw the number of fires, and banned fireworks, but no such luck. Actually they banned fireworks in the whole town except for one subdivision – the one we live in (and can’t wait to get out of). So, the entire town (it’s not much) is coming here to shoot off their hillbilly fireworks on our street. Oh, yes, I said it. I am from the Midwest and from a state where fireworks are illegal. I am here to tell you there plenty of other things to do on the Fourth of July other than waste money to light off bottle rockets and roman candles in your driveway.
Don’t get me wrong I love a professional fireworks program, like at Disney World or at a ball park. Hell, I even like the official town fireworks set off by firefighters. Firefighters. My dad was a volunteer firefighter when I was growing up and went to the local high school to help with the fireworks show and man the hose just in case. I went to a fireworks display held on a Marine base when I was a preteen and it was so badly done; the fireworks kept exploding on the ground – so much so the audience had to run for cover. Yeah, true story. Nothing like screaming your head off, covering your head, and running away from fireworks to make a holiday memorable.
What I can’t understand nor appreciate are the multitude of people, who are not adolescent boys, who feel the need to light fireworks of their own in their driveway. Really? You spent a couple hundred bucks on a cardboard tube that sparks? Even the aerial fireworks that are legal here are crappy. To make fireworks haters and pet owners even more miserable in this state you can light fireworks until the 7th, three more days. AND they can also do fireworks for a week later in the month of July.
Anyway, happy Fourth of July! I plan on enjoying a professional fireworks display and scowling at my hillbilly neighbors when I get home.
About Michelle
My kids aren’t teenagers yet, but they love setting off small fireworks on the gravelled part of our property. I admit I enjoy the fireworks, but even more I love watching my children as I enjoy them!! We are always super careful though, have a couple buckets of water, and we go through the safety protocols before we even take the fireworks outside.
I am sorry that you will have to put up with a lot of people coming to your neighborhood to make a lot of noise. Since everyone on our roads has at least 4 acres, we don’t have to worry too much about noise beyond us and the neighbors right across the street.
If you want something more fun than noisy fireworks, with a much cooler end product, check out the new contest on my blog that starts today! You can find it here:
http://poetrysansonions.blogspot.com/2012/07/july-contest-where-did-you-come-from.html
If you win, I can even make cards to send out to people letting them know you are moving!
Glad you are back! Hope no fireworks land on your roof. Hope no bullets either. Amazing some gun owners do not understand that when a bullet is shot up into the air it STILL COMES DOWN somewhere.
Have a wonderful Fourth of July and a good new start in your new life. I appreciate everything you write about and had feared you were just G O N E. Hugs and cheers
Ah, yes, laws of physics, what goes up must come down, seems simple enough…
Agreed. A few years ago, living in the middle of the city (where fireworks are also banned) I ended up calling the cops on my neighbors who insisted on setting off fireworks IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET. This is a city neighborhood, where the houses are much to close together and all the cars are parked on the street. After 20 minutes, they finally hit my car and I’d had enough.
Idiots.
Even though we’re pretty rural out here, the subdivision is more suburban-like. For instance, all the yards are the size of postage stamps. OccDoc would have a heart attack if anything hit his car! We’ll have to keep the garage closed tonight! Enjoy the silence of a banned fireworks for me.
I agree with you, but my mom can also tell you just how scared I was of fireworks (even professional ones) as a child. She had to hold her hands over my ears. I don’t see the point of driveway fireworks either; I have better things to waste my money on.
Seriously, there are way better things to waste money on! Like shoes!
Hope you both have a wonderful 4th of July!
Have a fabulous 4th, too!
Oy! I do agree with you Michelle. I like the professional displays best. When I was stationed in Germany, Dec 31, 1999, I lived on the economy and the natives were setting off the fireworks in the streets. A few times I had the explosions land on my balcony. Not Fun!
Last night the local drunken idiots in my neighborhood started in with their displays. Really? Come on folks now! Its after fricken midnight and I don’t want to be hearing your obnoxious explosions. I hear the bombing range all the time since I live on post…that I can sleep through. Fireworks, done by the drunken, are an annoyance. Tomorrow is the last legal day for them here.
Redneck fireworks annoy the crap out of me! Maybe it’s because I grew up in city limits that banned home fireworks (CA wildfires, anyone?), but it always seemed a little hillbilly to me. And you know, I susceptible to advertising- those billboards of a raised hand wishing you a happy 4th with only 4 fingers? Yep, worked.
Enjoy the pro’s- they’re always the best anyways
Definitely one bonus to living in the middle of the desert–no fireworks allowed unless it/s at an officially sanctioned event. This will probably be the quietest fourth my family has experienced yet! Here’s hoping you make it through the hillbilly fireworks show[s] unscathed!
That’s the thing – we live in the desert, too! The fireworks went on well past one last night. I’m so happy I have to work this morning.