Fireworks

This past weekend brought back memories of my childhood and the 4th of July Holiday.  This was always a special holiday to me because it was always part of my birthweek.  My birthday is July 1 and the 4th just extended the celebration with beautiful fireworks.  Since they were illegal in Iowa, we always had to jump in the car and find a place where they had a permit to fire them off.  Since July is in the  summer and I was usually in Earlville, Iowa in the summers, we would watch the display there with Grandma and Bop, cousins, Aunts and Uncles, sisters, and my parents.  I started thinking about Uncle Harold.  He LOVED fireworks.  He LOVED his own fireworks.  I never realized he was purchasing these in secret since they were illegal.  I think about how he taught me to light firecrackers at a very young age.  He warned me that I could lose a finger or hand but I guess he knew I would be okay.  His first lesson was to have the firecracker on the picnic table, light the fuse and  RUN!.  I graduated to where he taught me to hold it in my hand and watch the fuse until it was close enough that when I threw it, it would explode in the air.  What fun!  He explained that if it didn't explode, do not go near the dud because it might still go off.   When firecrackers and sparklers were getting boring, he would bring out the M-80's.  These looked like little dynamite sticks and were extremely loud.  We would place them in a tree, light the fuse, RUN, and then BAM!!  My ears would be ringing for a long time.  I don't think I ever held an M-80 in my hand to watch the fuse and throw it.  At least I hope I never did.

This is Uncle Harold. You may remember I blogged about him a couple of years ago.

As I grew up and moved away from Iowa, it was hard to find fireworks. We would have to travel from Georgia to South Carolina to buy them and they were expensive.  I did find some M-80's but they just were not like those originals in the 1960's.   We would shoot fireworks off in the middle of the road and it was so much fun!  Except one fell over and flew straight towards our neighbor and his son who were sitting on the lawn.  That scared me but it didn't stop me from continuing.  New Years Eve 1999 , Y2K, was a big celebration and we had plenty of fireworks on hand.  I was shooting them off in the middle of the biggest intersection of our subdivision, right where our friends lived. A huge cloud of smoke was growing bigger and bigger under the street lights. We knew a car was coming from the other side of the smoke but what a surprise to see a police officer puff out of that cloud!  Thank goodness he just kept on going.  That was probably my last time I shot off fireworks.    We would now have to watch the city display. This was always a hassle because we would find a secret parking spot that everyone else seemed to find. When the display was over, it would take us hours to get out onto the street and home.  This is when we realized that Maggie doesn't share my enthusiasm about the beauty of fireworks. She absolutely hates them because of the booms and louds noises.  I often wonder if something happened to her in her past life that causes this.  The best 4th she ever had was when she was flying from Georgia to Iowa and could see fireworks from the plane, but not hear any of them.

Iowa legalized fireworks three years ago.  That first year was incredible. People started shooting them in June and they would go throughout the whole night. It was spectacular, but people were not happy. It was too much .  It is now up to each city to enforce their own fireworks policy. Davenport can start July 3rd though the 4th.   We stand on our front porch and watch all around us and think how we don't have to spend money or travel to see such beauty.   And I enjoy my birthday for a week!