Growing up in a small town, the 4th of July and the fireworks show was a big deal. I remember shooting off our own small fireworks in the back yard on a brick patio - mild ones like small cones, smoke bombs, sparklers, a tank that moved and shot sparks and the chicken that laid eggs. From my aunt's house (and later my parents and then my house) we had a great view of the fireworks that were shot off from the park that was just down the street. When the trees got too tall, we would take lawn chairs to the church parking lot across the street and watch them from there. During my teenage years, I would watch them with my friends - sometimes from their backyard (and rooftop) that was even closer to the park. We ended up making up names for some of the fireworks so here's three of them for your pleasure:
1. Bill Fred - these represent the gigantic fireworks that fill the sky completely. They are the most impressive of the fireworks.
2. Pooters - these are the tiny fireworks that are hardly worth our while.
3. Spermies - these are the fireworks that after exploding, several smaller bursts of wiggling sparks move through the air (like sperm).
In case you were wondering - there are actually real names of fireworks you can see here.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
How strange. When the boys were young, our back yard butted up against the city's baseball park where they shot off the fireworks. We'd lay on blankets and stare up in the sky. Most of the time, our yard would be full of strangers who thought they had found the perfect vantage spot. The very last year we lived in that house, I sat on the back porch and found myself one of many onlookers. I was the only one I knew!
A woman who parked herself on the top step kept saying names, (Betty Ann, Robert Allen, Karen Susan, Edward Thomas). I guess she thought I needed an explanation. She told me that she always named each firework after one of her nieces and nephews. When she ran out of names, she knew it was time to leave.
And so she left. Happy Independence Day!
Our current house has a baseball park right behind it. When they have the lights on, it's pretty bright on the back side. Thankfully our bedroom is on the front of the house.
Post a Comment