Fireworks Up Close and Too Personal

I lurve fireworks. Be it New Year's or 4th of July, I love fireworks. The bigger the boom, the better. I have memories of being a child on the sand at Gulf Shores, Alabama watching the fireworks from a mile down the beach, the boom happening seconds after the explosion because we were so far away. Memories of sparklers in my hand, waving them around making light streaks in the air. Memories of my toddler, scared of the noise, sitting in my mother's lap, with his daddy's fluorescent earmuffs on so he could watch the beauty without thinking it was a beast.

But this year, I have a new memory.

We went to Snowden Grove where we have watched fireworks for several years. We have watched them from pretty much every spot around the park we could. For the first few years, we watched them on the lawn in front of the stage, then in years when we didn't go in the park we've sat in parking lots around the area to watch them.

Last year, we went to the Parks and Recreation Office parking lot, which is right beside the park. It was great. We didn't have to deal with the traffic of the park (which is horrendous), but still had a great view of the show.

We decided that we'd do the same thing this year. Only this year we came prepared. We drove my husband's pickup, took our armchairs, baseball gloves, and iced drinks and headed out. I had my folders to organize while I watched the boys play, sitting in style in the bed of the truck. So redneck, as my husband says. Now that's an oxymoron. Sitting in a portable armchair in the bed of a pickup sorting through design ideas.

Anyway, back to my story. Sound Man got some gorgeous shots of the sunset...

Made Kiddo and me want to start singing, "Nants ingonyamaaaaaaa!" (and yes, I had to look that up).

And then the big show started. We ooohed and aaahed over the brilliant explosions, each one getting a different response than the others. I had my favorites, Kiddo had his, and Sound Man quietly took pictures of them. Almost 200 of them!

During the show, I kept hearing what sounded like sand or dirt landing on the cars around me, and felt small little things hit me every once in a while. There were several families with small kids around, so I just figured one of them must be throwing dirt. But toward the end of the show, something huge landed in my lap. Thinking some punky kid was throwing stuff, I picked it up, looking around for whomever might be so mean to do something like that. Sound Man picked it up, sniffed it, and declared that it was part of a casing for fireworks! Kiddo had something land on him, too, and upon inspection we realized that it was part of a fuse! The bits we were hearing and feeling were pieces of fireworks!!! We stayed where we were, but I nervously tried to watch to make sure we didn't get pelted. Then a fire started where the fireworks were being shot, and the show was suddenly over. A disappointment, since the finale is always AMAZING.

When we got home, we were able to closely examine just what came flying at us:

Kiddo is holding the fuse that hit him, and the piece that hit me is the biggest piece. They weren't hot, but still. Falling from that far in the sky could do some damage to the eyes if they had hit just right!

So, we left this 4th of July with yet another fireworks memory. One I am not sure I want to repeat!